Do You Have Enough Funds Set Aside for Unexpected Needs?
Almost everyone dreams about owning a house one day. There is nothing like settling down in a great neighborhood where you can raise your family in your very own home. However, one of the biggest problems with homeowners today is being able to keep up with their mortgage payments. Home prices continue to be high, and that means mortgage payments take up a big part of your monthly income. If your financial situation changes for the worse, making a payment can become difficult. Missed payments can lead to foreclosure. If you want to avoid this, consider refinancing your home.
Will a Refinance Benefit You?
Refinancing your home loan can offer you many advantages. One benefit is that you can get a lower interest rate and extend the term of your payment so that your monthly cost will be lower and more affordable. A smaller house payment means more funds available for your other monthly expenses. You can also use part of your loan to pay off other financial obligations that you might have. However, in order for a loan refinance to work to your advantage, you need to avoid certain mistakes so that you will not end up in a worse situation:
1) Do not go back to your current lender to refinance. If your lender did not offer good interest rates to begin with, chances are it will not offer you a better rate for your new loan. Keep in mind that by extending the loan term, the monthly payment will naturally seem lower, but that does not mean you are paying less in interest.
2) Avoid variable interest rates and focus on finding a fixed interest rate that is low. Some lenders will offer a low teaser rate for the first few months in order to attract borrowers. However, after those first few months, the variable rate can go up. Your total interest payment might even end up being higher than the interest that you would have paid with your original loan.
3) Figure out if the terms of your new loan will really save you money over the old loan. Before you sign with a lender, do a break-even analysis. It is a simple calculation that takes the cost of your loan and dividing that by the amount that you save every month. The answer is the number of months that it will take for you to break even, or to recuperate your loan expenses.
For example, if it costs $2000 for you to refinance your loan, and you can save $200 every month, you can break even in 10 months. Refinancing is particularly advantageous to you if you plan to live in your house for a while.
4) The most important thing that you need to do is to find an experienced and trustworthy mortgage broker who is committed to getting you the best loan for your needs.
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