We refinanced the mortgage a couple of years back and got a really good rate. I can’t remember exactly what it was, but it was good. Recently we were contacted again and offered another refinancing deal. We allowed the guy to come over and talk to us about it, and we told him up-front that we didn’t want to do any funny stuff. But by the end of the conversation, he had us seriously considering various funny stuff that would supposedly have meant gobs of spare cash for us, or something like that. We really didn’t appreciate being treated that way.

I found some information about mortgage refinancing that can help avoid that sort of thing. They talk about full disclosure and “borrowing intelligently” - that is, being fully informed about what you’re getting into before you agree to it. They also have a bunch of calculators that will tell you about changing your mortgage length, adjusting the principal, etc. Good information if you want to refinance your home.