Mortgage & Refinancing Information

Refinancing Your Mortgage Can Really Save You Money


Refinancing a mortgage is simply taking out a new mortgage. It means paying off one or more old debts by getting a new loan. Sometimes, refinancing your mortgage can really save you money. You may be able to pay less interest, lower your monthly payment, or convert from a 30-year loan to a 15-year loan and build your equity faster. But be sure that refinancing is right for you.

1. Refinancing can be a good idea for you if you:

- want to get out of a high interest rate loan to take advantage of lower rates. This is a good idea only if you intend to stay in the house long enough to make the additional fees worthwhile.

- have an adjustable-rate mortgage and want a fixed-rate loan to have the certainty of knowing exactly what the mortgage payment will be for the life of the loan.

- want to convert to an adjustable-rate mortgage with a lower interest rate or more protective features.

- want to build up equity more quickly by converting to a loan with a shorter term.

- want to draw on the equity built up in your house to get cash for a major purchase or for your children's education.

2. Some situations where refinancing your mortgage can really save you money:

- refinancing your higher interest rate unsecured loans with lower interest rate unsecured loans if the terms of the loans are comparable and the new rate is lower than the existing rate.

- refinancing your secured debts (such as your mortgage or car loan) if the new loan is for the same length of time left on your old loan (or shorter), and the interest rate on the new loan is substantially lower than the interest rate on your existing loan.

- refinancing your home to pay-off expensive car loans or credit cards provided you're not in financial difficulty and not at risk of losing your home.

Mortgage refinancing can be worthwhile, but it does not make good financial sense for every homeowner. A general role of thumb is that refinancing becomes worth your while if the current interest rate on your mortgage is at least 2 percentage points higher than the prevailing market rate. This figure is generally accepted as the safe margin when balancing the costs of refinancing a mortgage against the savings.

Sometimes, refinancing is an appropriate way to resolve financial problems. In some situations, however, refinancing can make existing financial problems worse. If you decide that refinancing is not worth the costs, ask your lender whether you may be able to obtain all or some of the new terms you want by agreeing to a modification of your existing loan instead of a refinancing.

Copyright © 2005. Chileshe Mwape writes for the Mortgage Lender Guide at: http://www.lending-guide.org/ which offers informative articles about mortgages and loans.

This article may be reprinted as long as all the above links are active and clickable.

  


MORE RESOURCES:

Washington Times

The Truth About Mortgage Refinancing Revealed By Connecticut ...
SBWire (press release), WI - 16 hours ago
Westport, Connecticut based Mortgage Broker Don Caiati reveals mortgage refinancing secrets at a new web site that is full of free reports, a home buying ...
Refinancing suddenly booms Honolulu Advertiser
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Forbes - Washington Times
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Xinhua

Average Mortgage Rate Hits 5%, Lowest in Decades
New York Times, United States - 9 hours ago
Of course, buying a home is a more lengthy process than simply calling up a mortgage broker to refinance, and activity typically slows during the holiday ...
US Banks Offer Mortgages Below 5% After Fed Action Bloomberg
Rates lowest since '71; time to refinance? Modesto Bee
Long-Term Mortgage Rate Falls Again Wall Street Journal
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Cardoza proposal could aid housing crisis
Stockton Record, CA - 2 hours ago
Under the Cardoza plan, the payment on that mortgage refinanced to 4 percent fixed rate would drop to $1194 a month. Contact reporter Bruce Spence at (209) ...


REFILE-UPDATE 1-US mortgage demand dipped before Fed move-MBA
Reuters - Jan 7, 2009
The jump in applications during December may have been driven by homeowners already "on the fence" and prepared to refinance on a drop in mortgage rates, ...
Mortgage applications down in latest survey Forbes
Week-to-week mortgage applications down 8.2% MarketWatch
Fewer apply for home loans; credit line delinquencies increase Los Angeles Times
KVOA.com - Kansas City Star
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Boston Globe

Fed’s Rosengren Calls for ‘Concerted’ Fiscal, Monetary Policies
Bloomberg - 4 hours ago
... to purchase or refinance homes,” Rosengren said. The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped for a 10th week to 5.01 percent yesterday, ...
Rosengren sees path to recovery Boston Globe
Fed's Rosengren says recession more severe than thought Reuters
all 51 news articles


Los Angeles Times

Congressional Press Release on Mortgage Deal
Wall Street Journal - 9 hours ago
"Despite efforts by Congress to address this issue, not enough lenders have come to the table to help borrowers with bad mortgages refinance into new, ...
Citigroup reaches agreement with key senators on mortgage ... Minneapolis Star Tribune
Citigroup agrees to allow judges to help modify some mortgages IdahoStatesman.com
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TopNews

Question & Answer on mortgage refinancing
Boston Herald, United States - Jan 1, 2009
If I refinance the mortgage on my current house, will I hurt my chances for getting a loan for a new place later on? A: No. Refinancing a loan shouldn’t ...
MORTGAGES: 30-year Mortgage Rate Falls For Ninth Straight Week To ... CNNMoney.com
Mortgage Rates Hit 37-Year Low Poynter.org
30 Year Fixed Rates Drop to 5.10 percent Best Syndication
Wall Street Journal - Ventura County Star
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Refinancing shoots through the roof
Plano Star Courier, TX - 15 hours ago
“Quite a few people have remortgaged,” said Craig Jarrell, loan officer with Pulaski Mortgage. “Most people who refinance are new homeowners as recent as ...


Mortgage refinancing skyrockets
Cincinnati.com, OH - Jan 3, 2009
... 2009 With US mortgage rates the lowest in 30 years, local lenders say they've seen a strong surge in loan applications as homeowners seek to refinance ...
Waco banks seeing a boom in mortgage refinance applications Waco Tribune Herald
Borrowers seeking to refinance may face challenges WTOP
As mortgage rates slide, refinancing applications take off Dallas Morning News
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The very good reasons to refinance
Boston Globe, United States - 14 hours ago
When I wrote about the hidden cost of the additional years of mortgage payments, several people wrote in with very good reasons to refinance anyway. ...

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