You might have noticed a little something extra special on 7th Ave in Marion. That would be us!

We’ve moved over a few blocks into a new, beautiful building at 3375 7th Ave that is now tech savvy enough to handle all of our members’ growing needs! It even features a fresh way of banking – pod style. No, it doesn’t mean you’ll be stuck into a spaceship or anything – we’ve gotten rid of the teller line and now have welcoming areas for you to interact more personally with our team members.

To help celebrate our Grand Opening, we gave away an iPad to one very lucky recipient. And here she is now:

Congratulations, Sierra! We hope you ADORE your new iPad!

So many of us hope to age “gracefully”. Well, I say get REAL. Why not age “HEALTHfully”? Oh, and possibly add 10 more years to your life?

Millions of dollars each year are spent on creams, pills and procedures to look and feel younger. Books FLY off the e-bookshelf to learn the latest and best way to stay young. Why do we try so hard when the answer is much more simple? Well, Cedar Rapids & Marion and surrounding areas, you are on the cusp of learning the secret. You want to know the secret? I know you do. *whispering * Blue Zones.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you have probably heard the buzz around town about the Blue Zone, including the exciting event, BLUEhemia, that is happening TOMORROW in the New Bohemia Main Street District (click here for more info!). Check out this super cute Harlem Shake video promoting it:

Let me give you a little background on Blue Zones and why this should matter to you: In 2004, Dan Buettner teamed up with National Geographic and hired the world’s best longevity researchers to identify pockets around the world where people lived measurably better. They decided to refer to these special slices of communities as “Blue Zones”. In these Blue Zones they found that people reach age 100 at rates 10 times greater than in the United States. Without the use of pills, creams and procedures, these groups have found the extra 10 years that we’ve been searching for! What the team consistently discovered was a trend of 9 basic principles that helped people make the right choices to live a longer, yet more healthy life. In Blue Zone lingo, these are the Power 9. *insert a dramatic clashing of cymbals here*

Two years ago Dan spoke to a room full of people in Cedar Rapids and shared a plan to bring these concepts to Iowa. He spent a lot of time talking about how his team set a similar plan in motion in the Albert Lea, MN community and it made a huge change in their health. Fast forward over a lot of hard work to get to 2013 – zip, boom, bang- we are now a designation site for Blue Zones! A heartfelt THANK YOU to all the peeps in CR that made this happen!

If you want to join the fun and get to know how you too can live the Power 9 principles join the town this weekend at BLUEhemia at your NewBo market. Find out more about Blue Zones here or get more information on tomorrow’s New Bluehemia event go here.

So, please, let’s put down the creams, pick up the veggies and move naturally our way to aging “healthfully”. See you there!

Thank you to our Training Specialist Patricia for not only writing this little diddy, but for all of her hard work on the Blue Zone project over the two years! Your Linn Area family is very proud of you!

Linn Area Credit Union was honored to help support Habitat for Humanity’s Women Build Project. This program challenges women to devote at least one day to the effort to eliminate poverty housing. Women Build had one project in Cedar Rapids in 2012 for a family that is originally from Burundi Central Africa. (Go here to learn more about Women Build and the family).

One of the days during the build, Linn Area Credit Union provided lunch for the women participating. Three friendly Linn Area faces were part of the event and have each written about their experience. Here are their stories:

Bonnie, Senior Account Representative at Mt. Vernon Road:

Ever since I heard about a home being built in Iowa City five years ago, I have wanted to do a Women Build project.  My cousin was working on that particular project and I thought, “How cool would that be to be a part of!”  This year, a close friend of mine happened to be on the committee that finds people to help serve lunch to the volunteers. I told her I had always wanted to do be part of Women Build and she gave me info to volunteer.

It was such an amazing experience, we started the day off with lifting thanks to our higher power and the blessings he has given to each of us and the family that will live in the home.  The family was there helping, so we had an opportunity to visit at lunch and breaks. This made the experience so much more of a blessing for me. The day before we came to help, the walls, foundation and some stairs to the back door were completed.  Our day was spent setting the interior walls, framing out closets and the kitchen, bathroom and laundry area. We even set the roof tresses! I was actually standing in the tresses at the end of the day helping to lay the sheeting on the roof – and I have a fear of heights! No belt. Just weaving in and out of tresses and 2×4′s – amazing!

