Posts Tagged ‘Refinancing A Home’

Refinance Your Car Loan!

May 18th, 2010



Refinancing car loans are similar to other types of car loans. It works the same way as other types of refinancing. It is true that everyone wishes to have a car of their own. But, how to purchase a car? Look online or approach traditional lenders for finance? Who doesn’t wish to avail a loan at a lower rate of interest?

If you are unhappy with your current car loan, you can opt for refinancing. If you wish o get a better rate, you must consider this. You can also get lower monthly payments and get to save more. Moreover, you also need not worry about coming up with that much cash each month. The different ways of refinancing car loan vary on what kind of current auto loan you have. Herein, a new lender will pay off what you still owe from your old car loan.

It is not difficult to refinancing a car loan. There are many loan providers who are willing to provide free quotes both online and over the phone. All that a borrower needs to do is shop around and avail a car loan at a lower rate of interest. However, you must ensure that the initial cost from leaving your current provider must be at least balanced by the benefit. It is certainly not a viable option if it costs you more to refinance than you would gain out of it.

Before opting for any type of loan, you must do a through research about your new provider and the potential new terms. You must certainly not feel low by initial low rates. You must make sure you count the cost of the entire loan before including any closing costs.

Before you refinance a car, it requires little research. However, if you lay your hands on the best deal, you must not leave it. Refinancing is a great way to lower car payments and save money. Car loan refinancing is similar to refinancing a home loan. Car owners avail a new car loan to replace the existing one. The new lender will payoff the old loan, and you begin making monthly payments to them. However, very few people are making use of this option.

It has been noticed that car buyers refinance their car loans for several reasons. If the current interest rate or APR is high, they opt for it. It can also be due to accepting a bad car loan because of a dealership’s scam. No matter what the reason is, refinancing an auto loan is perhaps the best way of lowering payments and paying off the car sooner.

By: Sadhna D

Home Loans & Refinancing, Borrower Beware!

April 24th, 2010



Mortgages…if you are planning to purchase or refinance your home you should be very careful about the home loan you select. There are many gimmick loans on the market today like “interest only loans” and “negative amortization loans” which help people buy over priced property by the skin of their teeth. Having been a loan officer for a number of years in the past, I have often wondered why people just don’t stick to the traditional “30-year mortgage” and buy (or refinance) what they can afford. If you plan on buying or refinancing a home consider the following… In my mind, a 30-year fixed rate loan is better than a 15-fixed rate loan and here’s why… you have a lower monthly payment with a 30-year loan than a 15-year loan. What if something happens to your income?

Sure, you can pay a 15-year mortgage off faster but you have a higher house payment strapped to your back and if ANYTHING causes a reduction in your income you may find yourself hard pressed to make the house payment. Few people realize that you can pay off a 30-year loan in about 15-years by making 1 or 2 “principal only payments” on a 30-year loan each year. The key is that you decide whether you can afford to make those additional principal payments rather than being obligated to higher monthly payments under a 15-year loan. You may pay a slightly higher rate on a 30-year loan but the comfort level and flexibility of a 30-year loan may be worth it. Adjustable rate loans (ARM’S) are risky business and tend to “adjust up” over time. They say “whatever goes up must come down” and with interest rate you can pretty much bet that “whatever goes down must go up”. Here are a few tips for people who are planning on buying or refinancing a home:

1. Thinking about refinancing? You typically want to see a 2% improvement from your current interest rate and the proposed “new rate”. When you add up the costs of refinancing as well as the time and hassle associated with the process, you may find a refinancing doesn’t make a lot of economic sense with a spread lower then 2%.

2. Find your break-even point by taking the total costs of refinancing (divided by) the projected monthly savings under the new rate. Doing so will tell you how many months it will take to get your money back!

3. How long you plan to own the property is important. Rule of thumb: If you plan on owning the property for less then 5 years, a refinancing may or may not make sense. Only you and the numbers can tell!

A “Discount point” is 1% of the amount of money you are borrowing and is paid to a lender to secure a lower interest rate on a mortgage. Many people want to pay “points” to get a lower rate. But, are you really getting a lower rate? When you pay discount points you are basically pre-paying the lender interest 15 or 30 years in advance! You are handing over “real dollars” for an intangible “interest rate” that will result in a lower monthly payment…the more important question is will you live in the property for 15 or 30 years? If not, why prepay the interest? Hint: Zero point home loans often make the most sense.

Another cool tip if you have equity in your home and need to purchase a large ticket item like a car… it may make sense to refinance the house and roll the car purchase up in the new mortgage. In this way you spread the cost of your car over the life of the loan, avoid the high interest car loan with whatever tax advantages you may have resulting from your mortgage deductions.

Copyright © 2006

James W. Hart, IV

All Rights reserved

By: Jim Hart

Florida Home Equity Loans – Refinancing a Home Equity Loan

April 14th, 2010



During the last five years, Florida home values have practically doubled in cities like Orlando, Miami, Tampa, Ft. Lauderdale, Clearwater, and Sarasota. Many homeowners reaped the benefits during this time and borrowed from the equity in their home. If you are part of this crowd, now may be a good time to consider refinancing your Florida home equity loan. While refinancing may not be right for everyone, it can be very beneficial to some. Good reasons to refinance include:

Better Interest Rates

Interest rates in the state of Florida are constantly changing. If you took out a fixed rate home equity loan while rates were high, or if you now have better credit, refinancing your Florida home equity loan could save you a lot of money. You’ll have to be very careful though. Lower monthly payments may not offset closing cost fees. For example, if your closing costs come to $3,000 and you save $100 per month, it will take you 30 months to break even.

Avoid a Balloon Payment

Taking on a Florida home equity loan that has a balloon payment can save you money in the beginning of the loan term, but coming up with that final balloon payment can be difficult. Refinancing your home equity loan will allow you to avoid the balloon payment altogether.

Extract More Equity Cash

When dipping into your equity, it can be very hard to determine how much money to borrow. If you didn’t take out enough the first time around, refinancing your Florida home equity loan will provide all of the benefits mentioned above and allow you to extract a bit more cash from your equity.

By: Jane Hale