Real Estate Information Header

Refinancing Your Home Loan? When Should You Refinance Your Home?


If you have a current mortgage and are unhappy with the interest rate or the amount of the monthly payments, it is possible to refinance your home and eliminate your problems. But before you call your lender, there are some questions that you should ask yourself in order to determine whether or not it's the right time for refinancing your mortgage loan.

The first question that you should ask yourself is if you have the cash on hand to pay the fees. Depending on the amount of your mortgage, and the specific fees that your lender will charge, you could pay anywhere from a couple of hundreds dollars to a few thousand. Be sure that you're financially ready for the move before applying for the loan.

Next, you should take a look at the current interest rates compared to the ones on your existing mortgage, and then decide whether or not a refinance would help your situation. For example, if you have an ARM mortgage, and the interest rates are at an all-time low, you might want to refinance your loan and turn it into a fixed rate so your payments won't go up again as rates rise. In addition, if you have a fixed rate, but bought your home when interest rates were higher, you might want to refinance in order to lower yours.

If you find yourself with a lot extra debt, you could take advantage of a cash-out refinance loan. With this type of loan, you add on an amount to your home loan, refinance the entire thing at a lower interest rate, and then take the "extra" money out and pay off your debt. This will allow you to reduce the amount of debt you owe (because the interest rate will be lower), and at the same time, reduce the amount of the monthly payment.

Most experts agree that you shouldn't go to the trouble or expense of refinancing your home if you don't intend to stay in it for at least three years. Otherwise the cost of the process would likely be more than the overall savings.

To view our recommended sources for mortgage refinance loans, visit: Recommended Refinance Mortgage Lenders Online

Carrie Reeder is the owner of ABC Loan Guide, an informational website with articles and the latest news about various types of loans.


MORE RESOURCES:

Target rejects Pershing's proposals on real estate structure
MarketWatch - 23 hours ago
Ackman had proposed that Target spin off the land it owns into a real estate investment trust in a bid to boost the company's value. ...
Target Corp. Won't Pursue Pershing Real-Estate Plans Wall Street Journal
Target rejects Pershing's real estate proposal Reuters
Target rejects Pershing's real estate proposal Bizjournals.com
WELT ONLINE - Reuters UK
all 417 news articles


Real-estate agents to buyers: Can we talk?
Seattle Times, United States - 13 hours ago
In the rapidly changing real-estate world, savvy agents say they're busy, not necessarily with customers, but with keeping up with the changes so they can ...
Slow housing market means more hours, more expenses for agents Seattle Times
all 2 news articles


Web sites offer real estate agent rankings
The Associated Press - 16 hours ago
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Word of mouth is one of the most common ways homebuyers and sellers find a real estate agent. Now, there are several Web sites that tout ...


NAR, REAL ESTATE CHANNEL Create Online News Partnership
MarketWatch - Nov 21, 2008
RealEstateChannel.com) is pleased to announce today that the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS(R) has become a regular content contributor to the REAL ESTATE ...
Realtors content on Real Estate Channel Bizjournals.com
all 12 news articles


Real-estate investment firm fights to stay afloat
Arizona Republic, AZ - 18 hours ago
22, 2008 12:00 AM Last week, Phoenix-based real-estate investment firm Right Place Properties spent investors' money to purchase multifamily housing units, ...


Washington Times

Hypo Real Estate Gets EU20 Billion Guarantee From Rescue Fund
Bloomberg - Nov 21, 2008
21 (Bloomberg) -- Hypo Real Estate Holding AG, the German property lender bailed out by the German government and financial institutions last month, ...
Hypo Real Estate to receive euro20 billion loan The Associated Press
1-Hypo Real gets 20 bln euros in govt guarantees guardian.co.uk
DGAP-Adhoc: DEPFA Deutsche Pfandbriefbank AG: SoFFin grants EUR 20 ... Ad-Hoc-News (Pressemitteilung)
all 119 news articles


Reuters

Citigroup says commercial real estate bigger issue now for banks
Reuters - Nov 21, 2008
(Reuters) - Commercial real estate is becoming a bigger issue for US banks after the Treasury decided that funds under the Troubled Asset Relief Program ...
United States: Potential Real Estate Opportunities Under TARP Mondaq News Alerts (registration)
That Money Isn’t Leaving the Vault New York Times
all 37 news articles


Real estate group backs sick leave law challenge
Bizjournals.com, NC - Nov 21, 2008
Fearing a flight of businesses from the city of Milwaukee, leaders of a major organization of commercial real estate professionals have voted to support the ...


Real estate trophies on hold
Bizjournals.com, NC - 19 hours ago
A host of high-profile commercial real estate projects are having trouble getting off the ground in Houston. The economic downturn and national financial ...


Real estate recovery not seen until 2011
Seattle Post Intelligencer - Nov 21, 2008
By AUBREY COHEN That was the main message of the Seattle Urban Land Institute's Emerging Trends in Real Estate breakfast Thursday. ...
Seminar to give development overview Bizjournals.com
all 5 news articles

Real-Estate - Google News

General Real Estate Information HomeHome ContactContact
Real Estate Information © 2006