Seems like there are lots of refi questions lately...here's mine:

I've contacted a couple of banks/brokers in town, but am not having any luck getting them to respond to me. Has anyone used an online company or broker with success (like Lending Tree, etc)? It's hard to tell which ones are legit.

Thanks for any suggestions!

Yes. I have.

I used homeboxloans.com

I can also recommend providentfunding.

Do you mean boxhomeloans.com?

yeah, they may be it. I'm going senile in my old age.

Thanks, Bichon! Boxhome doesn't lend in my state. Provident has amazing rates, but some digging reveals some scary reviews about them. Have you personally had a loan with them? A lot of the complaints just sound like they are strict about who they lend to, and I don't have a problem with that.

I've contacted some brokers in town, several big banks, and Quicken Loans. Hopefully I'll hear something back from someone soon. I'm sure they're busy right now.

Yes, provident had my loan when I originally bought my house. They are very picky & conservative. The tradeoff is some of the best rates. In fact, I was pissed at them for a while b/c they kept delaying closing on my home (2-3 weeks) b/c of where my funds were coming from. I had just moved to a new town and my old credit union doesn't have a branch here. So, I opened up a new checking account at a local credit union. They didn't like those funds b/c the account was less than 30 days old. They were just CYA, and eventually we got the deal done. But, well worth it for rock bottom rates. If you have your ducks in a row, it shouldn't be too big of a deal.

I would be careful with Quicken Loans. I generally recommend that you google search Quicken Loans Ripoff and be prepared to read. I've had a couple employees that had worked at Quicken Loans, and the general comparrison is to a sweat shop.

As far as Provident Funding goes, you won't find better rates. They are extremely picky, so if you have the patience to jump through numerous hoops then that may be a very good route for you to take.

Rather than calling random lenders/brokers, ask friends/family/co-workers for recommendations and contact info.

Thanks, TC. I did read about Quicken Loans last night and the reviews scared me away. Seems like lots of people paid the deposit for an appraisal that came in too low, so the loan was denied and they lost about $500.

But the reviews for Provident are equally bad, if not worse.

My husband knows two brokers and I contacted them but didn't hear back. He said he will try to give them a call, too.

I'm starting to think refinancing is a myth!

fiddlefaddle, what State are you in? I may be able to give you some people to contact.

I worked with Provident for a few years, and they were absolutely miserable to deal with, and based on that my company decided to cut ties with them as we felt it was more of a liability to our clients. But their rates kick the heck out of most everyone else's in the industry.

If the concern is being ripped off and you are fairly confident you are a "high quality" lender, one should have no concern with provident. You may have to jump through hoops like a seal on display at the zoo, but the rates are rock bottom. They don't pull any bait and switch or play any games with numbers. Which is my main concern.

Personally, if I refi again, it will be with provident. And I am thinking about another go around (and the dust really hasn't settled on my current refi).

TC, I'm in North Carolina.

Bichon, Provident's rates are very tempting. I think we're good lendees - steady employment, house not underwater, great credit so maybe everything would be less painful that most of the review I read. Going to keep looking around, but have not ruled out Provident.

The transaction not going through should be a serious concern as well. Jumping through hoops is fine, as long they approve you in the end. But they end up not going through with the refi, not only have you wasted time and money ($500-ish on an appraisal) for nothing, but you have actually damaged your chances of refinancing with someone else.

being "high quality" should eliminate any of those concerns. If you have good credit, more than adequate income, good LTV and good credit, there shouldn't be too many worries.

try something local. i was going to go with Provident until I found a local bank with rates just as competitive (2.75% with .5% credit back for 15 year fixed).

We went with the local bank because they guarantee to close within 30 days, whereas provident (because of extra paperwork?) only said it may be do-able.

I ended up getting a commitment letter in like 10 days.

Just a quick update:

We ended up going with a local bank. We're locked in at 3.125% for a 30 year loan. The APR ended up being just 0.1% higher than Provident, so I'm happy with the choice because I think we'll get better customer service. Husband knows the loan officer, so thus far, things are going quickly and smoothly. Hopefully that will continue and we can close in a reasonable amount of time.

Thanks for all the suggestions!