Posts Tagged ‘Loan Tips’

Refinancing Mortgage Loans – Good Or Bad?

February 8th, 2010



If you are a homeowner presently paying a fixed rate mortgage and when interest rates fall, you would be very much tempted to do refinancing mortgage loans. Unfortunately most people get into a mad rush, attracted only by the lower interest rates without considering the bigger picture. Here are some important tips that you should consider:

What Is A Refinance?

A refinance loan is a new loan that is taken up by the borrower primarily to pay off the original loan.

Tips To Consider when you refinance a mortgage loan

1. Before you consider switching out a fixed-rate mortgage for another type, make sure you completely understand the terms of the new loan. Some of the most important information affecting your decisions is found in the fine prints of your contract.

2. If your current mortgage loan is a long tenor loan e.g. 20 years, you may wish to consider if it is possible to have it restructured to a shorter loan instead e.g. 15 years. Taking off 5 years loan commitment can be good thing even if it means having to pay higher monthly interest.

3. Lenders prefer to structure your loans long term so as to increase their total earnings. For this reason if your refinancing mortgage loan is short term, lenders usually will charge prepayment penalty for your mortgage loan. It is important to read the agreement carefully to confirm if there are any such penalties imposed.

Some Disadvantageous to Refinancing

Costs

If you are required to pay upfront fees to obtain the refinancing loan you should calculate to find out if taking the new loan is a good decision for your financial appetite. Even with reduced monthly interest due to your new loan structure, these fees may make you financially worse off than had you not taken the new loan.

Extended Loan Life

You may have the option to shorten your loan tenor as you wish, but do take note that you may not necessarily get an increased loan payment from your new refinancing loan. This could result in you having to pay more monthly interest amount should you decide to shorten you loan repayment months. Also only you yourself can decide if you are financially capable to handle an increased monthly payment.

By: P Lee


Some Refinance Loan Tips to Get Better Rates

November 27th, 2009



There are a few refinance loan tips you can take advantage of as well if you want to get the best rates for your mortgage.

- Check your credit rating. Make sure it’s accurate. You can do this by requesting for a copy of your rating report way before you apply for refinancing. This way, you can still drastically improve your rating if they find that you are a consistent payor.

- There is no need to pay for appraisal costs if you have an untarnished credit record. If your lender insists on asking you to pay for an appraisal then you might want to look for another broker or lender.

- As a rule of thumb, the purpose of your equity loan should be able to outlast the payment term. This rule is subject to interpretation, and it’s really up to you, the debtor, to decide if the equity’s worth buying a certain object for. Ask yourself – is it worth paying for that Mercedes Benz convertible for the next 20 years?

- Don’t always trust refinancing loans that boast of ‘no refinancing costs’. Many refinance loan tips always suggest that there’s no such thing as a free lunch, and even if the broker or the creditor say they’ll take care of all the closing costs, the fees they would have charged you upfront now are in the guise of high monthly payments.

- Make sure that the refinancing scheme you’re availing of does not come with prepayment penalties. These are fees for the borrower if he decides to get out of the original mortgage. If you’re assigning your broker to take care of prepayment matters for you, well and good, but some lenders may make the tempting offer of giving lower interest rates as a tradeoff for prepayment penalties. When this happens to you, weigh your options carefully so you can come up with the best plan.

- Try to have several fees waived to cut down on costs. Legal, appraisal, and application fees can run up to a couple of thousand dollars and there are lenders and brokers who agree to having these waived for certain borrowers. However, you’re likely to pay a bigger amount overall because the brokers and the lenders have to recoup their investment.

- Preselect the right program by checking different plans online. Try the online calculators available on several websites so you’ll know the most practical solution for your refinancing.

- One of the most valuable Mortgage refinance tips an advisor can give you is that you can add the closing costs and the points to your refinanced loan. This is recommended for people who have been on mortgage for more than 3 years, because by this time, they would have already subtracted a couple of thousand dollars or more from their loan balance.

You can find many several refinance loan tips from the Internet and from the people around you. Just make sure that you talk to several agents or brokers prior to starting your refinance plan. When they realize that you are well-informed on the subject matter, it’s more probable that they would give reasonably fair rates to you.

By: Bob Cohen