The credit union didn't really "approve" your loan because it has to go through underwriting before it can be cleared to close. Hopefully, that will go smoothly for you and not take too long but the fact is that there has been a rush of refinance apps in the last few weeks. This may slow things down for you. You may not be able to use your old appraisal since, I assume, it was done over 30 days ago. And most lenders have a policy of using existing appraisals only if the appraiser is part of their pool of approved appraisers. Even if the CU agrees to accept it, your former lender will have to agree to sign off on it.

Current 30 year is 4.375% 15 year is 3.875% the special is zero closing costs if refinanced to a 5, 10, or 15 year. Current interest on HELOC is 6.5% I think. We currently pay $600/month $345 for MTG (escrowed) and rest on heloc. Plan was to continue to do that until heloc was paid off then throw everything at the MTG. Refinancing just the MTG with no payout our would increase or payments to $430 (escrowed) estimated about $100 more with a $10000 payout. As for other houses... That's the tough thing. I live in a very small section of houses similar to mine. None of them have sold recent enough to use add comps. I don't think. One down the street sold a little over a year ago for $70,000 I think. But it does have a finished basement and a slightly more updated kitchen. Our bathroom is bigger and remodeled more recently. Usually they have to use comps in the city, which are a few decades newer to begin with, have smaller lots, and less garage space. Hope this helps! Thank you so much for taking the time!

I've definitely notices that historic homes tend to follow their own logic for pricing. Despite being older they also can sometimes create their own market and sell for much more than neighboring comps would suggest. In our last house hunt we seriously considered a 3000 sf 1929 3 bedroom 1.5 bath house that was one of only a few similarly sized and aged houses in a neighborhood that got stalled by the depression and didn't really fill out until the 1960s. It was for sale for 420k which was 30k higher than any other house in the neighborhood, many of which had more bedrooms and bathrooms and some even had more square footage. It had been on the market for over a month so we took a chance and offered 390k. We were beat by an offer for 415k the next week later and the house appraised. Even though the house had a detached garage and a single shower that a tall person couldn't even stand up in, I can only explain that the house's near original character and great condition made up the difference. Another house in our neighborhood that we considered was a 4500 sf foreclosure with 4 bedrooms and 3 and two half baths on an acre parcel. The house hadn't been lived in in 10 years, the heating, plumbing, and HVAC were all defunct, damaged, or missing. and the roof had severe leaks. We estimated 100-150k to make it habitable and 300k to get it restored. We estimated it might be worth 400-450k in great condition, but it would have the same challenge appraising we currently have. The house listed for 130k and got at least 2 dozen offers in a single week. I had never seen anything like it, with 2-5 showings at the same time constantly for that week. The winning offer was 280k and it got adjusted down to 250k during the appraisal. Our 180k offer didn't stand a chance. The close by house that sold for 305 probably could have sold for much more if they had better managed their time on the market. The house started for sale by owner at a very unreasonable 412k in fall 2018. After 7 months on the market and no movement they finally got an agent and lowered the price to a still unreasonable 389k. With some heavy marketing they got I believe a near asking price offer but the house appraised for I heard in the mid 320s. The deal fell through and they lowered the price 20k. They got another offer than again fell through at appraisal. They waited 4 months later to finally drop their price down in the appraisal range. By then it was winter, and houses don't sell here in winter. The last 2 years there have only been 3 of +/- 25 sales closed in December, January, or February. They had also moved and were motivated to sell. So they probably ended up getting 10-20k less than if they had just priced their house right. I feel like knowing our market we probably could get 340k or more with the house prepped to sell and timed in the spring or summer. The demand to have once of these houses definitely seems to be there. The challenge would always be in the appraisal. As far as what we are considering in refinancing: Currently all three debts add up to $2060 per month excluding property taxes and insurance, with $1285 of that being the mortgage. If we roll in our car and HELOC for a 15 year loan, our payment would only be $1960. So for the first two and a half years we would be saving on payments while also getting ahead on equity and saving interest. After those 2.5 years (the payment period left on the car) then we would be paying $360 more per month than we would without the refinance. But by that point we will also be $7000 ahead in paying our debts and equity than we would if we kept our current course. I understand the added risk, but we are still staying way under our current affordability. To be able to pay through 1/4 of our current property debt in 5 years seems worth it.

That's possible, but we are definitely having trouble communicating with our Rocket/Quicken agent, and he/she told us that they will not be available for phone conversations at this time, due to high volume, and that we must communicate via email instead. I say "he/she" because our agent's name is Danielle, but I thought this was a man (from the sound of the voice), but Kevin thinks it is a woman after hearing the voice. This is mostly irrelevant, of course, but I would like to use the correct pronoun. The main problem with Rocket is that when I log in to my account, it says that I must speak with an agent, but the agent has already informed us that he/she is not available. This is rather off-putting, and I have been able to speak with the First Entertainment Credit Union agent and also with the agent in Utah, who just called me this morning. He did inform me that tomorrow is a holiday in Utah but did not say which one, although I think it is Pioneer Day. Anyway, he told me that everything in Utah is closed for this holiday. At this time we have quotes for rates from both FECU and the agent in Utah, and the credit union rates and costs are lower. I'm really not sure that I need to do any more shopping around at this point, since everyone seems to be swamped right now. I asked the FECU agent if we could meet with her, and she told me that no one is having meetings at this time and that we will have to do our meetings over the phone. I am okay with this and will be speaking with her tomorrow afternoon. I think that this is a special time because of the rates being so low, and so many people are refinancing right now. In a quieter time, things might be different.