Saturday, November 1, 2008

Thinking Of Refinancing Your House?

By Ned Dagostino

Refinancing your house means clearing off your existing mortgage and creating a fresh mortgage on it. The two pertinent questions that you face are: Why should one refinance a house? When should one refinance a house? We'll explain the ins and outs of house refinancing in the following paragraphs, so stay tuned!

There are two common reasons to take a fresh mortgage on your house. Your current mortgage is an adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) where the interest you pay varies according to the market rate, and the interest rate on real estate is showing an upward inclination. If this is the case, then you should refinance your house with a fixed rate mortgage where the rate is less than or near about your current rate of interest. The other common reason is that you need a loan real soon. Look to refinance your house with a mortgage that allows you a cash component.

Taking advantage of lower interest rates is good sense. But be warned that the fat savings you anticipate may shrink to Size Zero! Your mortgage company will ask you to pay a penalty (pre-payment penalty) for prematurely terminating the mortgage. Bearing this in mind, re-compute your savings on interest. Maybe refinancing won't be worthwhile after all!

One situation where refinancing is inadvisable is when you are not sure of staying in that house for the next few years. You will have to pay the pre-payment penalty when you refinance. Given a moderate interest differential, it will take you maybe three years to break even. If you have to move before reaching the break even point, the balance will add to the second pre-payment penalty when you move, and there will be no way of recovering that.

The penalty amount is often called a pre-payment penalty. This helps the mortgager to recover some of the costs he's incurred under the existing mortgage. The lower end of the pre-payment penalty is two years' interest. The higher end can go up to five years of interest! These are significant amounts we're talking of here, so be careful that you take them into account when computing your net savings.

However, if you are going to stay in the same house and you are offered a refinance deal at a lower rate of interest, then take the deal. It doesn't matter that the difference in rates is marginal. The difference will accumulate to quite an amount in the long run.

What is the amount of the refinance? Most probably it's going to be higher than your current loan. So your repayment bill will also go up. If the new loan has a significantly lower rate of interest, then the increased repayment bill may be partially or completely offset by the savings in interest. Check that your new repayment amount is within your means.

Choose the right time to refinance your house. The best time to refinance is when interest rates are down. Take the help of a professional to find out the advantage of refinancing. If you can handle the repayment amount comfortably, if there is a net saving in interest then get the house refinanced. Also check the credentials of the mortgager.

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