Homeowners eager for mortgage rates to dip so they can refinance their places may have to wait quite a bit longer.

A study from Neighbors Bank says folks whose current loans are in the 6.5%-7% range would have to wait for rates to drop by at least three-quarters of a percentage point before they would see any significant savings.

It costs money to refinance; the amount depends on the lender. But the exercise makes sense only if you plan to remain in the house -- and keep the new loan -- for longer than it takes to recoup that expense in the form of monthly savings.

For example, if it costs $4,000 to refi but you save $200 a month in doing so, it would take 20 months to break even. After that, you’re saving money. But if you plan to sell before that, refinancing is a waste.

You can do your own math -- and you should, perhaps before you buy the house in the first place. It seems many recent buyers are betting the house, wagering that rates will come down soon.

A survey of 1,000 buyers by Truework, a platform that delivers verification reports to lenders, found that more than half are buying now in hopes that rates will soon come down enough to refi.

“Today’s homebuyers are increasingly desperate for a return to lower interest rates,” said the company’s Victor Kabdebon. He warns that buying now and just hoping for a rate decrease “could be a very risky move if it doesn’t happen -- and most analysts predict it will not anytime soon.”

The general rule of thumb is that you should be able to recover your costs from a refi within two years. The Neighbors Bank study gave it a more liberal three years, and still found it would take a drop of at least 0.6 points before refinancing would deliver clear gains in that time frame.

The bank based its findings on this scenario: a homeowner with a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage at 6.8% and a loan amount of $386,339. It would cost $5,458 in loan fees and closing costs to refinance at a lower rate.

If this fictional borrower refinanced after rates fell just 0.25 points, they’d still be in the hole $2,424 after 36 months. That is, they'd still be out of pocket more than they'd saved.

With a half-point decline, they’d break even in just over three years; with a drop of 0.75 points, they break even in just under three years. But if rates slid by a full percentage point, they’d recoup the cost in 20 months -- and after three years, they'd net a savings of $4,764.

“Many assume that any drop in rates is enough to justify refinancing, but the math tells a different story,” said Jake Vehige, president of mortgage lending at Neighbors Bank. “Unless you’re seeing a significant drop, refinancing may not make sense right away.”

Vehige points out that refinancing "isn’t just about the rate. It’s about how long you plan to stay in your home, how much you pay up front, and where you live."

To his last point, high-cost housing markets tend to offer the highest five-year savings because larger loan amounts magnify the impact of even a small rate cut. Based on Neighbors' analysis, people in every state eventually break even if they keep the new mortgage for five years. But the amount saved depends greatly on location.

For example, borrowers in New Hampshire, with an average loan amount of $430,247, net nearly $3,000 more in five-year savings after refinancing at a 0.5-point rate drop than those in Louisiana, who have an average loan amount of $252,075.

Savings also vary with the type of loan you have and its duration. Borrowers with shorter-term loans, and with conventional mortgages, tend to realize refinance savings more quickly. Those with 15-year mortgage holders break even faster and accumulate more savings than those with 30-year loans when rates drop by the same amount, the Neighbors Bank study found.

A 15-year loan requires larger monthly payments, but saves significantly on interest over the loan’s term. That advantage carries over to refinancing because 15-year borrowers pay down principal faster and, therefore, recoup their refinancing costs much sooner.

With a half-point rate drop, for example, a typical 15-year borrower would see $1,350 in net savings after three years, while a 30-year borrower would still be $184 in the red.

Refinancing conventional loans also outperforms government-backed FHA, VA and USDA mortgages, largely because of lower insurance premiums and fewer associated fees.

With a government loan, borrowers trade lower upfront costs for higher interest expenses over the life of the loan, the study says. With a refinance, that trade-off carries through. Conventional borrowers generally realize greater long-term savings, while government-backed borrowers see more up-front relief but smaller cumulative gains.

There are other reasons, of course, to refinance. If you want to access equity you’ve built up in the house, lower your monthly payment by extending your loan’s term, or switch from an adjustable-rate to a fixed-rate loan, refinancing might make sense.

But if you are contemplating doing so purely to save money, do the math. It may surprise you. Says Neighbors Bank, “Modest rate improvements still require a multiyear commitment before refinancing truly offsets” the cost.

