If you're in the market for refinancing, don't forget to shop close to home. Many lenders
are putting more energy into hanging on to the customers they've got as a way of controlling
costs. "It's always cheaper to retain a customer than to find a new one," says Brenda
Wheeler of Interfirst Wholesale Lending in Cleveland. That can work to your advantage.
If you have a large mortgage or if you borrowed from a smaller lender such as a local
bank or S&L, your loan may still be in the lender's "portfolio." In other words, it may
reside on the lender's books-as opposed to being sold off in the secondary market to Fannie
Mae or Freddie Mac. Increasingly, says Ron Lowe, a vice president at Putnam Trust in
Greenwich, Conn., banks are willing to "modify" these types of loans. The lender simply goes
in and drafts an add-on document changing the rate or term.
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