Wednesday, April 30, 2008

New Home Mortgage – A Guide You Should Follow

As a home buyer, you are frequently overwhelmed by the idea of obtaining a new home mortgage. While the prospect of buying a new home is certainly exciting, you will want to know what to expect when you begin the mortgage process.

The first step in understanding a new home mortgage is in understanding that there are actually many different types of mortgages available. The two most common types of mortgages are fixed rate mortgages and adjustable rate mortgages. A fixed rate mortgage offers the advantage of the same interest rate over the entire length of the loan. So, if you obtain a 5.5% interest rate on your mortgage when you purchase your home, you can be assured that your interest rate will remain 5.5% until you sell your home, pay off the mortgage or refinance your home loan. This can be especially advantageous for home buyers who are committed to a budget and do not want any surprises.

An adjustable rate new home mortgage can offer a lower interest rate at the time you purchase your home. If you do not think you will be in the home longer than a few years, this can be quite attractive. The key to keep in mind with an adjustable rate mortgage is that the interest rate could rise at some point in time; however. In most cases, an adjustable rate mortgage will contain cap limitation, both the amount that the rate can rise as well as how often it can rise during a specified period of time.

You will also need to consider the term of your new home mortgage. At one time, the most common terms for a home loan were 15 years and 30 years. Today; however, lenders have recognized that the needs of homeowners have evolved and as a result, there are many more options including 10 years, 20 years and even 40 years. When choosing a term for your loan, remember that a shorter term mortgage will allow you to pay off your mortgage sooner and save money in interest overall; however, your monthly mortgage payments will be higher. A longer term mortgage will provide the benefit of lower monthly mortgage payments; however, it will take longer to pay off your mortgage and you will pay more interest over the duration of your mortgage.

Beside the type of new home mortgage and term, your mortgage payment will also be dependent on your ability to qualify for the best interest rate. Lenders must take into consideration the amount of risk they may be incurring when they approve a home mortgage application. If you have a low credit score, they may feel you are a higher risk. As a result, you may not be able to qualify for a low interest rate. If your credit score is good, then you will be considered a lower risk and consequently, you can qualifier for a better interest rate. This means your monthly mortgage payment will be lower.

Finally, the amount of debt that you are carrying could impact the interest rate you are able to qualify for. As a general rule of thumb, most lenders prefer for an applicant’s total housing costs not to exceed 30% of their pre-tax monthly income and total debt not to exceed 36% of their total pre-tax monthly income. There are exceptions in some cases; however, so be sure to speak with your new home mortgage lender about your situation.

Ready to purchase a new home? Visit New Home Mortgage or Home Mortgage for more information on getting the best rates possible for your new home loan.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Reasons Why Home Refinancing May be for You

One of the most common reasons for home refinancing is to obtain a lower interest rate and subsequently lower monthly home mortgage payments. There are actually many other reasons why you may wish to consider refinancing your home mortgage; however.

If you financed your home some time ago, you may have realized that interest rates have dropped significantly in the interim. In this case, it really does not make much financial sense in most circumstances to continue paying a high interest rate when you can refinance for a lower interest rate. This will allow you to take advantage of a lower monthly mortgage payment and pocket more money each month. Usually, the only good reason for not refinancing when interest rates have dropped considerably is when you know you will not remain in the home long enough for the cost of the home refinancing to be offset by the savings.

Another good reason to consider home refinancing is to take advantage of the opportunity to change from an adjustable rate mortgage to a fixed rate mortgage. In the event that you financed your home with an adjustable rate mortgage and then realized later that your APR had increased, a fixed rate mortgage can provide you with security and stability. This can be quite important if you value the security in knowing that your mortgage payment will remain the same from one month to another with no changes.

Many homeowners are also considering home refinancing as a way to fund a home improvement or in some cases to fund some other purchase or cost. In the event you have accumulated quite a bit of equity in your home since you purchased it, either through the home appreciating or through paying down the mortgage, you may wish to refinance and cash out some of the equity in order to pay for a home improvement project.

