Let’s look at how this would work with your mortgage balance.
Example: A homeowner with stellar credit owes $150,000 at 4.75% and is paying $782.47 on a refinance they did just 6 months ago. They discover that their creditors are offering a balance transfer offer up to $25,000 on two separate cards at 0% interest for 18 months and a transfer fee of just 1%, so the transaction fee will total $1000. On the other hand, they will be paying 0% for a year and a half on the $50,000 transferred and their mortgage balance (also known as principal) will go down from $150,000 to $100,000 at once. They can use the Citi simplicity and AMEX preferred cards.

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Additionally, their lender gives the borrower the option to re-amortize their loan once they pay off $50,000 in principal to just 20 years. If you know you’ll have the funds to pay back the $100,000 along with the regular mortgage payment. The savings will be $2375 in interest charges ($50,000 x 4.75% vs $50,000 x 0%) minus the transfer fee of $1000, netting you a whopping savings of $1375.

What may be forgotten are tax deductions on mortgage interest you can use on your personal income taxes. Perhaps it is not all shiny stars when looked at in context. Maybe the bank should offer borrowers the choice to transfer some credit card debt into their mortgage vs. a debt consolidation refinance with all the fees.