One of the most difficult parts of beginning a home improvement project is comparing bids from various contractors. It’s almost impossible.

The reason: Contractor quotes are rarely “apples to apples.” One might be incomplete, leaving out critical information, while another is so detailed that you can’t nail down the scope of the project. One might be casually scrawled on the back of an envelope, while another comes on formal letterhead. Yet they’re all from reputable firms that do good work.

Here comes BidCompareAI, a new tool powered by artificial intelligence that analyzes and compares multiple contractor bids. In minutes, it generates a clear, line-by-line report that standardizes each proposal so you can avoid expensive confusion. It identifies missing items, unrealistic allowances and other red flags before any work begins.

On the flip side, it allows contractors to quote with confidence, negotiate smarter, close deals faster and protect their bottom lines. Best of all, it is free!

Every year, renovation projects are derailed by hidden blunders, vague language and inconsistent contractor bids, pushing 78% of jobs over budget and forcing two-thirds of homeowners into debt, according to Clever Real Estate. Even pros like property managers and flippers struggle to assess and compare bids.

BidCompareAI promises to turn confusing, inconsistent bids into clear, side-by-side insights. It allows homeowners to upload multiple bids and get a quick, detailed report comparing the scope and pricing of each one. No sign-up or payment is required.

The platform “adds instant transparency and clarity ... saving people from costly mistakes before a project even starts,” brags Jon Grishpul, co-founder of GreatBuildz, the Los Angeles-based company that developed the program. It also serves as a “credibility tool” for contractors that streamlines communication, builds trust and helps win more business, he says.

BidCompareAI is still in beta testing, but is up and live on the GreatBuildz website. Homeowners have to upload the details of each proposal separately to the site, but it’s not as cumbersome as it sounds: All you need to do is take screenshots of the bids, turn them into PDF files and upload them.

From there, the platform “reads” through the quotes, compares each one and pinpoints what’s missing. Then, if you are still interested in a particular proposal, you can ask the contractor to fill in the blanks.

Eventually, Grishpul hopes, the system will become even simpler to use. “It’s going to be a constant journey to make the platform as easy and as effective as possible,” he promises.

While GreatBuildz is a homeowner-contractor matching service operating solely in California, BidCompareAI is national in scope with no humans in the loop. Grishpul promises the tool is “thoroughly reliable,” having been vetted by numerous contractors.

One issue with many contractors’ proposals is that they omit key parts of the job -- sometimes purposefully. If you are remodeling your kitchen, for example, what’s the charge for removing the old cabinets, taking the debris to the dump and cleaning up afterwards?

BidCompareAI catches these and other omissions so you’re not hit with an extra (and often hefty) charge when the work is complete.

Then there’s the fine print: You never read it, but it can come back to bite you in the end. For instance, what if you buy the materials on your own at the local big box store? Who’s going to pay to have the stuff picked up or delivered?

Vague, ambiguous terms are another difficulty: “Fixtures” and “materials” can mean almost anything. The AI tool flags such terms so you can ask for specifics upfront -- specifics you may not even have considered in the beginning.

Sometimes one proposal comes in at a much lower price than all the others. Lowball bids often mean the contractor will cut corners or catch you later with numerous change orders or other charges they “failed” to include in the original bid. BidCompareAI exposes such offers so you can make the contractor come back with more details.

Moreover, contractors sometimes quote different prices for the exact same product -- say, a shower enclosure from the same manufacturer. The AI platform compares each item side by side so you can see what kind of profit margins, if any, the contractor is adding to their cost.

Quality is another discrepancy found in many competing bids. One might specify top-of-the-line cabinet doors, for instance, while another fails to mention their quality at all. The AI tool flags the differences so you know exactly what you are paying for.

Hidden fees lurk in many proposals. Fees to secure the necessary building permits, for example, are sometimes left out or bundled with other charges. But BidCompareAI reveals them in its line-by-line summary reports.

“Lots of things are lumped together under the heading of ‘profit and overhead,’” says Grishpul. “But sometimes they are separate charges. You’ll want to know who is responsible for them.”