Another option would be to refinance and use the cash you obtain from cashing out your equity to pay for the purchase of a new vehicle or something else. This home refinancing option makes good financial sense when the interest rate you are able to obtain on the refinance is lower than what you would be able to obtain by obtaining a new loan to cover the cost of the purchase.

The same is also true of refinancing your home to pay for college education or medical costs. Many parents have recognized that it is far easier and cheaper to refinance their home and use the cash they receive from the equity to fund the cost of their children’s educations rather than taking out a higher cost parent-student loan.

Regardless of why you choose to refinance your home, it is important to keep in mind that there are costs associated with home refinancing. These costs are usually quite similar to the closing costs you paid when you obtained your first mortgage and may include application fees, a title search, filing fees, etc. Today many lenders make it available to obtain what is known as a no-cost refinancing. This usually means that you can roll the cost of the refinance in with the new loan. If you are short on cash for closing costs, this can be a good option if you have decided that refinancing is for you.

Make sure you have the information you need to make the most informed home refinancing decisions. Find out everything you need to know about refinancing your mortgage at Home Refinancing or Home Loan Refinance.

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Home Mortgage Refinance – The Way to Saving You Money

The main goal of home mortgage refinance is to lower down your interest rate so you will also decrease your monthly repayments. To further improve your savings ability, here are more ways on how to save more money with refinancing.

You cannot expect for money to come flowing in anytime you want to. There will always be times when your bank account is drained, and you’ve already used whatever money you have in your pocket and wallet. Worse, your credit card is screaming and your home loan is already about to go on default. What should you do? You choose home mortgage refinance.

In general, a home refinancing is your perfect choice if you want to minimize your monthly repayments for your home. How? With it, you can choose to lower down your interest rate, which means you will also be reducing the amount that you’re going to pay every month. What’s more, you can also choose to shorten your loan term, allowing you to save more cash that you could use to pay other immediate bills.

But do you know that you can actually save bigger than what you can already accumulate if you combine any of these with your home mortgage refinance?

1. Get rid of the hidden costs that are often associated with private mortgage insurance. With your home mortgage refinance, there are certain costs that you have to pay. The problem, however, is that not all expenses become upfront. One of these is the private mortgage insurance. You need to pay this if you’re going to borrow money that’s worth over 80 percent of the total value of your home. This can cost a lot for you. If you want to get rid of this, you need to make sure that you can limit your home refinancing to about 30 percent of your home’s equity. Hence, if you want to increase your refinancing loan, the best way is to also increase the overall value of your home by doing some improvements.

2. Close your account in your credit card. Credit cards can be truly pesky additions to your monthly bills. Besides dealing with various credit card collectors who never fail to call you almost 24 hours every day, you also have to shoulder huge interest payments every month. It will only add more to your dues especially when you decide to go for a home mortgage refinance. Hence, unless you need it very badly, it can be ideal to close it at least temporarily. You can open one again once you’re done with one major payment. This will also improve your credit rating, which makes you even more qualified to obtain a smaller interest rate for your refinance.

3. Check your credit report. Your FICO score will be one of the bases for your home mortgage refinance. If you have a bad score, you will not likely obtain reduced interest rates compared to those who have better ratings. However, besides monitoring your credit score, double-check the information written in your report. Are they all accurate? You will find it very difficult to justify erroneous information once you submit the report to the mortgage refinance lender. If there are mistakes, please call the reporting agency immediately.

Save some of your cash for future use by going for home refinancing. Visit Home Mortgage Refinance or Home Mortgage today. This website has all the right techniques in place to make sure that you can obtain better financial freedom.

Friday, April 11, 2008

Effective Home Loan Refinance – Things That You Should Know

Home loan refinance can relieve you of very high interest rates or allow you to pay your existing mortgage. But what are the things do you need to keep in mind? Here are some of them.

No matter what you do, there will always be time when you wish you can have more funds to pay your mortgage that is almost going on default or lower down your interest rates. Fortunately, you have the answer for that. The most effective solution is to settle for a home loan refinance.

