A few months ago, with rates at record lows, I decided the time was right to refinance. The day after signing a loan application with my mortgage broker, I received a FEDEX overnight delivery from Chase Bank (my lender at the time).
The letter promised a no fees, no cost, no appraisal adjustment of my interest rate. The rate was .25% higher than what the broker was offering me.
When I told the agent from Chase about the lower rate he told me that I’d never qualify for that rate. He said that their data showed my house was underwater. And that if I didn’t agree to modify the terms of my mortgage with Chase within 4 days – I’d lose the rate forever.
I didn’t buy the fear that Chase was selling.
It turns out that my house appraised significantly higher than our mortgage. Enough so that we were able to eliminate PMI by refinancing with our broker. Instead of being underwater we had at least 20% equity.
The agent from Chase was very pushy. Beware of Chase Bank.