How do you go about refinancing your mortgage?

I have a 5 year interest only mortgage and just closed on my condo 4 months ago. It appears rates are lower. How do I go about refinancing and what are the advantages? If it's lower should I autmoatically do it?How do you go about refinancing your mortgage?
Hi, This is Greg Darlin with Choice Finance in Rockville, Maryland. 301-881-8900, ext. 106. I am the most Sr. Mortgage Broker with my company. Now for your answer . . .


It depends on your current interest rate, how long you intend on keeping your property, the current rates today and your closing costs. Sounds like a mouthful but those are the considerations.


Go to my website, www.choicefinance.net then e-mail me at: greg@choicefinance.net.


Sincerely,


Greg DarlinHow do you go about refinancing your mortgage?
Refinancing can be good, and it can be difficult. I am a licensed mortgage specialist, so I can do refinances. If it's going to save you money, and you think it's worth your time, go for it! If it's going to cost you more in closing costs and time than it's going to save you in interest, I wouldn't worry. I know that I try my best to make it so you won't have to go back and resign your mortgage for another 30 years, I try to make it so you'll only have the same amount of years left as you would have had you not refinanced.
A good starting point would be to compare the market rates. Here is a free online tool for doing that.


http://goaddr.com/8rt
Remember there are closing costs, usually a couple thousand dollars worth, so just because the rate is lower doesn't mean you should do it. It will take years to recoup the refinancing closing costs so you have to consider how long you plan to keep the house. There are a ton of refinancing calculators used to help decision making - just google it.





If you find you want to refinance, you go through the same process as you did for securing your original loan, and tell them you are refinancing. They will walk you through the process.





The advantages are obviouslsy a lower interest rate and related interest charges. If you have PMI and your house has appreciated, it may be a way to get rid of PMI.
It is a good question, I need more info to properly answer it. Ask yourself these questions? How much lower? How much will you save by refinancing? How much will it cost you? And finally how long do you think you will live there? A good example would be if say rates were .50 lower than when you purchased. Great you can save $100 per month and it will cost you say $1,800 to refinance. And you know you are going to live there at least 3-5 years. Then the answer is obvious, you should refinance, skip the payment and save money for years to come. Use this model to determine what you should do. If you only save $25 per month and it still costs you $1800 to refinance then you are wasting time and money. Of course you could always count on skipping that payment which could put some cash in your pocket around the holidays. Contact an HONEST loan officer who will put it in writing and explain the pros and cons like I did. And yes I am a loan officer. Email me if you like for more information.





Thanks,
Well im kinda going thru the same thing. But even though rates are lower is your credit score higher. Thats the question. J O may answer your question and he can help you. Another thing is do you have a pre-payment penalty.
That is a great question, and depends on what your last loan looked like. What is your rate? How much did you pay in total cost to do the last loan? You have to divide how much your monthly savings are into how much you paid on your last loan, and how much your new one will cost. That will give you a break-even period. You should be able to break even with in a reasonable amount of time. Work with an expert who will honestly tell you whether it makes sense or not, stay away from those ';hungry'; bankers who just want to do a loan for you for their benefit...
The first question that I would have is how much lower have the rates dropped? What is the amount of your mortgage? There are many factors to consider when thinking about refinancing your mortgage. Just because rates have fallen doesn't always mean that it would be a win to refinance. First of all most banks today want to see at least six months and some up to a year of seasoning on a new mortgage. What this means is that you have had the loan for that period of time. In some cases banks will make an exception, but it would not be considered the norm. Second consideration have the rates dropped enough to justify spending money on closing cost and typically adding to the amount of the loan? Remember on a 5 year interest only ARM your rate is fixed for five years and you have the option of only paying the interest. Five years in the financial world is a long enough time for anything to happen. In the case where rates have dropped a point or more it may be worth considering. Always do your homework and stay away from the hype; what makes sense for someone else doesn't always make good financial sense for you. Good luck...
If you need a lower payment because of financial stress, then yes, just do it. If you want to see if it makes sense over the long term, do an analysis. here is a calculator to help with that:


http://www.choicefinance.net/calculators鈥?/a>


and some more insight on refinancing:


http://www.choicefinance.net/faq/refinan鈥?/a>
Every time you refinance, you pay fees and it will added to your loan. Interest has come down recently, but, if you are trying to sell your property within 5 years, I would say, just stay with what you have until you sell. If you want to own it for longer term, you may want to look into more traditional 30 year mortgage since those are the cheapest right now. Try the current lender and compare with some others in the area for the best rate. Again, it really depends on your future plan.
Its a pretty simple process...








After having a licensed morgage officer analyze your credit, you can choose the program option best suited for you...





From there, your appraisal can be re-certified (if you have a copy) and your loan will be processed...





Usually takes anywhere from 15-20 days to complete a mortgage refinance...





Being you have only been there for 4 months, you will have to use the purchse price to determine your LTV...





Did you put a down payment on the house when you purchased it?





Or did you do a 80/20 loan?





Either way you can still qualify...





Now, as for the advantages...





There can be many.. If you do qualify for a lower rate, it can substantially decrease the amount of money you pay over a 30 year period...





The key is to find a company with minimal closing costs...





I work with Providential Bancorp, .we are a nationwide motgage lender... Being we are a direct lender that only focuses on mortgage loans, we are able to originate mortgages at very LOW costs...





So, there will always be a benefit if you can lower your rate being your costs are recouped almost immediately....





What you need to do is have someone pull your credit, and go over your options that you qualify for...





From there you can make a more informed decision...





Feel free to call or email me at any time.. I would be happy to assist you in a refinance...





Look forward to assisting you!





Jason Fry


Licensed Mortgage Loan Officer


Providential Bancorp


jasonf@providential.com


312-264-6448
Although rates have dropped you should do some math on how much you will actually save. Let's say for example that the condo was originally purchased for $200,000 interest only (IO) loan at 8% even if rates have dropped a full point (questionable depending on credit) to 7% you would save 167 dollars a month by doing a refi. That is a significant amount and unless you are being raped on fees by your mortgage guy is probably worth it (should pay itself off in 10 months). But if the rate for you has only dropped half a point to 7.5% you save $83 dollars a month, nothing to sneeze at but that would take you almost two years to save. You must ask yourself if you will be there that long. Also remember that interest on a mortgage is tax deductible so the actual difference is only 2/3 the amount of what I posted. I'm sure this is a bit confusing and not the most eloquent thing to read, feel free to email me if you have any questions, I have a couple referrals already from Yahoo people.