As soon as you find the perfect household, the next step is to find a way to finance it. Mortgages come in different shapes and sizes, while an agreement that was perfect for your situation, may reach a point where you cannot handle the monthly expenses. For instance, interest rates can increase, leaving you with high installments.
It does not matter whether you are paying for mortgage a few years or a decade, because refinancing can help you reduce the strain, get better interest rate, or take cash equity to remodel your home.
You already understand the closings expenses, paperwork, research, and other factors, especially because you have experienced it when you first got the mortgage. However, with refinancing you can avoid the additional stress that comes with finding a proper property and negotiating for the right amount.
Before you decide to refinance the situation, we recommend you to consider the reasons to do it and whether you should do it right away.
Reasons to Refinance
We can differentiate numerous reasons for refinancing (refinansiering) depending on the type of mortgage you wish to get. Some people wish to reduce the overall interest, shorten, or prolong the length, convert from fixed to adjustable-rate and vice versa.
At the same time, you can draw an equity on the amount you built in your home, which will help you fund home improvement project.
- Reduce Interest Rate – One of the biggest reasons for refinancing is reducing the overall interest rate by a few percentages, which can help you reduce monthly installments, boost equity faster and save money in the long run. If you choose to get a shorter term with lower interest rate, you will change the monthly payment dramatically, which will affect your financial reality.
- Adjustable to Fixed-Rate – ARM or variable-rate mortgages come with grace period, meaning you will get a low rate for the initial period. However, when the rate returns to a normal, market percentage, it may increase your monthly expenses significantly. Therefore, you can choose to refinance to a fixed-rate option that comes with predictability. If you wish to move in the next few years, you can choose another adjustable-rate mortgage in case of falling rates. On the other hand, fixed one is better solution.
- Tap Equity – The more and longer you pay, the higher equity you will build within your household. Therefore, you can qualify to refinance and take additional amount to handle other expenses such as repaying or consolidating debt, handling college tuition, remodeling your home or starting a business. Of course, before applying, you should understand the equity and determine whether you can get it or not.
- Consolidate Mortgages – If you do not have a twenty percent down payment, you can choose eighty, ten, ten loans, which will offer you a chance to obtain everything for placing just a ten percent of down payment. Then the second or new loan will feature higher rate than the primary one. You can refinance to consolidate both under a single interest rate, which is vital to remember.
- Length – In case you can afford higher monthly installments, you can revise the loan’s length and shorten your 30-year into 15 or 20 years, which will help you save money in the long run. At the same time, if your income reduced in the last few months, you can choose longer-term, which will reduce your overall expenses.
- Handle PMI or Private Mortgage Insurance – If you are a home buyer with regular mortgage, and you cannot place twenty percent as down payment, you must include private mortgage insurance within the overall amount. That way, a lending instruction can cover loss in case you default. PMI will last until you reach twenty percent of equity, but you can also choose a refinancing option that will provide you peace of mind.
Should You Refinance?
Determining whether you should do it or not depends on your current situation as well as the market conditions you can take advantage of or not. For instance, you should answer the questions such as how strong is your credit, how long you plan to stay in your home, do you wish to start a family, can you repay the principal and many more.
Most people choose to refinance the moment they notice the interest rates are falling, which is not currently the case. However, that should not be the only reason to do it, because your ARM may enter a reset mode.
At the same time, if you plan to stay in your household for the next ten years, moving to a fixed-rate mortgage can help you remove potential surprises and interest surges. Generally, if your credit score has improved, you can qualify for better terms and rates, which is vital to remember.
The interest rate depends on your credit rating and history. Therefore, if you have experienced financial turmoil in the past and you improved the score, you can refinance to get the best terms possible based on your situation.
You should consider other debts as well and the money you will spend on additional fees such as closing costs. In some situations, it is way better to use other financing means such as credit cards, because you will not use your home as a collateral, especially if you have repaid almost half of the current mortgage.
You should be as realistic as possible and determine whether a current situation can help you boost your credit score and take your financial situation to the next level or not. General rule states that the new mortgage should be at least one percent lower than the current one.
However, you should consider closings costs, which is approximately between two and five percent of overall principal. Therefore, you should determine whether refinancing will worth eventually, especially compared with other options you can choose.
In case a refinancing can help you save money by getting the better terms and rates, then you should choose it as soon as possible. Still, we recommend you to shop around and compare different options.