Understanding Your Refinancing Options

The decision to refinance is based on a number of factors. The terms of your current loan, the amount of your current loan and the remaining balance. It also is dependent on the amount you intend to refinance. Refinancing is a way to get your equity out of your home without selling it. If the new loan offers better interest rates and terms, you may be able to save money.

The reasons most people chose to refinance are to obtain more favorable interest rates, to use the equity they have in their home, to consolidate high interest loans like credit cards, or to simply to lower the amount of their monthly mortgage payments. If your reason for seeking refinancing is lower interest rates, you may not save money with your new loan. This is especially true if you intend to remain in your house over the long term.

Lower interest rates might be tempting but if you are in the 15th year of a 30 year mortgage, you will end up the loser. All the money saved from the existing loan will go up in smoke. But if your mortgage is just eight years old and the interest rate is 2% or 1% more than the new rate, go ahead, get a refinance.

Don’t just sign on the dotted line and trust your lender’s integrity. Review every aspect of the terms of the loan including origination fees and closing costs. How much of your monthly payment will go to equity and how much to interest? At what point will you actually break even on the loan? Compare all the terms to the terms of your current mortgage and see if, over the life of the loan, you will actually realize any savings. You may want to seek advice from a real estate attorney or account if you don’t understand the terms and costs of your current loan or the cost of refinancing.

Before you do the math, check out your FICO score, the prevailing equity of your home, and your current debt to-income ration. These are the three considerations that will impact on your refinance. A low FICO score earns you higher interest rates and the problems worsen if the equity of your home is low and your current debt-to-income ration is high. If this is the case, a refinance is not for you.

A point that many people fail to consider when refinancing is that the fees and closing costs are part of the cost of the loan. The origination fee for the lender and the closing costs for the new loan can add thousands of dollars in costs to the new loan. This may offset any savings you realize with a lower interest rate.

If you qualify under the new government programs, you may not have to pay some or all of the fees. If you are refinancing because of the loss of a job due to the recession or due to serious illness, the fees may be waived in your case. The decision to waive the fee is made on a case by case basis, so before refinancing you should investigate whether you qualify for this waiver. This fee waiver will make refinancing more affordable for those who qualify.

People with an adjustable rate mortgage who want to refinance with a fixed rate mortgage, and who qualify for the fee waiver, stand to save thousands of dollars over the life of their loan. Make sure you find the lowest available rate you are able to qualify for before proceeding with the refinancing of your home. If the refinancing means lower monthly payments and the costs don’t exceed the savings, refinancing is an option you should consider. Your best move may be to talk with an attorney who is familiar with real estate before refinancing.

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