The platform also finds duplicate charges that mysteriously make their way into a bid so you won’t be paying twice for the same work or product. And it identifies vague or missing timelines that, if left unaddressed, can lead to costly delays and overruns. “If timelines aren’t priced,” Grishpul warns, “there is no accountability.”

The fact that Sen. Adam Schiff and Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook have been accused by the Trump administration of lying on their mortgage applications should serve as a warning and a reminder to everyone looking for a home loan: Always tell the truth.

The charges against Schiff and Cook seem to be politically motivated. Still, it’s a federal offense to lie on an application for financing. Even if it’s doubtful you’ll be prosecuted, lying on an application is fraud, and fraud is a crime.

Your loan officer might hint that you should say you earn more than you actually do, or whisper that it’s OK to fudge your employment history. But don’t do it. If you are caught, the consequences can be severe. How does up to 30 years in prison and up to $1 million in fines grab you?

Even if you are not prosecuted, if your lender finds out you equivocated, they can call your loan due and payable on the spot. You can be required to pay back what you borrowed -- immediately.

The lies we’re talking about aren't grand schemes organized by crime syndicates to defraud lenders out of millions of dollars. No, we’re talking about little white lies -- the kind that everyday people tell to obtain funding for a house (or a lower rate on that funding). They fully intend to make their payments as promised, and they usually do. Nevertheless, it's fraud.

Unfortunately, with today's ever-increasing housing prices, stubbornly high mortgage rates, rising property taxes, and soaring insurance premiums and homeowners association fees, more and more wannabe borrowers are seeing the need to fib on their applications.

According to property information and analytics firm Cotality, mortgage fraud has been "gradually rising over the last year." In this year’s second quarter, about 1 in 116 applications contained at least one instance of fraud.

Loan application fibs are likely to be caught during the underwriting process. Lenders employ all manner of verification methods, including the review of pay stubs, W-2 forms, tax returns, credit reports, bank statements and appraisals.

Still, only 58 offenders actually drew federal sentences in fiscal year 2021, according to the U.S. Sentencing Commission.

Here are some of the lies people tell:

-- Job details. Maybe the applicant is due for a raise, so they write down what they'll soon be making instead of what they currently bring in. Others claim to have been on the job for longer than they really have. Some even go to the trouble of creating fake documents and pay stubs to back up their claims.

Sometimes these fabrications slip through, but you’re likely to be caught when the underwriter goes over your application. They'll be looking at your recent tax returns and seeking verification from your employer, so your fibs will likely get you nowhere. And the underwriter will then wonder what else you've lied about.

-- Residency. The house is the basis for the loan, and your lender will want to make certain it is your principal residence. If it’s not, you’ll have to qualify as an investor -- and those loans have more stringent requirements and higher rates.

Some people try to deceive their lenders about their residency to obtain better terms. Others might do so to help a relative or friend -- the person who will actually occupy the place, but who can’t qualify for the loan on their own.

The allegations against Schiff and Cook state that they violated the principal residency requirement. While you’re not likely to face such scrutiny, the consequences can be severe if you are caught.

-- Money source. Lenders want to see that you are putting up plenty of your own money as a down payment. After all, studies have shown that the more cash you have in the deal, the less likely you will be to miss payments and ultimately walk away from the house.

That’s why they want to document exactly where your funds came from. In particular, they will be looking to verify monetary gifts, which are treated a little differently from your own savings. They’ll also want to know if those “gifts” are actually loans, which have to be repaid.

Instead of lying about where your funds come from, it’s better to be upfront and document your sources.

-- Other accounts. Any other current loans, along with any previous bankruptcies and foreclosures, must be reported on your application. They affect how much you can borrow -- or whether you can secure financing at all. “Forgetting” to include them won’t do you much good, because they are part of your credit history and will remain on your record for years.

Your lender will pull your credit report as part of the underwriting process. But even if they somehow fail to do so, all you'd "win" is a mortgage for much more than you can afford.

-- Status. Don’t misrepresent the fact that you are married, have dependents or are (or aren't) a first-time homebuyer. Lenders check all of this. If they find out you were less than forthcoming, your application will be turned down, and your chances of obtaining financing elsewhere could be jeopardized.