New Thing #137: Refinancing Our Mortgage

Front_DoorI don't even know really if this is OK to write about. We're refinancing our mortgage.

And by "we" I mean "my wife" is refinancing our mortgage.

I'm just going along with it and signing the papers.

That's not 100% true - I am trying to follow along with all of the information.

It's just...finances. It's a hard thing for me to wrap my head around.

But you know what I like less?

When the lawyer comes to our house for some signatures.

That was Thursday's deal.

So it involves tidying up, making sure the girls are set for bed...and pretending like I'd rather be signing papers than watching the Rangers playoff game.

The last time we had someone come to the house for a situation like this I had to give blood and pee in a cup. I asked my wife if we needed to do that. Apparently that was not for any refinancing. That was life insurance.

But still I'm suspicious the whole time - why do they need to come to the house? Are they going to be looking at the house to assess its value? (Good thing I mowed the lawn last week! Does it matter that we have a tree slowly dying outside our front door?) Are they suspicious of us like I am of them? Why would they even be suspicious of us? Why would I even be suspicious of them?

Everything went fine - it took just a half-hour. It was essentially like doing a closing. I signed lots of papers, and I was able to get back to watching hockey. (For those wondering, my wife watched 'American Idol' live, and 'The Office' series finale would wait until Friday on the DVR.)

What did I learn? My wife is a slow and soft signatory (does that word apply to a single person? or just, like, large entities like countries?) while I really lean into my signatures. And I get awful at writing my 'J's after a while.

All in all, it turned out the lawyer was just here to collect signatures (no bodily fluids), and we were just trying to take advantage of current rates and cut ourselves a deal.

Is that right? Current rates? Did we get a deal?

I need to go ask my wife.