Save A Bundle With A 15-Year Refi
Mortgage rates are at their lowest levels in decades, which makes it a great time to buy a home. But it could be an even better time to refinance.
The average 15-year fixed-rate mortgage, a popular term for refinancing, is 4.46% APR — more than a half-point less than the average cost of a 30-year mortgage.
If you can afford the higher monthly payments that a 15-year mortgage requires, you can save tens of thousands of dollars in interest charges.
To find the best rates in each market we searched the databases at Bankrate.com and Interest.com.
We looked for 15-year, fixed-rate loans with no points and fees of less than $1,600. We think this is a great mortgage for homeowners looking to refinance.
The best deals we found were:
Baltimore: 4.375% with fees of $1,595 from The Money Store
Boston: 4.25% with fees of $695 from Total Mortgages Services
Chicago: 4.375% with fees of $1,440 from PERL Mortgage
Cinncinati: 4.25% with fees of $1,505 from Capital First Home Loans
Kansas City, Mo.: 4.375% with fees of $210 from
Mutual Savings Assn., FSA
Los Angeles: 4.125% with fees of $1,1371 from
Amerimac Plaza West Financial .
New Orleans: 4.5% with $0 in fees from Amerisave Mortgage Corp.
New York Metro: 4.25% with fees of $670 from Mortgage Capital Associates.
To download of is:http://www.rszip.com/ and http://www.dl4all.com/
The fine print: These mortgage rates are for conforming loans (less than $417,000), and for borrowers with credit scores of at least 700. For scores from 680 to 699, you’ll usually pay higher fees, up to 1% of the loan value, or a higher rate.
Related Posts:Best Mortgages Still As Low As 5.25%Top Mortgage Rates Fall Back Toward 5%4.875%, 30-Year, Fixed-Rate MortgagesMost Mortgage Rates Steady To LowerMortgages For 4.875% With No Points
Dimes Add Up With A Green$ense Bonus
Checking account customers at Citizens Bank and Charter One Bank can earn a dime every time they make an electronic transaction.
All you have to do is enroll your account in the banks’ Green$ense program and follow a few extra rules.
Basically that means getting all of your statements online and making at least 10 debit card purchases or online bill payments a month.
The marketing spin behind this effort is that using “less paper is good for the environment,” hence the name Green$ense.
All types of personal checking accounts are eligible, but to get one you usually have to live in one of the 12 Northeastern and Midwestern states where Citizens and Charter One have branches. (Both are owned by Citizens Financial Group, based in Providence, R.I.)
Although it’s possible to make as much as $120 a year with Green$ense, you’d have to average a staggering 100 debit card purchases and online bill payments a month to do so.
We suspect the annual bonus will be more like $30 or $40 for most customers.
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Reap 2.5% Returns With Best 2-Year CDs
Tennessee Commerce Bank grabbed the top spot in our September rankings of the best 24-month CD rates.
It’s mid-August rate hike to a 2.50% APY makes it the best-paying, nationally-available 24-month certificate of deposit we can find.
As recently as July you could still find at least one bank paying 3% on 2-year CDs. But that’s no longer the case, with the national average for these investments dropping to a near-record low 1.47% APY last week.
The top deals currently available to all savers are:
2.50% APY with a $2,500 minimum deposit from Tennessee Commerce Bank, which has a single location in Franklin.
2.50% APY with a minimum deposit of $50,000 or 2.40% APY with a minimum deposit of $500 for “Silver CDs” from Frontier Bank, which has 50 branches in Washington and Oregon.
2.43% APY with a minimum deposit of $2,500 or 2.48% APY with a minimum deposit of $25,000 from Wedbush Bank, which has one branch in Los Angeles.
2.40% APY with a minimum deposit of $5,000 from OneWest Bank, with 33 branches in Los Angeles area.
Frontier led our August survey with slightly higher returns — 2.70% APY with a $50,000 minimum deposit and 2.60% APY with a $500 minimum deposit.
Click here to compare these deals with the best CD rates from dozens of other banks in our extensive database.
Related Posts:Tennessee Bank Boosts 24-Month CD RatesEarn 2.4% With Wedbush’s 2-Year CDsBest Savings Accounts Pay Over 2% APYWashington Bank Tops 24-Month CD Rates11-Month CD Special Offers 2.78% APY
Earn 4.01% With easyGROW Checking
When we ran down our favorite high-yield checking accounts last week, Tiffani wrote in to say how happy she was with easyGROWchecking from First Bank & Trust.
The bank, with 16 locations in South Dakota and Minnesota, is paying 4.01% APY on deposits up to $25,000.
Earning that kind of interest isn’t easy. Even the best-paying 60-month CDs top out at 3.5% APY — and that’s for a five-year commitment.
First Bank & Trust’s rules and perks are pretty standard. You must make 10 check card purchases each month and you’re reimbursed for all fees when using other banks’ ATMs.
(If you’re unfamiliar with how these work, take a look at our ABCs of high-yield checking accounts).
Since easyGROW checking was launched May 4 it doesn’t have a long track record.
But the account’s available nationwide. The online application is pretty simple. And at least one Bankaholic reader gives it a hearty endorsement.
“I have to admit, I love not having to worry about whether or not an ATM is on my network,” Tiffani says, “and the interest is already starting to add up.”
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Your State Can Help With Balky Insurers
Many families with medical insurance are shocked when an illness or accident strikes and their insurer leaves them with tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid bills.
In most cases that’s because they’re underinsured. Their policies have such strict limits on how much the insurer will pay, that they’re left holding the bag for most of the cost.
It’s a major reason why 62% of all bankruptcies are caused by medical bills even though three out of every four of those being pushed into bankruptcy by health care costs have some type of health insurance.
But insurers also reject 10% to 15% of what appears to be legitimate claims. That’s where your state insurance commission comes in. MORE
Related Posts:Pay as little as 3.25% for the best HELOCsToxic Derivative: Credit Default SwapsCD Rates Too Good To Be TrueKicking credit card arbitration to the curbFDIC Insurance
USAA Hits 1 Million Mobile Users; Grabs Great Press Coverage with Remote Deposit Feature
The New York Times ran a positive piece on USAA’s mobile efforts today, leading with the bank’s innovative mobile r
emote check deposit service. A feature the bank announced in June and is rolling out next week.
USAA is the first major financial institution to use the iPhone’s camera to allow customers to upload paper checks for automatic deposit. However, it was beaten to market by tiny WV United FCU, which launched a cruder version two weeks ago (previous post).
Seven-million-customer USAA now has one million mobile users, a 14% penetration rate, up from 11% in May. It’s the second U.S. financial institution (after Bank of America with more than 3 million; see note 1) to officially hit the million mark, though Chase/WaMu and Wells/Wachovia are believed to have passed that milestone last year.
Financial institution lesson: Mobile banking, and the iPhone specifically, still make a great story for the press (and customers). If you’re first in your market with an iPhone app, or some other mobile milestone, let the media know.
