The One Question That Exposes a Fake IRRRL Quote
Ask This Before You Believe Any Payment Number
If you're already deep into comparing IRRRL lenders, you've probably heard at least one payment promise that came a little too fast. Here's the one question that tells you whether it's real: what documents did you use to calculate that number?
A lender can only answer that question honestly if they've already pulled your current interest rate, your current loan balance, your remaining term, and the actual closing costs and funding fee being rolled into the new loan. Those four inputs are the entire math behind an IRRRL payment. There's no fifth shortcut, and no version of the calculation that skips one of them and still produces a real number.
A Case That Shows the Pattern
A situation that comes up often among veterans shopping IRRRL lenders: someone we'll call Anthony gets a payment promise on the very first call, before the lender has asked for anything. It sounds great. It's also not built on anything real.
Anthony didn't sign. Instead, he asked the lender directly for his current note rate, his balance, and a written breakdown of the costs being added to the loan before he'd accept any number. The lender backpedaled and asked for his mortgage statement, which is what should have happened in the first place.
That backpedal, not the original promise, is what an honest process actually looks like.
Why Lenders Skip the Math
Some lenders lead with a payment promise because it moves the conversation forward fast. A number that sounds good keeps you on the phone and keeps you from calling the next lender on your list. But a payment figure built on a national average, or on assumptions about your rate instead of your actual rate, is not a commitment. It's bait.
Once your actual file goes through underwriting, that early number can move, sometimes by a meaningful amount, because it was never built on your real numbers to begin with.
What To Do With This Today
Before your next call with an IRRRL lender, decide in advance that you won't accept a payment number until you've been asked for your mortgage statement. If a lender quotes you first and asks questions second, that's backwards, and it's worth naming out loud on the call.
A lender who asks for your statement before saying a number about your payment is doing the math the right way, and that's the lender worth continuing the conversation with.
I ask every veteran I work with for their mortgage statement before I say a single number about their new payment. If you want a real IRRRL quote instead of a guess, send me your statement and I'll walk through the actual math with you. Call 843-LOW-RATE, I'm Jason Sharon with Home Loans Inc, and I find the path.