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Featured Mortgage Refinance Articles

7 Easy Steps To Getting The Best Rate (and Lowest Payment)
Bad credit CAN get better, and good credit can become GREAT credit! Step 1- Get Your Free Credit Report Annually Background: New legislation makes it mandatory for the credit bureaus to provide you with one free credit report per year. Pulling your own ...

Debt Consolidation: The Perfect Follow Up To Debt Management
Debt consolidation and debt management go hand in hand. Before you consider any type of bill consolidation loan, you should meet with a reputable debt management counselor. You will learn some valuable financial management principles. You will get a ...

Federal Student Loan Consolidation: The Other ReFi Boom
You've heard about refinancing in the mortgage market. Who hasn't? Interest rates are at all-time lows. Folks have refinanced two and three times in as many years to save thousands of dollars in interest they would have otherwise paid. There's a similar ...




How and Why to Refinance Your Mortgage
 
Refinancing your mortgage can be a great way to reduce monthly payments, lock in a better interest rate, and gain additional time for repayment, but it should not be entered into lightly. Refinancing at the wrong time or for the wrong reason can actually result in you having a higher payment or a lower interest rate.
If you're interested in refinancing your mortgage but aren't sure whether or not the time is right to do so, here are some simple suggestions to help you decide.
You'll also find some basic information on the refinancing process as well as things to look for to help you determine if the time is right to apply for a refinance loan.
What is refinancing?
If you're not sure exactly what refinancing is, it is simply the act of getting a second loan to pay off the original... leaving you with the new payment schedule and the new interest rates. Refinancing often lowers your monthly payment, because the new loan is taken out on a smaller amount than the original mortgage loan.
In addition to a potential significant reduction in your monthly payment and interest rates, refinancing can buy you more time to pay off your mortgage if you're quickly approaching a balloon payment that you can't quite afford or simply would like to extend your loan.
How do you refinance?
In order to refinance a mortgage loan, you have to find a lender to issue the refinancing loan. The loan application is very similar to most other applications, except that the subject of the loan is the balance of the original mortgage and that the collateral is the equity that you have in the house or other real estate that the mortgage was taken out to purchase.
In most cases the bank or other lender that you take out the refinance loan through will handle all of the transfers and payment of the mortgage, though there may be some instances where you have to handle it yourself depending upon the specific lender that you use.
When should you refinance?
The best time to refinance a mortgage is after a significant portion of the mortgage has been repaid and sufficient equity has built up. Since the equity is most likely what will secure the refinance loan, it's important to have enough to cover the loan amount.
You should also take care to apply for your refinance loan at a time when interest rates are lower than when you took out the mortgage, if possible, so that the lower interest rate acts as an additional bonus to refinancing.
In most cases, you'll end up with a lower monthly payment as well, but this will largely depend upon the term that you agree on for the refinance loan and the amount remaining on the original mortgage.
Signs that the time is right to refinance
A variety of signs can indicate that the time is right to refinance your loan. Begin watching the news or reading finance journals to determine what national interest rates are set at, and if they are likely to increase or decrease in the near future.
Depending upon the loan market, you may also notice lenders offering special rates or promotions for a limited time... investigate the offers to make sure that they're legitimate, and consider whether or not they will better suit your needs than waiting for rates to change.
When the market is slow, a variety of good opportunities develop in order to stimulate borrowing... don't let a good deal pass you by because you're unsure.
You may freely reprint this article provided the following author's biography (including the live URL link) remains intact:
About the Author
John Mussi is the founder of Direct Online Loans who help homeowners find the best available loans via the www.directonlineloans.co.uk website.


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Mortgage Refinance News


Telegraph.co.uk

How can I avoid a mortgage refinancing rip-off?
IndiaPost.com, CA - 14 hours ago
For mortgage refinancing, that means knowing the terms of your existing mortgage and the latest mortgage rates, as well as reviewing your credit report and ...
Lenders Backlogged By Refinancing Rush Washington Post
Refinancing suddenly booms Honolulu Advertiser
The Truth About Mortgage Refinancing Revealed By Connecticut ... SBWire (press release)
MSNBC - Boston Globe
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HispanicBusiness.com

Average Mortgage Rate Hits 5%, Lowest in Decades
New York Times, United States - Jan 8, 2009
Of course, buying a home is a more lengthy process than simply calling up a mortgage broker to refinance, and activity typically slows during the holiday ...
Mortgage rates fall to lowest level since weekly survey started Providence Journal
Long-Term Mortgage Rate Falls Again Wall Street Journal
Banks' mortgage rates fall below 5% Boston Globe
Baltimore Sun - Christian Broadcasting Network
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Examiner.com

Beware of mortgage refinance ripoffs
Examiner.com - 13 hours ago
YOU CAN SELECT ANY TITLE COMPANY YOU WANT FOR YOUR REFINANCE. Title fees vary from title company to title company – call several and ask about their fees. ...

Cardoza proposal could aid housing crisis
Stockton Record, CA - 18 hours ago
Under the Cardoza plan, the payment on that mortgage refinanced to 4 percent fixed rate would drop to $1194 a month. Contact reporter Bruce Spence at (209) ...

WJBF-TV

An Appraisal Upheaval
Washington Post, United States - 2 hours ago
By Kenneth R. Harney When you apply for a mortgage to buy or refinance a house, should you be concerned that your appraiser is being paid much less than the ...
US Banks Offer Mortgages Below 5% After Fed Action Bloomberg
Mortgage rates fall to record low again Forbes
Jacque Georgia column: More common sense needed for mortgage ... Green Bay Press Gazette
MarketWatch - North Texas e-News
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More hoops to jump through for enticing mortgages
Reuters - 3 hours ago
By Lynn Adler - Analysis NEW YORK (Reuters) - Consumers rushing to refinance a home loan or get a new one to take advantage of the lowest US mortgage rates ...

Washington Post Real Estate editor and columnist
Washington Post, United States - 8 hours ago
Should my husband and I refinance our mortgage? We have a 30-year fixed rate mortgage with Wells Fargo. We also have childcare expenses that are absolutely ...

Prepaying Mortgage May Not Trump Investing
Wall Street Journal - 8 hours ago
McBride says once you reach that threshold you could refinance the conventional mortgage for potentially a much lower rate. Another time to prepay is if ...

TopNews

Question & Answer on mortgage refinancing
Boston Herald, United States - Jan 1, 2009
If I refinance the mortgage on my current house, will I hurt my chances for getting a loan for a new place later on? A: No. Refinancing a loan shouldn’t ...
Should you refinance? Kansas.com
Homeowners Rush to Refinance KAALtv.com
US mortgage applications unchanged at 5-year peak Reuters
RTT News - La Crosse Tribune
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The Star-Ledger - NJ.com

NJ law aims to fight foreclosures
Bizjournals.com, NC - 6 hours ago
The $25 million Mortgage Stabilization Fund will make loans of up to $25000 to homeowners and lenders to refinance a first mortgage in danger of foreclosure ...
WATSON COLEMAN/ GREEN/CAPUTO/JASEY/POU/RAMOS/VAS/SMITH ANTI ... PolitickerNJ
NJ gov signs $40 million anti-foreclosure measure The Associated Press
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