However, it is not going to be easy as you probably think. There are several things that you need to keep in mind, such as closing costs, your new interest rates, and the length of the refinance loan, to name a few. To ensure that you do not go wrong with your home refinancing, consider the following tips:

1. Know if you need the home loan refinance. It is important that you know the importance of home refinancing to your personal finances. Hence, before you even consider applying for a home loan refinance, know first if it is really what you need. You have to assess if you have plans of staying at your home for a certain period of time. To help you out, you can do this basic calculation. You divide the refinancing cost by 12. This way, you will know how many more years you need to live at your home before you can say that you have made a wise investment. If the result does not appeal to you, as you may be moving to another location by then, then a home refinancing is not something for you.

2. Talk to your present lender first before looking for another provider. If you are thinking of refinancing your home loan, you need to talk to your present mortgage lender first. This will definitely cut the time of processing your application, as you already have your records, and you can even save something from your closing costs. Nevertheless, do not be afraid to ask your provider to lay everything on the table. If after calculations you realize that the new loan appears to be almost as high as your previous one, you may have to look for another lending company for your mortgage refinance.

3. Determine the total costs of your refinance. It is not enough that you know how much you are going to pay monthly. You also have to take into consideration the costs associated with your new loan, such as the closing, transaction, and appraisal costs. This is to help you evaluate if you are getting the best deal when it comes to interest rate and monthly payment for your new loan.

4. Try to shorten the payment term of your new mortgage. If you are going for home loan refinance, ensure that you can at least limit the new term to what is left of your old mortgage. This way, you will not have to actually extend the number of months that you will be paying for your loan.

In the end, it is always good if you can learn to shop around. It is only when you do some research in the market that you will understand your different options.

Visit Home Loan Refinance or Home Refinancing today as the expert here can show you the most appropriate strategies that will make sure you can take full advantage of your refinance.

Friday, April 4, 2008

Tips for Home Mortgage Refinance

A home mortgage refinance can be a sound financial decision in many circumstances. This is especially the case when interest rates are attractive. There are several factors that should be considered when making the decision to refinance; however.

When you first purchased your home and took out your mortgage, you probably looked at interest rates, terms and fees. When you decide to take advantage of a home mortgage refinance, you need to consider these factors as well as a few others. For example, you should take into consideration the amount of money that is left remaining on the balance of your mortgage. This is important because ultimately the amount of money you will be able to refinance will be based on the amount of money that you have paid toward your mortgage and the amount of money that is left remaining.

You should also take into consideration the amount of time that you have paid on your existing mortgage. If you only have five years left on your mortgage, it may not make good financial sense to refinance because you would be extending the payment on your mortgage beyond that time frame in most cases. Unless you are facing dire circumstances, it would usually be best to remain in the first mortgage. If; however, you have more than five years left on your mortgage there are numerous advantages to a home mortgage refinance including the ability to tap into your equity and lower monthly mortgage payments.

You should also make sure you check your credit rating before you pursue refinancing your home. As you are probably aware, your credit rating had a tremendous impact on your ability to qualify for your first mortgage. The same can be said of a home mortgage refinance. To get the best rates possible, you wan to make sure that your credit report is accurate.

Many people make the decision to refinance their mortgages because they are either having a difficult financial time or they want to pay off higher interest bills with a lower interest home equity loan. A home mortgage refinance can be a good solution which will allow you to consolidate all of those bills into a single loan with a lower interest rate. You will be able to save money each month and then start with a fresh clean financial slate.

Additionally, to be certain that you receive the most benefits from refinancing your home, make sure that you take the time to shop around for the best rates. Take the time to research current interest rates so that you will know whether you are being offered a good deal or not.

Also, be sure to compare the costs associated with a home mortgage refinance. Even though one lender may be offering what appears to be a lower interest rate, if they are charging you more in closing costs to refinance your mortgage, it may not be as good of a deal as it first appears to be. By taking the time to do your research, consider your reasons for refinancing and shopping around to compare rates, costs and terms, you can be certain to take advantage of the best benefits offered by refinancing.

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