Mortgage & Refinancing Information

Mortgage Cycling - Brilliant or Risky


With mortgage rates near 20-year lows, competition in the mortgage industry is fierce. It seems like every day a new mortgage loan strategy comes out that is suppose to be the best thing since sliced bread. Whether it's a mortgage with no closing costs or an interest only mortgage, everyone is claiming they can save you a ton of money. Now someone has come out with something called Mortgage Cycling. Mortgage Cycling could save you thousands of dollars or it could cost you your home.

Mortgage cycling is a program that advertises itself as a method to payoff your mortgage in 10 years or less without making biweekly mortgage payments or changing your current mortgage. Does mortgage cycling work as advertised? The answer is unequivocally yes - with a few caveats. I'm going to let you in on the secret to mortgage cycling.

Mortgage cycling is based on making huge lump sum principal payments every 6-10 months. What this means is mortgage cycling works well for those who have at least a few hundred dollars in extra cash at the end of each month. The problem is most people don't have that kind of cash available.

Mortgage Cycling relies on using a revolving Home Equity Line of Credit to make huge lump sum payments against their original mortgage principal balance. When you take out a home equity line of credit, you pay for many of the same expenses as when you financed your original mortgage such as an application fee, title search, appraisal, attorney fees, and points. You also may find most loans have large one-time upfront fees, others have closing costs, and some have continuing costs, such as annual fees. You could find yourself paying hundreds of dollars to establish a home equity line of credit. Most home equity lines of credit also carry what is known as interest rate risk.

Home equity line of credit interest rates are typically variable. The Federal Reserve is currently in the process of raising the overnight federal funds rate. As the Fed continues to raise rates, it is all but inevitable that variable interest rates for mortgages will also rise. Your savings may not be as great as anticipated.

While Mortgage Cycling does have some additional costs for most people, that is not what makes this mortgage reduction strategy risky. If you use a Home Equity Line of Credit and money gets tight, you could lose your home and the equity you have built up. Home equity lines of credit require you to use your home as collateral for the loan. This may put your home at risk if you are late or cannot make your monthly payments. And if you sell your home, most lines of credit require you to pay off your credit line at that time.

Mortgage Cycling requires you to make mortgage payments and Home Equity Line of Credit payments for up to 10 years. For most people mortgage cycling is an extremely risky way to payoff a mortgage. Mortgage cycling should be used only after a careful assessment of the risks and benefits. Prepaying your mortgage is smart. You should explore all of the mortgage reduction alternatives before choosing Mortgage Cycling as a mortgage reduction strategy.

George Burks of http://www.mybiweeklymortgagepayment.com has offered a biweekly mortgage payment plan with no enrollment fee since 1999. His interest in financial topic is varied. Visit http://www.mybiweeklymortgagepayment.com financial library for more information about a revolving Home Equity Line of Credit.

  


MORE RESOURCES:

ABC News

US mortgage applications hit 8-year low
Times Online, UK - Aug 20, 2008
... mortgage applications fell to an eight-year low last week as Americans delay or abandon purchases and fewer people seek to refinance their loans. ...
US MBA's Mortgage Applications Index Fell 1.5% (Update1) Bloomberg
Mortgage application volume hits multiyear low The Associated Press
Mortgage volume fell 1.5% last week: MBA MarketWatch
USA Today - International Herald Tribune
all 242 news articles


Housing And Economic Recovery Act
Mondaq News Alerts (subscription), UK - 7 hours ago
The Act also expands the target population served by the FHA and creates the "Hope for Homeowners" voluntary FHA-insured mortgage refinance program. ...


COMMENTARY: FHA is riding to the rescue, taxpayers beware
Reuters - 2 hours ago
(Ann Schnare is an economist specializing in housing and mortgage finance. She was former senior vice president for corporate relations at Freddie Mac and ...
Consumers feel fallout from Fannie, Freddie CNNMoney.com
all 45 news articles


Mortgage Rates for Best Borrowers Rise as Bonds Slump (Update2)
Bloomberg - 31 minutes ago
21 (Bloomberg) -- A decline in mortgage bond prices is raising interest rates on US home loans, even for borrowers least prone to default. ...


The Money Times

Fannie, Freddie: Plunge then rebound
CNNMoney.com - 48 minutes ago
The Wall Street Journal Thursday said that the firms needed to refinance $225 billion in mostly short-term debt by the end on September. ...
Business Highlights Forbes
Freddie and Fannie Bail-Out Imminent Sovereign Society
Fannie and Freddie crisis deepens FT Alphaville
The Australian - Forbes
all 1,783 news articles


Housing market keeping couples together
Chicago Sun-Times, United States - 3 hours ago
If one wants to keep the home, it's difficult to refinance the mortgage so the departing spouse can be cut loose from the debt. And evaporated home equity ...


Economist

A Treasury bailout of Fannie and Freddie is all but a foregone ...
FT Alphaville, UK - 11 hours ago
Failure to refinance would be an immediate signal to the Treasury to step in; it would force its hand. Mish Shedlock notes that $225bn is an aweful lot to ...
Rising Cost of Debt Stokes Fears Wall Street Journal
Freddie And Fannie Bailout Fears Mount Investor's Business Daily (subscription)
all 278 news articles


Boston Globe

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Newsday, NY - Aug 20, 2008
They can't refinance because housing prices in those markets have nose-dived, and lenders are now demanding full documentation of income and assets. ...
FDIC to offer better terms on thousands of IndyMac mortgages MarketWatch
FDIC Details Rescue Plan for Homeowners With IndyMac Mortgages ABA Journal
all 350 news articles


Refinancing not always an easy ride
Seattle Post Intelligencer - Aug 19, 2008
I recently refinanced my mortgage, and I can tell you that I don't ever want to do that again. Even for people who read, read and read the fine print, ...


Combating the mortgage crisis
Bridgeport News, CT - 3 hours ago
She is based in Bridgeport and currently has 70 clients trying to refinance with her assistance. “We have relationships with the lenders,” Latorre said. ...

mortgage refinance - Google News

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