Mortgage & Refinancing Information

Refinancing Your Home - Is the Time Right?


Refinancing your home is a major decision not to be takenlightly, even in this era of low interest rates and easymoney. While every mortgage company in town is touting thestrategy of getting a new loan before rates rise again,there are several things you'll want to be mindful of beforeyou go about refinancing your home.

In my view the key to refinancing your home isn't just therate they're offering you: it's the total package looked atnot only in terms of today, but a few years down the road.Many people have taken out new loans that really weren'tquite right for their long term situations, thinking they'dbe able to refinance again in the not-too-distant future.That may or may not prove to be true. No one has a crystalball that'll give you a definitive idea of just where rateswill be even a year from now, so try to approach this with asomewhat more long-termed view. It's very easy to gettempted by the prospect of easy, fast cash, but in the endyou end up giving it all back in terms of higher payments,and worst case, be unable to make your payments and loseyour home. Just look at all the costs associated with thisnew loan, determine what the payments will be in 2, 5 and 10years, or whatever your timeline is, and make an informeddecision unfettered by a mortgage broker's "opinion" what's"best" for you. They have a vested interest in getting youinto a loan, any loan, and WILL NOT, repeat, WILL NOT, haveyour best interests at heart when you go about refinancingyour home.

Some things to consider when refinancing your home would bethe type of loan,(fixed,ARM, etc.) the rate, the term, thecosts associated with the loan, any cash equity you'd liketo take out, and the time and documentation necessary forrefinancing your home. This is a wildly competitive market,and please do yourself a favor and shop around. The sameloan one lender will offer you can vary greatly from anotherjust down the street as far as total costs go. Don't beafraid to say no: they're not doing you a favor by "giving"you this loan. They're reaping many thousands of yourdollars in interest, so make sure you get what you want, notwhat they want to sell you. Remember, you're refinancingyour home, not their summer vacation!

All in all, when refinancing your home, take your time. Shoparound, compare, and you are the customer, and what was thatthey say about the customer always being right? You are, aslong as you do your homework when refinancing your home.

Keith Thompson is a real estate investor and webmaster at Mortgage LoansToday where you can find more information and resourcesfor refinancing your home


MORE RESOURCES:

Washington Times

Is It Time To Refinance Your Mortgage?
Forbes, NY - 23 hours ago
Falling rates and a friendly Fed mean good things for homeowners. But there's a catch. Looking to refinance your mortgage? Do it now. ...
Mortgage Rates At 37- Year Low WHIZ
Refinancing suddenly booms Honolulu Advertiser
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Cardoza proposal could aid housing crisis
Stockton Record, CA - 15 hours ago
By Bruce Spence Rep. Dennis Cardoza, D-Atwater, has a plan to reverse the housing crisis and boost the economy: a 4 percent interest rate on fixed-rate, ...


Waco banks seeing a boom in mortgage refinance applications
Waco Tribune Herald, TX - Jan 2, 2009
By Mike Copeland With mortgage rates hitting record lows, Mary Jo Teakell is seeing a growing backlog of refinance applications. “We’re quite busy right now ...
Borrowers seeking to refinance may face challenges WTOP
all 15 news articles


Situations determine refinancing
FayObserver.com, NC - Jan 7, 2009
By Hilary Kraus It depends on your situation. How much do you still owe? How long do you expect to stay in your home? Are lower payments a priority? ...


Mortgage Refinance Loans
Kitchener, Ontario Canada, Canada - Dec 31, 2008
The City of Kitchener is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada. It was the Town of Berlin from 1854 until 1912 and the City of Berlin from 1912 until 1916. ...


St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Mortgage Refinance Online
PWO, France - Dec 17, 2008
If you want to consolidate debt or get cash to pay for home improvements, you can apply for a mortgage refinance online that offers you a cash back option, ...
Video: Record low mortgage rates ReutersVideo
Mortgage Rate Hits 37-Year Low Wall Street Journal
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Bad Credit Mortgage Refinance Loan- 3 Most Important Items to Get ...
CrunchGear, NY - Dec 23, 2008
Ultimately if you are looking to do a bad credit mortgage refinance loan you need to keep several things in mind to ensure that you don’t get taken for a ...


TopNews

Question & Answer on mortgage refinancing
Boston Herald, United States - Jan 1, 2009
By Holden Lewis / Bankrate.Com With mortgage rates at historic lows, lots of homeowners are debating whether to refinance their mortgages these days. ...
Don't miss the mortgage refinance window Barre Montpelier Times Argus
Applications Show Refi Wear-Out? Housing Wire
A toast to low mortgage rates MarketWatch
all 457 news articles


Are points a good buy on refinancings right now?
WalletPop, VA - Jan 5, 2009
During the housing boom, my wife and I probably got at least a dozen solicitations a month from banks wanting us to refinance our mortgage or borrow against ...


ABC News

Falling interest rates create surge
Schenectady Gazette, NY - Dec 24, 2008
By James Schlett (Contact) ROTTERDAM — The past week has been something of a renaissance for Stan Len, a mortgage broker with Adirondack Home Mortgage. ...
Video: Money Minute: Holiday Spending, Mortgages AssociatedPress
Refi madness CNN
Q4 Consumer Spending Could Be Better Than Q3, But Weakness Will ... FXstreet.com The Foreign Exchange Market
Reuters
all 497 news articles

Mortgage-Refinance - Google News

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