The loan officer said that if I pay it down using that extra $187, it'll shave about 7 years off of my homes mortgage. 

In order to get the non-mortgage costs to around 50%, I would need to shave off about $500 somewhere! 

I ordered a 3-way topsoil mix (1/3 sand, 1/3 silt, and 1/3 sawdust) and what was delivered was a very poor quality product (I talked to 4 different industry professionals, who all believed he delivered fill dirt with some wood shavings added to it.  

I ordered a 3-way topsoil mix (1/3 sand, 1/3 silt, and 1/3 sawdust) and what was delivered was a very poor quality product (I talked to 4 different industry professionals, who all believed he delivered fill dirt with some wood shavings added to it.

They want an expert not Joe Blow software to shave a nickel.

✓Requirements for a Delayed Financing ExceptionThe original purchase transaction was an arms-length transaction.For this refinance transaction, the borrower(s) must meet Fannie Mae’s borrower eligibility requirements as described in B2-2-01, General Borrower Eligibility RequirementsThe borrower(s) may have initially purchased the property as one of the following:a natural person;an eligible inter vivos revocable trust, when the borrower is both the individual establishing the trust and the beneficiary of the trust;an eligible land trust when the borrower is the beneficiary of the land trust; oran LLC or partnership in which the borrower(s) have an individual or joint ownership of 100%.The original purchase transaction is documented by a settlement statement, which confirms that no mortgage financing was used to obtain the subject property.

@Patrick Philip   The whole tone of this thread is that you don't trust contractors, you're smarter than they think, you know how much everything costs and you want to shave every nickel . 

I always install a 1/2" wide foam weather stripping around the perimeter of the area I will be self leveling to allow room for the self leveler to expand with temp changes and not crack.

It is a super easy sell on the transaction side (or can be)--think: no major update (floors, fixtures, paint, etc), no vacant time to fix or sale, no marketing costs or time (like realtor fees or 6 mos on market )...So you may be able to shave some off on that, giving seller easier time of it (but maybe not 20-30%)..Best of luck..

@Angel S. have you tried rubbing walnuts on the scratches?