The day was filled with new friendships, laughter, a huge sense of pride and a few hammered thumbs. It was a great experience and I can’t wait to be able to help again.  I want to say a BIG thank you to LACU for providing lunch for the 25 volunteers we had that day.  We all worked up an appetite but thought the sandwich was too big and we would only eat half (a girl thing), but I ate all of my lunch that day :).

Sandra, Financial Counselor at Mt. Vernon Road:

Volunteering was so much fun! I was there to help serve lunch. Meeting the women who were hard at work was awesome!  The women volunteering were from all walks of life – from a retired woman from a different state, to a college sorority, along with all different cultures and races. It was amazing thing to see everyone join together for a greater cause!  I volunteered because it makes me feel so good inside to be able to help.  I might not always be able to give money, but I can give a little bit of my time to help. I even brought my kids along so they could understand how important it is to help people, no matter where they come from.

Bobbie, Finance Department at Blairs Ferry:

This is something that I have always wanted to help with. When Bonnie asked for volunteers, I wanted to help, but had too many things going on that day. So when the opportunity came along to help serve lunches at the site, I said that I could help with that.  Hy-Vee dropped off box lunches for the crew, and all we had to do was organize by sandwich and hand them to the workers -very simple.

I learned a lot, not just about Women Build Project, but Habitat for Humanity.  There is so much that they do and so many people they help. It was really amazing. If the opportunity arises again, I think that I would actually like to be a part of the construction in some way.

WE WANT TO KNOW: Do you volunteer? Why?

The time has come, friends! We’ve reached the last leg of our Ironman journey with Jenny Lorenz. After being kicked by swimmers and fighting insane wind on a bike, it’s now time to close out this challenge with a marathon. That’s just 26.2 miles. No biggie… Take a shot of Coca Cola and down an energy bar – let’s cross this finish line together:

Despite the long, windy, hot bike my legs felt pretty good running. I focused on keeping my pace under control and keeping good form.  At about mile 1 or so of the run my “fan club” was out in force to cheer me on which was a nice pick me up. The first 10 miles of the run in town on Alii is hot; really hot.

So I once again focused on using the aid stations to keep cool – ice in my hat, down my shirt, up my arm coolers – it helped immensely. Again, I was very proud at executing a good plan in this regard as I never felt overheated.  I did my best to stay steady. I ran between the aid stations and then walked through them to take care of myself. I saw my family and friends again at mile 9 or so before heading  up “Hot Corner” and out toward the Queen K.  They asked me how I was feeling and my honest response was “Pretty good!”

Once you get out onto the Queen K it starts to get lonely. Other than the athletes (who aren’t overly chatty at this point) there are very few fans. I found myself playing mental games to make it from aid station to aid station without letting myself walk. There’s a lot of time to think out there, be it good or bad, and with little distraction it gets tough at times. I tried my best to stay focused on the task and stay positive. I hit the Energy Lab in good shape, grabbed my spare fuel belt bottles at special needs and headed back into town.

The hardest part of any marathon are the last miles. And I find it particularly cruel there is a steady climb for a few miles before you hit the last mile or so (which is largely downhill) on this course.  That steady climb was where it got tough for me. My pace had slowed considerably, my feet were sore and I could already tell I was destined to lose several toenails, and it was dark; really dark out there.

A couple women who I know were in my age group passed me in this stretch but I just couldn’t keep pace with them.  But I managed to keep running, well, maybe it was much more of a jog at this point, but I wasn’t walking; keeping up with my goal of only walking the aid stations. And for the first time in 5 Ironman races I wasn’t suffering from cramping in the latter part of the marathon – a new accomplishment for me.

