Negotiating a lower mortgage rate is one of the most powerful personal finance moves someone can make.
Look at it this way. Say you owned a house with a mortgage of $300,000. The difference between a 2.5% mortgage rate versus a 3% rate works out to $1,500 per year. Over the life of a25-year mortgage, it’s many thousands more. Not bad for doing a little bit of work once every few years.
There are multiple ways somebody can save money on their mortgage. They can choose variable rates over fixed. They can opt for shorter terms. They can cut down their amortization period. Or they can employ a mortgage broker to shop around for them.
These are all solid strategies and should be implemented by any homeowner. But there’s one that doesn’t get as much publicity, yet can be pretty successful.
It’s simple. Check out the offerings from your local credit union. Sure, not every credit union is the same. But overall, they offer some of the lowest mortgage rates out there, and they have one set of rates for everyone, unlike some major lenders. Many don’t work with mortgage brokers either.
If you’d like to confirm, check out our mortgage rates page. While credit unions aren’t exclusively the cheapest, they do tend to be pretty competitive. And when compared to the offerings from the big banks we’ve all heard of, it’s not even close.
Credit unions are certainly worthy of your consideration. It’s that simple.
