NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - We received quite a few (all right, a deluge) of responses to The Expert's May 5th column, which advised a homeowner with just five years remaining on his mortgage not to refinance. Here's a sampling of the letters and The Expert's reply:

I think your advice not to refinance during the last five years of a mortgage is off the mark. A few mortgage companies are offering five- and seven-year mortgages, some with no fees or paperwork. And the savings can be material. Another option would be to obtain a 5-year ARM, and make additional principal payments to amortize the loan over five years. Even after paying a loan fee, this can result in significant savings. No question, the savings will be far smaller than for persons with, say, 20 years left on their note, but if you can save $1,200 for an hour's work, why not do it?

-- Greg Sjullie, Glen Ellyn, IL

I'm in the same situation as Mr. Hicks in your May 5th column on whether to refinance a loan with just five years of the term remaining. I got a home equity line for 3.25 percent less than my mortgage rate. I used that to pay off the mortgage. Now I'll just have the remaining 3 years of payments at the lower rate! No closing costs, no fees.

-- Donald Meyer, Bettendorf, Louisiana

I think your May 5th column on refinancing should have told the person with five years remaining on his mortgage to refinance with a five-year home equity loan. You can get such loans at fixed rates of 5 percent or so, and most banks will pay all but the appraisal fee. (Some will even pay that. I've done this four times in the past two years and am about to do it again.

-- Tim Swiezak, Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania

I disagree with your answer in the refinancing column of May 5th The writer of the question could simply refinance with no points -- no closing cost 15-year mortgage with a 6 percent (or better) rate. He could then continue to pay the $1,050 per month and he would pay off the loan in approximately 58 months for a before-tax savings of about $2,100 for a small amount of paperwork.

-- Rick Gardner, Boston, Mass.

Hey, I'm the Expert, not the Pope. I'm not infallible, which I proved beyond a doubt in my May 5th column. I agree that the various suggestions outlined in the letters above could save money even for someone with just five years remaining on their loan.

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That said, however, I think the most practical of the proposed solutions is taking out a fixed-rate five-year home equity loan, which one can find many lenders offering at rates of 5 percent or less these days, in many cases with no or low closing costs. By choosing this option, you don't have to worry about the rates rising on a home equity line pegged to prime or sticking to a prepayment schedule as you would by taking out a mortgage with a term longer than five years.

In any case, you can check out the rates offered on different types of loans in your area by going to the Rate Watch section of our site or to Bankrate.com.)

Walter Updegrave is a senior editor at MONEY Magazine and is the author of "Investing for the Financially Challenged."