Finally, I made it to the top of the hill near Palani. That’s when you know you’re going to make it. The crowds are back cheering you on and you get to go downhill. Halleluiah!  I made the turn down toward Hot Corner and headed up Alii. Like the swim and bike I took away some very positive things from the run yet definitely have much room to improve. I had hoped to run around a 4 hour marathon and with a time of 4:27 and change, didn’t accomplish that goal.   I did, however improve upon my 2009 Kona marathon time by over 21 minutes so I was happy about that.  And I also accomplished my goal of not walking on the course except through the aid stations. So I had a lot to feel good about despite being somewhat disappointed I didn’t make my time goal. Perhaps my arm coolers covering up my “Just Go Faster” mantra written on my arm was a limiter since I couldn’t see it as a reminder :)

Once you make that turn onto Alii you can see the lights, the crowds, and hear the music thumping at the finish line.  There’s nothing like the finish in Kona. The stage, the lights, the jumbotron, the music, and so many people there cheering you on. It’s at this point you forget any dark patches, any regrets, all the “If only I would haves” and just celebrate the accomplishment. And I did just that. I was grinning ear to ear, high five-ing every single hand that I could reach down that chute.  My family and friends were there right before the finish line so I got to give them a high five, as well. I can’t image that experience ever getting old.

I crossed the finish line in 12 hours, 24 minutes and 16 seconds. I had hoped to break 12 hours so I missed my mark.  But the good news was I did manage to improve upon my 2009 time by over 32 minutes; in tougher conditions on the bike for sure.  Let’s see… At that rate I should go around 11:52 and change next time, right?  Yes, call me crazy but I have already decided there needs to be a next time. I definitely want another shot at this beast – I’ve got some unfinished business out there on that course.

After a short visit to the med tent to get my bearings (was feeling extremely dizzy after the finish), collecting my pre race bag, my finisher bag and medal, and getting my legs rubbed out I was reunited with my fan club. They were all still there patiently waiting after a long day of providing support. You’ve got to give them credit. It’s a long day out there for them too.  And they finished with flying colors.  After meeting up and seizing a photo op, we headed to Tom and Lois’ condo so I could take a desperately needed shower.

My day wasn’t over, however. I make it a ritual to watch the last finishers come in and love every second of it. Dick was a great sport and joined me for what I find are the most inspiring moments of this race. In the last hour you see finishers in their 60′s, 70′s and even 80′s crossing that line. It’s so amazing to see these people out there on this brutally tough course accomplishing the dream.  I’m in awe of their drive to endure and hope I can continue to race with the same passion long into the future.

As with any race I’ve done there are always things I look back on and hope to improve next time.  One thing I know for sure, however, I have no regrets about how I prepared for this race.  With the help of a fabulous coach, amazing training partners, and a supportive family at home and at work, I was able to achieve my dream of running down Alii Drive and finishing this race once again.  I can’t imagine it ever getting old.

And one other thing I’m particularly proud I accomplished this year was raising in excess of $5,771.40 for Children’s Miracle Network.  With the help of countless generous friends, we will be able to make a positive difference in many children’s lives.  Being blessed with the ability to compete at this level is such a gift and I’m thrilled I could do my small part to give a gift back through a sport I truly love.

Thank you to Jenny for letting us experience all the highs and lows of an Ironman without the years of prep and pain. ;o) Congratulations on conquering the Ironman World Championship yet again! We are so proud of you.

Guess what! Facebook has changed again! I know, you’re in total shock. ;o)

You may have noticed that posts from businesses aren’t consistently popping up in your news feed anymore. Such a bummer! There are some businesses that I want to know when they have something to say, such as my favorite clothing stores and money saving sites, like Linn Area Credit Union. First, I’ll explain the “why” behind this Facebook fiasco and then show you how to change your settings to ensure you don’t miss any posts by your favorite businesses!

The “Why”

Facebook has a random mathematical equation that keeps track of how often you interact with each business page. If you interact with a page often, you are expressing interest in that business and, as a result, you’re more likely to see their posts in your news feed. I have found that is equation MUST be flawed since there is at least one baby-related company I interact with often and still wasn’t seeing their updates. Is this you, too? Okay, you’re definitely going to want to follow my suggested setting changes below!

