Thinking About Refinancing Your Home Mortgage?

Below you will find helpful tips and articles covering the A-Z’s of refinancing your mortgage. After that, contact FreeLoanComparison.com to get started.

• Refinancing Your Home Mortgage:
  
  • Why Refinance?You’ve probably heard it often -- another friend or neighbor has refinanced and is enjoying lower monthly mortgage payments. You may have read headlines that talk about mortgage interest rates reaching historical lows. So, you ask, is now the best time to refinance my mortgage?
  
  
  • Refinance-Lower Rate:
    When you refinance to lower your mortgage interest rate, you can significantly reduce your monthly mortgage payment, so long as you don’t increase your mortgage principal amount (as in a cash-out refinance).
  
  
  • Cash-out Refinance:
    Getting cash back at closing is exactly what it sounds like - receiving cash at the close of the sale or mortgage refinance of your home. To understand why a person might get cash back at closing, you need to understand the concept of home equity.
  
  
  • Refinance-Change Terms:
    You may have selected an adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) when mortgage interest rates were higher than home loan rates today. To ensure you had the lowest monthly mortgage payment possible, you probably found the ARM most attractive because it had a lower mortgage interest rate than a fixed-rate loan in the early years.
  
  
  • Refinance-Debt Consolidation:
    Debt consolidation is the process of rolling your short-term debt into your home loan. If you have credit card debts, a car loan or other bills that typically carry a higher interest rate than a mortgage, you may want to consider debt consolidation loan.
  
  
  • Refinance-Home Improvement:
    You finally found the home you want to buy, but the kitchen needs updating. Or, you look around your current home and decide you need to build and finance an addition to keep up with your growing family.
  
  
• Refinance Rental Property:
  
  • Why Refinance?
    You’ve probably heard it often -- another friend or neighbor has refinanced and is enjoying lower monthly mortgage payments. You may have read headlines that talk about mortgage interest rates reaching historical lows. So, you ask, is now the best time to refinance my mortgage?
  
  
  • Refinance-Lower Rate:
    When you refinance to lower your mortgage interest rate, you can significantly reduce your monthly mortgage payment, so long as you don’t increase your mortgage principal amount (as in a cash-out refinance).
  
  
  • Cash-out Refinance:
    Getting cash back at closing is exactly what it sounds like - receiving cash at the close of the sale or mortgage refinance of your home. To understand why a person might get cash back at closing, you need to understand the concept of home equity.
  
  
  • Refinance-Change Terms:
    You may have selected an adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) when mortgage interest rates were higher than home loan rates today. To ensure you had the lowest monthly mortgage payment possible, you probably found the ARM most attractive because it had a lower mortgage interest rate than a fixed-rate loan in the early years.
  
  
  • Refinance-Debt Consolidation:
    Debt consolidation is the process of rolling your short-term debt into your home loan. If you have credit card debts, a car loan or other bills that typically carry a higher interest rate than a mortgage, you may want to consider debt consolidation loan.
  
  
  • Refinance-Home Improvement:
    You finally found the home you want to buy, but the kitchen needs updating. Or, you look around your current home and decide you need to build and finance an addition to keep up with your growing family.
  
  
• Reverse Mortgage:
  
  It used to be that if you were age 62 or older, there were only two ways to get cash out of your home. You could sell it or you could borrow against your home equity. But now, with reverse mortgages, seniors can tap into the home equity they’ve built up without moving or taking on extra debt.
  
  • Reverse Mortgage:
    If you’re just starting out and want to learn more about reverse mortgages, we recommend you read Fannie Mae’s brochures and fact sheets that describe each product. Our Fannie Mae’s Find a Counselor Search can help you locate a reverse mortgage counselor in your area.
  
  
  • Understanding Reverse Mortgages:
    Unlike a traditional mortgage that you pay back each month, a reverse mortgage makes payments to you. You can get these payments in a lump sum to cover an unexpected bill. You can get them as a regular supplement to your monthly income. Or, you can get them at intervals and amounts that are best for you.
  
  
  • Qualifying for a Reverse Mortgage:
    Individual reverse mortgage products may have particular requirements. Here are a few basics that apply to Fannie Mae’s product and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM):
  
  
  • Reverse Mortgage Solutions:
    Your options for a reverse mortgage include: Home Keeper Mortgage, Home Keeper for Home Purchase Mortgage and The Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM).
  
