Many financial analysts will claim that home loan refinance is a great option for buyers when interest rates are low. The reason for this is very obvious to most people. Refinancing your home loan can allow you to take new loans for a relatively lower interest rate. Low interest rates mean low monthly repayments. And low monthly repayments mean bigger savings for you. However, this only works if, and only if, the rates are low. If the rates are high, home loan refinance is not sensible.

While home loan refinancing can be useful for some, keep in mind that it is not financially sensible for all.

Another advantage of refinancing your home loan is that it can allow you to change loan terms from a long one to something shorter. With a shorter loan term, you can pay off your loan amount much sooner, thus allowing you to save more on your overall interest payments.

Home Loan Refinancing Will Be Sensible If:

1. Rates drop. Typically, when rates fall unevenly to one percent or more, home loan refinancing will save you a lot of money; refinancing can lessen your monthly dues, and in other cases, may even waive or delay your mortgage insurance.

2. You want or need extra money. Home loan refinancing can reduce your monthly dues or payments, and release some equity for use of other things. When you are in need of additional cash, wherein straight refinance is just not reasonable, you can choose to have a home equity loan, where you can borrow against your home’s equity with either a checking or credit account or direct payment options.

3. You would like to consolidate your debts. When you obtain equity in your house, you may consolidate or join all your loans or debts into just one payment through home loan refinancing. Normally, your total monthly due or payment can be greatly decreased; on top of it all, the interest on your mortgage that you will pay is tax deductible.

4. You have plans of staying in your home for a long period of time. The longer that you plan to remain in your house, the more you can have the advantage from a low interest rate.

5. You would like to decrease your mortgage term. Home loan refinancing for example from a twenty year loan down to a ten year loan, can help settle your mortgage faster. Even though your monthly bills will be a lot bigger, you can save on the entire interest.

Home Loan Refinancing Will Not Be Sensible If:

1. Your interest rate should drop. Typically, refinancing should costs roughly from 1.5% up to 2 % of the amount of your home loan. So to be reasonable and equitable, your interest rate should be improved by about one percent.

2. To subsequently eliminate mortgage insurance. Mortgage insurance can be lessened through refinancing; but if rates did not drop sufficiently to bring about these benefits, there can be other means to drop or lessen the insurance.

3. You want to remove a debtor from title. This is done by having the borrower fill out a “Quit Claim” Deed. The process is simple and can be more worthwhile than home loan refinancing.

Besides bigger savings on your monthly bills, a refinance home loan provides you greater loan satisfaction. For instance, if you find that the terms of your current loan are unsatisfactory, you can switch to another lender with a refinance loan.

You can use the money you get from your home loan refinance to pay off your old loan. In addition to that, refinancing gives you the option to change your lending company whose services or programs make you unhappy or unsatisfied. This alone may make it worth your time and effort to refinance.

By: Dean Shainin

 

As things are changing in the economy, you may be looking at your current mortgage and trying to decide whether you should refinance home loan debt now. There are some advantages but before you decide, be sure to ask yourself some of these important questions.

 

Would an Adjustable Interest Rate be Smart?

 

If you are thinking about choosing to refinance home loan with an adjustable interest rate, you may want to rethink the idea. While adjustable interest rates can be a good choice when you are taking out a loan when the rates are elevated, you would be better off in most cases choosing a fixed interest rate. The benefit of the latter choice is that you’ll always know how much each monthly payment is going to be. You don’t have to worry about unexpected increases that you cannot afford. Remember adjustable interest rates are one of the reasons for the current foreclosure crisis in the real estate market.

 

Will You Save Money by Refinancing?

 

Although you could refinance home loan balances to save money, you won’t always be able to cut down your bills this way. You have to look carefully at the details of the refinancing to make sure you will lower your payments. Obviously, you will be spending more in the long-term because of the added years of interest payments above the original terms of the loan. However, you may cut your costs for monthly mortgage payments which could be a huge help if you’re struggling to make those payments now.

 

Is This the Best Time to Refinance?

 

One way to determine if you should consider refinance home loan charges now is by looking at the existing interest rates. When you see those rates start to fall below your current rates, you may want to consider choosing this option. You will save a lot of money even if the interest rate drops by only a couple of percentage points. However, there may be other factors that would make this a bad time to refinance. For example, you may want to avoid refinance home loan if your credit isn’t in tip-top shape. If you have just a few dings on your credit report, you could end up paying a higher interest rate when you refinance and that’s not a good idea. Consider talking to a financial advisor before making the final decision.

 

What Costs Will I Have to Pay?

 

Although you could save money if you refinance home loan debt, you can also look at having to pay some fees upfront. For example, your home will need to be appraised to ensure its value warrants the cost of the loan. You’ll also have to pay closing costs and title fees just as you would otherwise. Occasionally, you can still find lenders who will roll over those expenses into the cost of the loan but that’s only going to cost you more in the long run. Remember you’ll end up paying interest on those fees, too.  

 




By: Julian Lim