The Fix

To be sure you don’t miss a post by your favorite business page, you can enable notifications and choose to have it show in your news feed (though the latter isn’t always consistent). It’s really easy to do!

1. Head over to Linn Area Credit Union on Facebook (FYI: it won’t work from your mobile)

2. On the right hand side on the page, click the “Like” button and a drop down will appear.

3. Select “Get Notifications” and “Show in News Feed.” Check marks will appear to show that they have been enabled.

Like so:

You can also choose to add Pages to Interest Lists, but I’ll have more on that later!

Questions? Just let me know in the comments below! I’m happy to help! :o)

Back for more??? Woohoo! We are spotlighting Jenny Lorenz’s Ironman experience in a three parter. (If you haven’t read the first one yet, jump over here.) Ready for the next leg of Jenny’s journey? Take a deep breath, maybe grab a power bar, and get ready to See Jenny Bike:

I headed out on the bike up Palani and made the hard left a few blocks up the hill.  When you make that turn, there are tons of people cheering, cowbells ringing, and music pumping from the announcer stand right at that corner. It’s a fabulous send off.  People are going nuts.

The only bad thing about that is you can’t hear a thing, especially something… say… like your bike computer flying off and hitting the pavement. So when you run over it with your back wheel you think you’re running over one of a gazillion reflector things that are in the roads over there. (Due to their opposition to having street lights.)  Yep, in the very first mile I’m without my Joule which tells me my speed, power output, heart rate, etc.  Not ideal.

I notice it’s gone a bit later when I look down to check it.  I tried not to panic and calmly pulled off the course. I then looked back down the road to try to assess where it might have fallen. In doing that I realized I had no idea and also realized that it would be incredibly difficult for me to go against the grain of bikers coming toward me or fight the crowds on the sides of the road to get back there. So I chose to mount up and ride on.

The course intersected again at the spot where we took the hard left before we left town, maybe 8 or 9 miles into the ride.  So when I got to that spot I stopped again to ask a volunteer if anyone had seen it fly off and turned it in to them.   I waited as he ran down a few blocks inquiring, but no such luck.  So before I headed out onto the Queen K I was struck with the realization that I was going to have to bike this course completely by feel. I tried to think positive and have faith in something Marilyn tells me – that I have a good sense of feel and perceived exertion on the bike – and resolved to stay positive and do the best I could.  I did have a watch on so I at least had the time which is extremely important to me for timing my nutrition.

The first part of the bike was relatively uneventful. I was hydrated well my stomach felt good, and I was doing a good job of taking care of myself and keeping cool by dumping water on myself. I made that a high priority and didn’t miss one opportunity to do so at the aid stations.  I ate my Luna bar after settling in and then just churned away. Hydration and nutrition (enough Gu to choke a horse) went like clockwork and I was enjoying the ride.  That is until the turn up to Hawi. Holy cow!  I thought that section of the ride last time was tough. Well that seemed like a recovery spin compared to this year.

At one point in that climb with the headwind gusting so hard I was afraid to be blown off the road and I remember thinking “It’s probably a good thing I don’t have my computer because I know I’d be super mad at how slow I’m going!” It was awful. When I made the turnaround in Hawi I actually yelled “Yippee!!” to the crowd. I was so happy not to be fighting that wind anymore.

I decided to stop at special needs and grab my Coke and a banana. I felt like I needed a shot of caffeine and sugar after that effort on the bike. The ride out of Hawi was with the wind so I was flying and loving it. Unfortunately it was short lived. Once I made the turn back onto the Queen K it was headwind for what seemed an eternity. The winds never make sense to me there. It seems like they are against us WAY more than with us. So I tried to stay small and aero and did my best to bike strong without blowing myself up for the run.  I continued to be diligent with my hydration, nutrition and kept myself cool and was proud of my efforts here as I didn’t feel overheated and my stomach was in a good place for the whole ride.

