# Mortgage refi question

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mortgage-refi-question/490286>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 21, 2009, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mortgage-refi-question/490286 "2009-03-21T21:30:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\
**Post date:** [March 21, 2009, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mortgage-refi-question/490286/1 "2009-03-21T21:30:49Z")

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My current mortgage is a seven year fixed rate with a balloon payment at the end. I am now in year seven, and have to refinance the balance. I called my mortgage company and found a good rate and “locked” it in. The closing costs seemed a little high, but I am not planning on moving anytime soon and will recoup the costs in 18 months.

I am getting documentation mailed to me now, but I have yet to sign anything. I also got a copy of my credit report, and I realized I had done something stupid - I have a large comission check coming, but in my need for immediate gratification I made a large purchase on credit, and this reflected negatively on my credit report (the purchase was over $10K.) I could probably get lower closing costs with s higher credit score.

Anyway, my question is, am I contractually obligated to go through with this? I understand that there might be some costs that I might have to eat (Fed-Ex mailings, appraisal, etc.), but in two weeks I will have paid off my credit card and rates have gone down since I locked. Can I just tell them “nevermind” and apply again next month? Again, I have yet to sign anything, just made a verbal agreement to lock in the rate and begin the process.

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**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\
**Post date:** [March 22, 2009, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mortgage-refi-question/490286/2 "2009-03-22T00:34:09Z")

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You’re not obligated to do anything until you sign something.

That said, I don’t think a high balance on one credit card will affect your closing costs as much as you think. How much shopping around did you do for the refi?

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**Author:** ![Mr.Duality](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.duality/32/4098_2.png) [@Mr.Duality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Duality)\
**Post date:** [March 22, 2009, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mortgage-refi-question/490286/3 "2009-03-22T01:27:37Z")

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Shop around. The wife & I actually signed the papers with Lending Tree but during the closing I noticed something I took to be a very bad omen. The first local mortgage company we checked with the next day offered a deal at _one-third_ of the initial cost and a slightly lower interest rate. We took advantage of our right to cancel the Lending Tree deal within 3 days of signing it, and are going with the local deal.