Sarah Dinkins asked: Lower interest rates and monthly home equity loan payments can make cash available for other usage or make debt more manageable. As interest rates move in cycles, when rates drop, it is the best time for refinancing. This is what most advisors suggest provided that your home equity loan is due in a long repayment program.
How to Know When To Refinance
Refinancing is not recommended if you plan to sell your home in a year. With closing costs and other fees, it’s crucial to know whether refinancing cost is offset by lower monthly payments. Refinancing also avoids a balloon payment. Combine your first mortgage and home equity loan or credit line for one fixed-term payment and avoid a huge lump sum payment.
Using equity from refinancing to pay off credit card debt makes a bad deal. In transferring $15,000 in credit cards to a new 30-year first mortgage, monthly payments may decrease but due to the long term of the loan, it costs more to pay off otherwise revolving credit cards.
Fees And Other Charges
Better than that is to take 10 years to pay off the charge cards which can save you 20 years worth of additional interest. Consider also how long it will take to break even. Refinancing costs of $2,500 with payments $100 lower each month, you need 25 months to break even.
Apart from lower interest rate, refinancing also offers the advantage of converting all or part of your equity loans to a fixed-rate installment loan. It also enables you to acquire a shorter-term loan to build new equity more quickly. In refinancing at lower rates, it is common for homeowners to take cash from the equity for a remodeling project too.
Refinancing is Not For Everyone
10 years into a 30-year mortgage makes refinancing a new 30-year loan pointless as it would mean paying off for 40 years. Keeping mortgage on the books for this long can boost overall interest expenses for a home.
If your credit is worse now than when you originally borrowed, then it is not advisable to refinance. Credit score falls with late mortgage, credit card or auto payments since buying your home. Since you no longer qualify for the best rates, refinancing may boost payments and interests instead of lowering them.
Home Equity Loans And Lines Of Credit Are Cheaper
Conditions in the loan market have improved in the last few years and the interest rates have dropped too. Getting a home equity loan or line of credit can be really cheap and it is undoubtedly an excellent source of funds. Taking advantage of no closing costs promotions is also a smart thing to do.
Vincent
