If you are in the process of refinancing your home loan, there are a number of common mistakes you need to be aware of. Here are three home loan refinancing pitfalls you need to keep an eye out for when refinancing your mortgage.
Watch Out For Prepayment Penalties
A prepayment penalty is a clause in your loan contract that requires you to pay a penalty if you refinance or sell your home before the penalty expires. Prepayment penalties can be expensive, mortgage lenders often charge up to six months worth of interest on 85% of the original loan balance. Predatory mortgage lenders include excessive fees in their loan contracts to discourage you from refinancing the loan. If you have good credit there is no reason to accept a home loan with this penalty.
Never Agree to Arbitration
Predatory mortgage lenders often ask you to agree to arbitration as a condition of having your loan approved. If you agree to arbitration you are forfeiting many of the rights and protection you receive under the law. Agreeing to arbitration means that you agree to a third party arbitrator resolving any legal disputes you have with the lender. Never agree to arbitration with any mortgage lender.
Watch Out for High Interest Rates and Fees
Predatory mortgage lenders often try and sell subprime mortgages to homeowners with good credit. This means you are taking out a bad credit mortgage regardless of your credit rating and will pay higher interest rates, lender fees, and points. The only way to know for sure that what you’re paying is fair is to shop from a variety of mortgage lenders and compare all aspects of the loans. You can learn more about comparison shopping for the best mortgage by registering for a free mortgage guidebook.
By: Louie Latour
Posts Tagged ‘Prepayment Penalty’
Refinance Home Loan: 3 Home Loan Refinancing Pitfalls to Avoid
February 22nd, 2010Refinance Home Loans with Bad Credit – Knowing When to Refinance
February 15th, 2010
Do you want a lower monthly payment? Perhaps you prefer to switch your adjustable rate mortgage to a fixed rate. If this sounds familiar, refinancing your home may serve to your advantage. In the past five years, mortgage interest rates have dropped dramatically. Thus, many people who purchased homes when rates were high refinanced their homes. Refinance involves creating a new home mortgage, and homeowners must re-apply for a home loan. With this said, refinancing sounds great for individuals with good credit. However, refinance loans for bad credit are widely available.
Refinance Home Loans
Ordinarily, a person with bad credit would have a difficult time obtaining a loan. This is because a persons credit worthiness is based on information included in their credit report. Individuals with a history of paying bills late or refusing to pay their creditors are considered high risk candidates, thus lenders are unwilling to loan money to them. However, refinance loans are different. When a homeowner refinances, their house serves as the collateral. Therefore, if a person defaults on the loan, the lender may take possession of their home.
Knowing When to Refinance
The key to refinancing a home involves knowing when to refinance. Commercials and radio advertise low interest rates. Thus, many homeowners choose to take advantage of low rates and lower their monthly payments. Unfortunately, the cost of refinancing a home may sometimes outweigh the savings. Because a refinance creates a new mortgage, homeowners are responsible for fees such as closing costs, title search fees, settlement fees, prepayment penalty fees, etc. Moreover, some mistakenly refinance before a home has time to build sufficient equity. Another reason for refinancing a home includes receiving a shorter term, which may also boost a home’s equity
One benefit to refinancing a home with poor credit is that homeowners may receive a lump sum at closing. This money may be used to improve credit – pay off credit cards, consumer debt, etc. For this to happen, a property must have ample equity. Some mortgage professionals encourage homeowners to keep an original mortgage for at least two years before refinancing. This allows the property value and equity to grow.
By: Carrie Reeder
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