Refinancing your mortgage loan to save money

By: Melina Menny
Submitted: 2008-07-01 13:11:32
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Most people refinance their mortgage loan when it is up for renewal from its term. Mortgage loans come in a variety of terms, anywhere from six months to 10 years at a time, amortized over 25 to 50 years. Each term of a mortgage loan is its own mortgage loan – meaning that you can change the mortgage loan type you have as well as the term when your mortgage loan renews. If your mortgage loan is up for renewal, it’s a good time to see if you can get a better interest rate on your new mortgage loan by shopping around. However, there are other times when refinancing your mortgage loan makes sense.

Renewal Time

Term renewal on mortgage loans is, obviously, the time when most mortgage loans are renewed. It is a time when you can search for a different lender for your mortgage loan or stay with the same lender. However, refinancing your mortgage loan is similar to taking out a new one to begin with, except that you’re not required to have a down payment.

Refinancing your mortgage loan means having a new mortgage loan – you can use this opportunity to change the type of mortgage loan you have, such as going from an adjustable rate mortgage loan to a fixed rate mortgage loan, or vice versa. You can also change the term of your mortgage loan, make it longer or shorter, depending upon your wants and needs.

If you’re term mortgage loan is up for renewal and the interest rates are low, it’s a good time to lock in the good interest rate for a longer period of time with a fixed rate, long term mortgage loan. However if your renewal comes up and the interest rates are high, it’s a good time to go with either a short term fixed rate or an adjustable rate mortgage loan. Adjustable rate mortgage loans’ interest rate changes at various points in the term, which means you could end up with a much lower interest rate, and therefore lower payments when the rate changes.

Need extra money?

Mortgage loan refinancing is also a good time to take out some of the equity you’ve been saving. You can refinance your mortgage loan for higher than is owed to the previous mortgage loan and get cash from your equity to spend as you see fit. The most common uses for equity cash is home improvements, consolidating high-interest debts (such as loans and credit cards), and paying for college tuition for children.

Other times it’s a good idea to refinance

There are other times throughout the term of your mortgage loan that you may want to consider refinancing. If the interest rates plummet, it’s a consideration to refinance your mortgage loan with a longer term, fixed rate mortgage loan. Locking in a low interest rate on your refinanced mortgage loan could mean that you save tens of thousands of dollars in interest payments to your lender.

A word of caution about refinancing mid- mortgage loan term – prepayment penalties come with some mortgage loans and if you have a prepayment penalty on your mortgage loan, talk with your loan officer before you begin the refinancing process.

There’s an easy way to figure out if it’s worth refinancing your mortgage loan mid term and paying the prepayment penalties – find out what your yearly interest payments will be with a new mortgage and compare them to what they are with your current mortgage. Subtract the new mortgage interest from the old mortgage interest – this is how much interest you’re saving in a year. Compare this number with the amount you’ll pay in prepayment penalties. If it is less than half (which means it would take two years to “pay” for the refinancing), then it’s not worth refinancing your mortgage loan. However if you can “pay” for the refinancing within two years on a five year term or more mortgage loan, then it may be worth paying the prepayment penalty.

You can ask your mortgage loan lender if they will waive the prepayment penalty if you  refinance your mortgage loan with the same company. Prepayment penalties are in place from some lenders because they’re losing your business and thusly the thousands of dollars of interest payments you were to make to them for the remaining term on your mortgage loan. Most prepayment penalties are six months interest on 80 per cent of the total of your mortgage loan. However, some lenders may be willing to waive the prepayment penalty if you’re staying with them for the longer term mortgage you want to lock in with lower interest rates. While the interest they’re receiving is lower, it can add up to much more than the prepayment penalty amount they will receive if you refinance early.

In order to make paying a prepayment penalty worth it to refinance your mortgage loan, you shouldn’t take any longer than two years in saved money to make up the amount you pay out to the old mortgage loan company in penalties. Be sure that if you do make the payment that your new mortgage doesn’t have prepayment penalties attached to it.

Refinancing your mortgage loan is a good opportunity to seek out better interest rates and terms. Many people choose to use a mortgage broker to find a new lender to refinance their mortgage loan. The reason for this is because mortgage brokers work with several lenders and can submit the single application you fill out to many lenders at the same time. They then enter a ‘bartering stage’ with the lenders who are willing to refinance your mortgage loan. By using a mortgage broker, you can get great interest rates from lenders vying for your business.

Don’t underestimate some of the  mortgage loan refinancing companies as well – because they are online and don’t have as much overhead as standard lenders, they can sometimes offer even better deals on interest rates and terms.

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