Reasons to Refinance Your Home

Many people will take whatever mortgage they can get when trying to purchase a home. Sooner or later, you will start wondering if you can get a better deal. Welcome to the world of refinance.

Traditional mortgages are like any other loan in one important respect. You can pay them off early, although mortgages will sometimes have prepayment penalties for the first few years of the loan. In the world of real estate, people prepay loans all the time by taking a second loan to do so, better known as refinancing. Why would someone do this? There are a variety of reasons, but here are the most common.

Purchasing a home can be a bit stressful. Between home inspections and the escrow deadline, buyers tend to feel pressure to get any financing they can. As time passes, however, they start to realize they could have obtained a better deal on their mortgage. Even a quarter point reduction in a mortgage interest rate can save thousands of dollars over the life of the loan. With this in mind, they start to look at refinancing their original mortgage to cut down on the total interest paid on the loan.

In tune with this idea, many homeowners also look to refinance to gain cash flow flexibility. Instead of looking to cut the total payments on a loan, they look to find terms that will allow them to lower the amount of the monthly payment. Saving $400 a month on payments puts an additional $4,800 in your pocket each year, which can be attractive if cash flow is a little tight on a monthly basis.

On the opposite end of the scale, many homeowners will refinance to pull cash out of the home. They have built up equity over time and wish to convert that non-liquid asset into funds that can be used for something else. Often, this can be to pay for expenses associated with an emergency situation, such as a health crisis, or to put their kids through college. The reasons vary, but the purpose is the same.

The decision to refinance a mortgage is much less stressful than originating a loan. There is no deadline to act, so you can shop for the best possible deal for your situation.