  
  • Home Keeper Mortgage:
    Whether you need a lump sum to pay an unexpected hospital bill or a regular payment stream to supplement your monthly income, the Home Keeper mortgage lets you borrow against the value of your home and receive loan proceeds according to a payment plan you select.
  
  
  • Home Keeper Purchase Loan:
    If you currently own your home free and clear of any mortgage debt, the Home Keeper for Home Purchase mortgage helps you buy a new house that better fits your needs. You make a small down payment with your own money and receive a Home Keeper for Home Purchase loan for the rest of the purchase price.
  
  
  • Home Keeper Equity Loan:
    A Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) is a type of home loan insured by the federal government that lets homeowners age 62 or over with little or no remaining balance on their mortgage convert their equity into cash.
  
  
• Investment Property:
  Welcome to the potentialy lucrative (and confusing) world of apartment financing. It may be worth your time to better understand this important aspect of property investment.


• Rental Property:
  


• 2-4 Units:
  An important form of affordable housing for low-to moderate-income borrowers


• Multi-Family:
  An important form of affordable housing for low-to moderate-income borrowers


• Mortgage Solutions:
  Choosing a home mortgage depends on your wants and needs. Regardless of your reason for mortgage refinancing -- be it to lower monthly payments or build equity faster -- you should contact several mortgage lenders.


• Mortgage Costs:
  Mortgage Closing Costs can be high, so it pays to shop around and negotiate with the seller, your lender, and your attorney or settlement agent. The less you have to pay in settlement costs, the more funds you will have for other things.


• Other:


• Apartment Financing:
  Welcome to the potentialy lucrative (and confusing) world of apartment financing. It may be worth your time to better understand this important aspect of property investment.


• Home Construction Loan:A Home Construction to Permanent mortgage combines financing for the purchase of land, the construction of a new home, and a permanent mortgage into one loan with one closing.
  


• Lot Loan:
  Down payments as low as 10%, Interest only Lot Loans available, Second and vacation home lots/land, too


• Avoid Foreclosure:
  If you are unable to make your mortgage payment: Don’t ignore the problem.


• About Predatory Lenders:
  f you are a homeowner who needs money to pay bills or for home repairs, you may think a home equity loan is the answer. But not all loans and lenders are the same--you should shop around. The cost of doing business with high-cost lenders can be excessive and, sometimes, downright abusive.


• VA, FHA, Other:
  Interested in either a FHA or VA loan? START HERE:


• Loan Types:
  
  • Fixed Rate Loans:
    Fixed-rate mortgages are the most common mortgage for first-time homebuyers because they’re stable. Typically the monthly mortgage payment remains the same for the entire term of the loan - whether it’s a 15-year, 20-year, 30-year, or 40-year mortgage allowing for predictability in your monthly housing costs.
  
  
  • Adjustable Rate Loans:
    Adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs),/a> are loans with interest rates that change. ARMs may start with lower monthly payments than fixed-rate mortgages, but keep the following in mind:
  
  
  • Seconds/HELOC’s:
    More and more mortgage lenders are offering home equity lines of credit. By using the equity in your home, you may qualify for a sizable amount of credit, available for use when and how you please, at an interest rate that is relatively low.
  
  
  • Reverse Mortgage:
    It used to be that if you were age 62 or older, there were only two ways to get cash out of your home. You could sell it or you could borrow against your home equity. But now, with reverse mortgages, seniors can tap into the home equity they’ve built up without moving or taking on extra debt.
  
  
  • Home Improvement Loan:
    Home improvement loans offers a variety of ways to finance your needs for property improvements and repairs. For example, you can use a home improvement loan to buy a home and repair or improve it.
  
  
• Fair Lending:
  To create equal housing opportunities for all persons living in America by administering laws that prohibit discrimination in housing on the basis of race,color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, and familial status.


• RESPA:
  RESPA is about closing costs and settlement procedures. RESPA requires that consumers receive disclosures at various times in the transaction and outlaws kickbacks that increase the cost of settlement services.


• Questions or Comments?
  
• Links:



• Home

For more helpful mortgage tips on mortgage refinancing, home loans, reverse mortgages or a home equity line of credit, contact FreeLoanComparison.com today!

Last update: November 14, 2008