Loan Rate Buy Down for long term hold
Is it beneficial to buy down points and reduce your monthly payment for a long term buy/hold strategy? So for ease of discussion, if I pay $3,600 to buy down the rate by 1% and reduce the principle/interest monthly payment by $100 is it safe to say that I would start to see the benefit of that after 36 months of payments? i.e. $1,200 per year reduction.
Since this is for long term are there any downsides to this other than having to cover that $3,600 up front? Any input is appreciated.