<prompt> Human: The home was purchased for 285,000 2 years ago and has an estimated appraised value for 330,000. We want to put 70,000 down on our current home mortgage and our banker is telling us it does not make sense to refinance simply because interest rates are the same.Is this correct? I thought during the 2009 Housing crisis many people were going to refinance with the expectation that the value of their home had risen. Our house has risen in value and were being encouraged not to refinance. Why is that?  <response>: It only makes sense to refinance to lower your interest rate. If you just want to pay an extra 70,000 in principal to your mortgage then just go ahead and do that. 