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Don’t Discount Points As A Strategy To Lower Mortgage Costs

Discount fees (sometimes called “points”) are considered pre-paid interest.  Points are generally tax-deductible and are used to lower a buyer’s mortgage rate.  Most real estate agents have been taught that “points” are “padded profit” to a lender or loan originator and should be avoided at all costs.  Jeff Belonger debunked that myth yesterday; I was surprised to see the misinformed opinions being offered by the real estate agents and mortgage originators.

Today’s low interest rate environment combined with low expectation of immediate home price appreciation offers a perfect opportunity for buyers to secure a low mortgage rate by employing a strategy of “buying the rate down” through a discount fee.

Let’s look at an example, from today’s rate sheet-$400,000 purchase price, $100,000 downpayment, for a 720 credit score borrower with adequate income documentation:

RATE               DISCOUNT FEE     NET BORROWER COST

5.00%                            0                          $0

4.75%                            1%                     $3000

4.5%                              1.5%                  $4,500

The proper way to perform this analysis is to determine the expected minimum hold time for the mortgage.  Most real estate agents will agree that in this environment, transaction costs combined with low expected appreciation rates suggest that five years is the absolute minimum to hold the property.  Buyers may elect to move (and rent) the property but few agents would be so bold as to suggest that the buyer could make a profit in less than the five year time frame.

It is my opinion that refinancing the mortgage loan will be difficult and unprofitable, during those same five years because:

  • low price appreciation will limit buyers ability to “harvest home equity
  • interest rates are at a 35-year low.
  • rapid inflation seems likely due to massive government borrowing and the Federal Reserve’s “printing money” policy of the past 8-12 months.  Inflation leads to higher mortgage rates.

Five years will be our minimum hold time for the mortgage loan then. This amortization schedule helps us determines what the lowest total costs are over five years.  Simply add the cumulative interest (at month 60) plus the discount fee to determine the total costs:

RATE      CUM. INT.   +  DISCOUNT FEE    =  TOTAL COSTS

5.00%         $72,114                  $0                       $72,114

4.75%         $68,391                  $3000                  $71,391

4.50%         $64,677                 $4500                   $69,177

You can perform a similar analysis for four years:

RATE      CUM. INT.   +  DISCOUNT FEE    =  TOTAL COSTS

5.00%         $58,192                   $0                      $58,192

4.75%         $55,207                  $3000                  $58,207

4.50%         $52,228                   $4500                 $56,728

Or even three years:

RATE      CUM. INT.    +  DISCOUNT FEE    =  TOTAL COSTS

5.00%         $44,007                    $0                        $44,007

4.75%         $41,765                    $3000                  $44,765

4.50%         $39,525                    $4500                  $44,025

As you can see, somewhere around year three, the 4.5% option starts really paying off in this scenario.We can conclude then that paying the 1.5% discount fee for a 4.5% rate is more profitable after three years and indisputably more profitable for the expected five year holding time of the mortgage loan.