If you are refinancing your mortgage there are a number of mistakes that will cause you to overpay for your new mortgage loan. Doing your homework and researching mortgage lenders will help you avoid making these mistakes. Here are three things to watch for when refinancing your home loan.
I. Watch Out for Balloon Payments
If you accept a mortgage with a balloon payment you will be required to pay the amount due on a date specified in your loan contract. If you are unable to make this payment you will have to refinance the loan or sell your property to avoid foreclosure. Mortgages with balloon payments are typically used by real estate investors as a source of short term financing; however, predatory mortgage lenders use them as part of a ploy to take your home. Unless you know exactly what you are getting yourself into avoid any home loan with a balloon payment.
II. Watch Out for Excessive Fees & Rates
If you are a homeowner with poor credit you can expect to pay more for your new mortgage. There are lenders that will take advantage of your credit and charge you excessive fees and rates. Some Predatory lenders try and sell bad credit loans to homeowners with good credit in order to charge higher rates. The only way to know what fair rates and fees are for a homeowner in your financial situation is comparison shop from a variety of mortgage lenders. When you comparison shop the right way it is easy to spot mortgage lenders that are trying to take advantage of you. You can learn more about comparison shopping for the best mortgage by registering for a free mortgage guidebook.
III. Be Careful With Adjustable Rate Mortgages
Adjustable rate mortgages have more risk than traditional fixed rate mortgages. Many homeowners are enticed by the introductory rates and low payment amounts; these homeowners often don’t realize their payments will go up significantly at the end of the introductory period. In addition to this payment increase, the mortgage lender will adjust your interest rate periodically and change your monthly payment depending on prevailing interest rates.
You can learn more about your home loan options by registering for a free mortgage guidebook.
By: Louie Latour
Posts Tagged ‘Adjustable Rate Mortgages’
Refinance Home Loan: 3 Costly Home Loan Mistakes
February 4th, 2010Need To Know What Is Refinance Loans
February 3rd, 2010
Refinancing is usually done to capitalize on lower interest rates. Lower interest rates translate into lower mortgage loan rates and by refinancing at the time when prevailing interest rates are lower, you can substantially lower your monthly payments.
Refinancing loans offer an excellent opportunity to pay off existing debts and reduce periodic payment obligations. You may even liquidate equity that has accumulated in real property over the period of tenure by refinancing. Extending the tenure of a refinancing loan is another effective way of lowering monthly payments. This is a widely accepted tactic of saving, and using the saved amount to pay off the principal of the loan. Therefore, extending a loan works as a two-way process, it lowers your monthly payment and reduces the payment burden since you use the amount saved to payback the principal amount.
Cash refinancing is another important technique to save. Using cash refinancing, you can capitalize on the equity that has been accumulated in your house over the years, and use the ready cash to utilize on projects that are more important. You can even lessen out your risks by opting for refinance loans. However, this is applicable only in case of adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs)…in markets characterized by fluctuating interest rates. You can even refinance to convert an existing ARM into fixed rate.
People across America are increasingly using a refinancing loan to pay off high-interest debts such as credit card debts, with lower-interest debts such as that of a fixed-rate home mortgage and other debts down the line. You can also save substantially on taxes by refinancing. Interestingly, non-tax deductible debts such as credit card debts can be easily transformed into tax-deductible debts such as home mortgage debts. This substantially lowers tax liability, and helps in putting the owner into a lower tax bracket.
By: Anirban Bhattacharya
Bad Credit Mortgage Refinancing Home Loan
December 24th, 2009
Bad credit mortgage refinancing loans help borrowers with credit problems refinance an existing mortgage to either payoff debt or get cash out. If your credit is poor because of excessive credit card debt then bad credit refinancing is one of the best ways to improve your credit score.
Bad credit refinancing is typically for home owners who have credit scores under 620 and have late mortgage payment’s in the last 12 months. Sub prime lenders are the main source for these types of loans and many will lend to bad credit borrowers with a 30, 60 and even a 90 day late payment on record. Although the amount of equity you can borrow will be greatly reduced with the amount of late payments you have. Qualifying Credit scores for sub prime loans begin at 500 and go all the way up to 700, at a 500 credit score expect to be able to borrow 70-80% of your home appraised value. The higher your credit score the higher the Loan To Value you can borrow.
Many sub prime lenders offer 2 or 3 year Adjustable Rate Mortgages to bad credit borrowers, short term Adjustable mortgages are not a good idea for the bad credit borrower. The biggest drawback to an ARM is that if you should fail to improve you credit score and be unable to refinance, your payments will begin to rise when your adjustment period begins. The rise in payments can often be hundreds of dollars a month making your mortgage difficult to pay. When applying for a bad credit home loan It is best to stick with a fixed rate subprime mortgage, if you need a lower payment ask your mortgage broker about 40 year fixed rate subprime loans.
With the availability of subprime home loans bad credit refinancing can be a great way to improve your credit score, however when the wrong programs are chosen it can do just the opposite. Use a good reputable mortgage broker and always use common sense when shopping for your subprime home loan.
Learn More About Bad Credit Home loans
By: Darin Sewell