In assessing my bike after the fact, a time of 6:28:18, one of my absolute slowest IM bike times, I probably rode too conservatively.  Not having my computer, I really wasn’t sure.  Interestingly, my time was 39 seconds faster than my Kona 2009 bike time, however, in tougher conditions. Within a minute of the same time!  As it turns out, I have mixed emotions about the bike, I had hoped to ride much faster and felt I was fit enough to do so.  It was slow, yes, but I took away some positives from the bike, as well.  And even though I’d been battling headwinds for a while, I felt good (relatively speaking) coming into transition.

When you come to the dismount line in Kona a volunteer is right there to take your bike for you. No running around searching for your spot in transition. You just have to manage to get off your bike and it’s magically taken care of for you. So nice!  Once I got off my bike I headed to my T-2 bag; same efficient drill as T-1 with a volunteer having it ready for me before I reached them.  Back to the changing tent which was much less crowded this time.  A 6 hour + bike will help spread things out for a girl. Argh!  My wonderful volunteer, after putting an ice cold towel on my shoulders, (which feels better than almost anything in the world at that time)  help me put on my race belt and fuel belt as I slipped my shoes on.  Another quick layer of sunscreen and a shot of Coke and I headed out to the run.

Join us next week as we live vicariously through her as Jenny finishes the last leg of this Ironman challenge – with a MARATHON!

And the winner… racking up 538 votes…. is:

“This was such an emotional and amazing day! Marvin McNutt is a beautiful person and watching my granddaughters shear joy as he presented them with “daughter bracelets”, after he proposed and gave their mother a gorgeous engagement ring, was a moment I will never forget…captured in this picture.”

Congratulations, Chris!!!

A big, huge THANK YOU to everyone who shared their pics with us. We absolutely adored seeing all of your 2012 highlights! Here’s to an even better 2013! Cheers!

Whew! What a year 2012 turned out to be! We know you guys were all super busy doing amazing things and surely snapping lots of pics along the way! We’d love to see your favorite from the year and add it to our Highlight Reel! It could win you a $100! Click here if you’re ready to get started right now! The sooner your pic is up, the sooner people can start voting for it!

What kind of pics are we looking for? Anything that was important to YOU during the year! Weddings, babies, fur-babies, family pics, babies, vacations, a “first”, a school-time success, babies – anything! (Sorry, we’re suckers for babies!)

It’s so easy to enter this contest! You have until midnight on Tuesday, January 15^th to add your favorite picture from 2012 along with a caption here. Then you and everyone else can vote for your favorite entry! We will choose a winner out of the top 5 most voted for pics. The lucky winner will get a $100 Visa gift card!

If you do NOT have a Facebook account – no worries! You can still use the same entry form to upload a picture and to vote. If you have a Facebook account, you can use a pic that’s already on your page. Makes entering really simple! Questions, just send Tara an email by clicking here.

Enough dilly-dalling! Time to enter your favorite pic from 2012 and get VOTING!

When you are proud of someone you love, you want to shout their successes out to the world! This is exactly how we feel about our very own Jenny Lorenz. Not only is she the amazing Executive Vice President of Linn Area Credit Union, but she is an extremely accomplished triathlete. When you look up the word “dynamic” in the dictionary, I’m pretty sure Jenny’s picture is riiiiiight there. She does more by 7:00 am than many of us do all day! (Or maybe it’s just me…?!)

Jenny qualified for and then participated in the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii in 2012. When she returned, she wrote (beautifully) all about her experience. And, seriously, if you’ve ever wondered what someone who participates in an event like this is thinking, you’re going to LOVE her following her story over the next three weeks (see Jenny, Swim, See Jenny Bike, See Jenny Run).

Get ready to feel inspired! Enjoy the first installment of this three part series, See Jenny Swim:

In my opinion, the Ironman World Championship race in Kona is an awe inspiring event. The magic of the island, the history behind the event, the fittest and fastest athletes in the sport, from all around the world racing beside you…(Well WAY ahead of me, but in the same race, nonetheless)… It is truly a special experience and is difficult for me to articulate just how amazing it is.   The fact that I’ve been given the opportunity to compete in this event twice makes me feel so unbelievably blessed.

