Refinancing Research, Revelations, Realities, Reflections

Dear Readers:

As you probably know I've been busy these last four weeks, since my return from my first ever several month RV adventure, working on such diverse activities as:  budget / investment organization and planning, house cleaning and maintenance after two years total of being away, home refinancing to allow for future adventures, studying the benefits / negatives of updating Daphne Dolphin vs buying a newer, more oomph, somewhat larger RV.  Gradually things become clearer and some decisions and changes have been made.

This morning I received two possibilities for refinancing my home.  Even though I've been involved in many home purchases in the course of my marriage, this will be the first time I will have refinanced a home on my own.  In a nutshell, the two possibilities are:

1)  A conventional loan that lowers my interest rate by a full percentage point lowering my monthly payment by about $250 - with no closing costs.

or 

2)  An FHA loan that also lowers my interest rate by a full percentage point but actually increases my monthly payment by about $100 and has fairly substantial closing costs.  However, it also includes a very tidy number of dollars that I could use to buy a newer / nicer RV and still have a goodly amount of money left over for savings.

When I rent the house I'm told, by my  realtor friend, that I can expect to collect rent that would cover the increased house payment.  Do I want to do that?  I haven't decided whether I want to fix Daphne Dolphin or buy something new.  I do know that I love the RV lifestyle; at least for a reasonable amount of time, I plan to RV in the future.  But, might I also like to adventure without the RV from time to time?  I think so.  If I decide to trade Daphne for a newer (more costly) RV and I went the conventional route, I'd probably have to take money out of my retirement saving investments or make monthly payments to cover the difference between what I get for Daphne and the cost of a new RV.  Would it be better to leave the equity in the bank, with lower monthly house payments and the possibility of having to procure a finance arrangement for a newer RV?

I'd love to get your input.  Happy Wednesday, friends.

mary-pat

PS:  I've decided that I don't want to sell the house even though it may turn out that I never live in it again.  The market is just starting to get a little on track here and I think it behooves me to hold on to it for now.