Sunday, August 22, 2010

With mortgage rates at 4.42%, which is the LOWEST EVER since rates have been tracked, have you thought about re-financing. It's a tough decision that would normally be an easy one.

There are a few Pro's to re-financing:

1) Lower payment due to lower interest rate
2) Locking in an ULTRA-low interest rate good for 15, 20, or 30 yrs.
3) Converting monthly payment savings into HARD, IN-THE-BANK savings OR
4) Paying off bills with the monthly payment savings
5) Avoiding a balloon payment if you have a balloon mortgage


Some Con's you should consider:

1) Payments are pushed out 15, 20, or 30 years, setting back full satisfaction of the mortgage
2) Your principal portion of monthly payment shrinks
3) You may have to pay PMI (Mortgage Insurance) if you dont have at least 80%-85% loan-to-value ratio (LTV)
4) If you have a pre-payment penalty built into your current loan (tsk, tsk...yuou should have read the fine print)
5) If re-fi'ing with an ARM, you are losing longterm stability of your interest rate.
6) If you are paying points at the time of re-finance, compare actual upfront cost to annual savings...you may find it will take 5-10 years to break even on your savings.

Please do your due diligence if considering a re-fi! It's good for most but not for ALL!

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