Coming into the race this year I felt healthy and strong.  Throughout this race season I’d been able to get a few minor, yet nagging, injuries under control.  For the first time in about 3 years I could run virtually pain free; a very nice change.  This time I decided to head to Kona 8 days early in order to give myself time to decompress from the chaos at home/work, acclimate to the heat and get used to the time change.  In the days leading up to the race I did my best to relax and not get too caught up in the pre-race mania.  I had confidence in my fitness level and confidence in my race strategy. I had outlined my race plan for both the day before the race and race day to the hour. No details were left unchecked. So on race morning I was relaxed and excited to get out on the course.

My day started at 3:30 a.m. when my alarm went off.  I got up and got ready while starting to eat my breakfast.  It takes me a while to get food down that early so I always need to allow some extra time.  So while I got my race gear on and gathered my things, I ate a very unspectacular breakfast of peanut butter toast, Gatorade, plain scrambled eggs, and apple bananas. (Yum!!  My favorite fruit from the island.)  Once I finished eating I gathered my special needs bags and my swim gear and headed down to Alii Drive to catch the shuttle to the pier at 4:30.

You can see the pier from practically anywhere on the western coast of the island on race morning. It’s all lit up and is buzzing with activity. The energy and excitement created by the 1,800+ athletes and countless volunteers is palpable. My first stop was to body marking where I had the nicest two ladies take care of me there.  The pride they took in making sure my number looked absolutely perfect was so great.  Their infectious enthusiasm was such a perfect start to my day; they made me feel like I was the most important person in their world at the time.  After I got body marked I headed to transition to put my fluids in the bottles on my bike, check my gearing and computer setup, put my fuel belt bottles in my T-2 bag (I wear a fuel belt so I can take my super high sodium electrolyte mix along to prevent cramping.) and pump my tires. Now it was just sit and wait for the directive to get in the water. I passed the time chatting with others while waiting, trying not to annoy anyone who seemed nervous or unwilling to visit.

The pro men’s race cannon went off at 6:30 and the pro women at 6:35. I chose to get in the water just as the pro women started as I was just anxious to be out there. So I waded in and made my way to the start line, somewhere in the middle, where the people on surf boards were positioned.  As I bobbed around in the water I looked back at the sea wall to see if I could spot my support crew all clad in their Hawkeye yellow “Jenny Lorenz Fan Club” t-shirts and watched the sea of athletes all entering the water.  It is quite a sight to behold being out in the water and looking back at the crowds.

Due to some cannon malfunction we had no big boom send off this time. Just the announcer screaming “Go! Go! Go!” at us. So with that our race began and we were off – 1,800 or so of us all trying to swim in what seems like the width of Washington High School’s pool where we swim our Master’ s practices. I was happy that I didn’t have anyone intentionally push my head under or grab my ankles this year; people seemed much more courteous than last time I raced here.  But I didn’t exactly come out of the swim unscathed either. I ended up with a bruise on my right thigh, a bruise on the left side of my chest and was bleeding in two spots on my leg when I got out of the water. That being the case, I felt like I had a nice steady swim. I held my own when things got really bottled up, I tried to stay strong and focus on good form, and I never felt panicky or remotely close to blowing up. I even noticed the fish and divers we were swimming over.  (I LOVE swimming in the ocean where you can see!)  Perhaps I wasn’t going fast enough if I had time to notice all that? The second half of the swim seemed to take less time than the first and I had less traffic, which was welcomed. I exited the water at 1:18 and change. I had hoped to be in the 1:15 neighborhood but was satisfied with my result which was over 7 minutes faster than my time from this race in 2009.

