What you actually pay is usually up to you and your ability to sniff out and bargain for the best possible deal. Generally, you can obtain the lowest possible rate on your new loan by paying all the loan costs yourself. But you may be able to get some of the fees waived if you […]

The real determinant is how long it will take to recoup your costs. One idea is to weigh monthly savings against up-front costs. If you can save $100 a month on your mortgage payment by refinancing, but you have to pay $2,500 for the privilege, then you have to keep the new loan for at […]

Why Refinance?
Or maybe you want to shorten the period you’ll be making payments. You can do that by swapping your current 30-year mortgage for a 15-year loan or one of practically any other duration. If rates have come down enough, you may even be able to achieve this with little or no increase in […]

Most people refinance to lower their monthly mortgage payments. If rates have come down significantly since you obtained your original loan, you may be able to cut your payments substantially. But there are other reasons to turn in your old loan, too.
Since refinancing means you are taking on an entirely new loan, figure on […]

One more type of mortgage is the balloon mortgage. This is often taken for a short period of time. Here, the borrower repays part of the loan in monthly installments over a period of 5 to 7 years. At the end of this period, the remainder is to be paid off in a lump sum. […]