23 June 2009

Insider Refinance Tips To Save Your Mortgage

By Ben Parker

Any plans you may have to refinance your house can be aided by these tips which can help you make a good solid decision on your existing mortgage. With these tips, you get a little bit more information even before you talk to a broker, and by doing so, you will be able to communicate with your lender about any concerns you may have, and have a better idea about what refinance entails.

A refinance plan has fees that will be tagged on to your mortgage, and to find out if your refinance fee will make sense, you should ask what the total refinance fee is, and then compute how many months it would take you to pay it off. If you reach break even point on or before 2 years, with a lot more years to go to pay the mortgage, then you are in a very good position to save.

Another tip is to find out about a lock in protection, and what the timeframe is because this is usually 45 days, with some cases of a 60 days protection. In addition, a fee could be added to your total amount due because of a lock in protection, so you need to clarify this with the lender.

If for some reason, you do not like the refinance agreement being presented to you, you have three business days to return it to your broker along with a formal letter. On the part of your broker or lender, he has twenty days to return any fees you may have already paid to you.

On the other hand, if you like the agreement, and your broker did not charge you upfront for any fee, do not assume that none will be charged. In some cases, they can be found included in the closing fees. If you want, you can pay the closing fees right away, which will facilitate and lower your monthly payment, giving you more chances to save on your loan.

Part of the standard operating procedure for approval of any mortgage refinance plan is for the borrower to have at least 10% equity on their house. If you do not have this, you may still apply because there are some groups which will allow a lower equity. Be prepared though to pay more insurance on the mortgage.

On the other hand, it may be that the lender could be enticing you by not charging you anything or offering you an extremely low rate, and if this is happening, then you need to get everything in writing before you anything else. The problem, if a problem at all, could be that while you will enjoy a zero application cost, you could be required to pay a balloon amount after a few years, and this could be a shock to you if you are not fully aware of this clause.

It is also possible for the fees to be hidden from plain view which is why when you get the refinance agreement, you will need to go over it word for word, especially the fine print. With the right broker, you will not have to worry too much, but since this is a business transaction, there should be no problem with questioning anything that you find in the agreement. You have a legal right to expect an estimate that is given in good faith, but it does not mean that you should not look it over properly.

Finally, when considering refinance, make sure the additional fees will not be costing you more. A refinance should help you manage your mortgage, and save in the long run. To get a fairly complete scope about mortgage and refinance, you should check out mortgagesandhomeloans.net, which contain some of the most comprehensive information you could ever wish for. - 2456

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