We're still in the refi process, but it does appear to be moving toward completion. AIMloan is a much more orderly broker than the person we worked with for our last two big mortgage actions (buying our current home and refinancing it).

I don't claim to understand everything about how refis work, but despite having to bring a lot more to the table than expected, it still feels like we're getting a good deal. Here's what's happened:

- They noted we'd have to bring over $13K to closing (or is it $14K or $15K? I have such trouble understanding the magic math of mortgages), despite having quoted closing costs of $2400. Say it's partly to prepay 4 months of interest, insurance and taxes into the escrow, and partly because our annual insurance bill is coming due. We have the cash on hand but since we still want to do a kitchen reno at some point, I asked them to roll $5K of it into the loan.

- In addition to rolling $5K into the loan, I believe we'll get $3700 returned to us from the existing mortgage's escrow account, and I have $3500 set aside for the refi. The very highest closing number I'm seeing (I can't tell if that's what we'll actually need) is $15,619. So that means the most we'd have to come up with, net, is $3419.

- Our home appraised for $630K (vs the $500K I estimated)! This means even with the additional $5K, our LTV is 59%. Our agent says this means a $937 drop in closing costs. So maybe the most we'll have to come up with is $2482?

- AIM also says there's a $1473 "aggregate adjustment" coming our way but I can't tell if that's already factored into the numbers. It also seems like the loan is based on a higher principal amount than what we owe, but maybe I'm reading things wrong. It's all so confusing! It does appear that the closing costs they're charging are staying the same and that the other fluctuations are due to escrow, insurance etc., so I'm just trusting the process at this point. Luckily we have plenty of money in savings.

- Right now it seems like we're just throwing tons of money at the refi, but in the long run, we should get a monthly payment that's $300 less than what we pay now, for the same payoff period we had before, so if that happens, I'm happy. Anyway, we do have expensive homeowner insurance and property taxes, so it kind of just is what it is I guess.

- I let our neighbors know about the appraised value and they said they're meeting with an accountant to get all their tax stuff worked out! If that happens, we'll start to explore the possibility of co-owning the home again. I had all but dismissed that idea forever because I thought they'd never clear out their unfiled tax returns. My neighbor said he's thinking we should do a trust where the home is owned among us but goes to our kids. (They don't have kids and they're our kids' godfathers so they want to leave their portion to them.) So we'll see how that all pans out. Definitely will be making sure there are no unfiled taxes and also will get a second opinion from another lawyer to make sure there aren't any pitfalls we're not considering.