Should you be looking into refinancing?

You bought your house. You’ve put in the work and remodeled, redecorated, settled in and made it a home. Now what? Well, If you’ve been paying your mortgage for a few years or even more than just a few, you might want to consider refinancing.

There are several reasons to consider a refinance — perhaps interest rates have dropped since your initial loan or you want to shorten your loan’s term. If you happen to have an adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM), you may want to switch to a fixed-rate in order to lock in today’s historically low-interest rates.

There may also be reasons to do a “cash-out” refinance, which allows you to tap into your home’s equity. If you need some extra money to facilitate a home remodel and you figure it will add to the value of the home, this might be the right option. Keep in mind, you’ll be increasing the length of time it will take to pay off your home and ultimately paying more in interest and fees.

Refinancing isn’t always the best choice, it really depends on the individual needs and circumstances of any given borrower. It can be complicated process that has fees associated with it. Before you decide to ge into it, you may want to consider a few things. If your credit isn't great, you may want to work on improving your credit before you refi. A better credit score means a better mortgage rate. Next, you need to ask yourself where you’ll be in five years. If you do not plan on sticking around for a while, refinancing may not make sense. But if you’re thinking about being around long term, you can probably recover the fees associated with a refinance just through interest savings. Rockland Financial will be happy to walk you through this and help you determine what is the best course of action.
 

If you’ve calculated the numbers and decided it makes sense to refinance, then you’re ready to start shopping for mortgages. Remember, when you refinance you’re applying for a new loan, which means you need to be prepared to provide all the necessary information to get a loan approval: verify your income, your assets, your debt-to-income ratios, your credit profile, and your job history. A home appraisal will be needed to make sure it’s still worth enough to support the loan. 

 

Mortgage refinancing these days can be a bit complicated, but with the right support and guidance it can be relatively painless. We are here to help, contact us at anytime...

*source Yahoo Finance