I ran up the steps to the makeshift showers and took good care to get as much of the salt water off me as possible. I didn’t need that burning me all day for sure. As I ran through transition I marveled at how efficient the volunteers are at getting our gear to us. I didn’t have to miss a step as a volunteer had my bag ready for me before I got to them.  The changing tent, however, was an absolute zoo. In my last IM in Madison I was immediately met by a volunteer that tended to me.  Here there were so many more people in there all at the same time there was barely anywhere to dump my gear. I scurried around and finally found an open spot and eventually a volunteer was freed up and came to assist me. I made the decision to wear arm coolers after getting completely scorched the last time (My coach, Marilyn McDonald’s advice to wear them was extremely wise and greatly appreciated.) so I put those on while my volunteer put another layer of sunscreen on my back for me. I grabbed my bike shoes, sunglasses and the Luna Bar I had in my transition bag and headed out to my bike.

What will the open road hold for Jenny as she heads out on her bike – and loses her most important piece of race gear! Join us next Monday for the next part of her story, See Jenny Bike.

“Rates are at a historic low! Now is the time to refinance!”

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last year, you’ve heard this at least a dozen times. When my husband and I became homeowners in 2008, we locked into a rate that our loan officer was ecstatic about because it was “so low!” As the years passed, the rates got lower and lower. Just like you, I kept hearing, “The rates are lower than we’ve ever seen! NOW is the time to refinance!”

The idea of refinancing kind of scared me. It sounded almost as fun as going to the dentist or listening to an album featuring nails on a chalkboard. My husband and I had avoided it like the plague until September of this year. Rumor was if your APR was 4.00% or higher, you absolutely needed to look into refinancing. People seemed to be saving a ridiculous amount of money – and, since our APR was higher than 4.00%, I thought it was worth a shot.

What’s really cool about our mortgage department is that they can tell you pretty quickly (either in person or over the phone) whether or not you’d save money by refinancing. My husband and I sat down with one of our helpful mortgage loan officers who ran through several scenarios (15 year, 30 year, various other combos). The loan officer seemed to be almost as excited as we were about the difference refinancing would ultimately make in the life of our loan.

Many people find that they can reduce the amount of money they would have to pay each month. We decided to keep our payments the same and, instead, shorten the life of our loan. Thanks to our refinance, we will have our house paid off 8 to 10 years faster than if we had ignored all the yammering about historically low rates. Yes, we did have to bring a little money to the table

Curious about the process? Let me give you the nutshell version:

We met with a loan officer and locked into a new, much lower rate at the end of September. My husband and I had to provide some paperwork, such as our most recent pay stubs, most recent mortgage statement, and our most recent bank statements. (DON’T WORRY! These things are super easy to get your hands on, thanks to online access to accounts! You just need to print stuff off instead of digging through the piles of paperwork you have stored away.)

Linn Area Credit Union selected an appraiser, who then contacted me for an appointment. This was the part I was most nervous about, but it was super easy. You don’t have to clean to closets out, TRUST ME! The appraiser is looking at the overall big picture, not the dust bunnies. Not that I have any of those… Anyway, he had performed the appraisal and returned all of the documents within 3 weeks of us locking into our rate!

Now here’s the part where you get to kick back and relax while Linn Area Credit Union takes care of the rest behind the scenes. What kinds of things are they doing? I’ll sum it up in one word: PAPERWORK. Bleck. So glad we didn’t have to deal with any of that jazz! Occasionally, they’ll need a little more info from you if requested by the underwriters (dun dun dunnnn). We had to resubmit our latest mortgage statement. *shrug* Whatever, no biggie. The next time I had to do anything for our refi was when I was asked what a good time of day would be for our closing. I’m serious! It was THAT easy. Heck, I spent more time signing documents at closing than I did on the rest of the process combined!

Our entire refi process took about 45 days, but they can take up to 60.

So if you’ve been dragging your feet thinking that refinancing was going to be too big of a pain in the tuckus, please at least call one of our loan officers at (319) 378-0101 ex.3 to see if you’re missing a HUGE opportunity! You can also check out rates, find out about our loan officers or apply online at www.linnareacu.org/mortgage.

WE WANT TO KNOW: Have you refinanced? How much did you save??