Notes on the paths chosen to date:
Wells Fargo, despite being Wells Fargo, seems to match my needs well:
https://www.wellsfargo.com/mortgage/home-improvement/products
Loan app or request consultation? Frankly, I should just start with loan app since the choice that I want is right there:
https://mortgage.wellsfargo.com/affinity/shortForm.wfm
https://mortgage.wellsfargo.com/affinity/contact.wfm
Here's the info on Loanfax. Produced a nice list of links to very local standard mortgages, no choice for home renovation:
http://www.loanfax.com/index.htm
Two of the leading rates were Apex and Bancstar, both of which don't seem to have a lot of review info online (poor sign?) Bancstar lists renovation as one of their front page choices, Apex not.
http://www.bancstarmortgage.com/
http://www.apexhomeloans.com/About-Apex-Home-Loans.html
Not surprisingly, a calculator on loanfax showed that the interest to be paid on a $250K loan over 30 years is $212K! for 15 years half so.
The last state assessment that I got was 188K, which seems to have gone down. Clearly they adjusting for the economy, boo! My 2009 county tax bill was based on an assessment of $254K. My 2008 state assessment for 2008 and the next projected two years showed assessments of 236K, 254K, and 272K.
According to my 2009 tax statements, in 2009 I paid $2.6K in pricipal, $6.2K in interest, and my balance was $120.5K
In 2008 my ARM ajusted up to 5.6% from 4.75%, but I'm sure that it has adjusted down since then. In April 2010 it adjusted from 4.625% to 3.75%!!!!!
