What Costs Are Involved in Refinancing My Mortgage?

What Is Mortgage Refinancing?

Mortgage refinancing occurs when a homeowner applies to a lender for a new mortgage on their existing property. At the closing for the refinance, the new lender pays off the debt owed to the former lender. The homeowner now has a new mortgage note with the new lender.

There are two types of mortgage refinances. One is called cash-out, the other rate-and-term. If the homeowner qualifies for a cash-out refinance, the new lender gives them cash back at their closing based on the equity they had already built up in the former mortgage balance. A rate-and-term refinance allows the homeowner to get into a new mortgage with a lower rate and a new term length than their previous contract.

Is Mortgage Refinancing a Good Idea?

Mortgage refinancing is a good idea under many circumstances, such as if you have an adjustable-rate mortgage and a lender allows you to move into a fixed rate so that you have a predictable principal and interest payment for the life of the loan. In addition to predictable payment, you’ll most likely refinance if it lowers your monthly payment, too.

Another reason is that you may want to pay off your home faster. If so, a refinance could move you from a mortgage that has, say, 24 years remaining on its term, into a new 15-year mortgage. With all of these upsides to a refinance, it’s considered a good financial move to refinance your home to either get rid of a HELOC you may have or, if you specifically do a cash-out refinance, you can use that cash from your equity to fund a home improvement project.

The costs involved in refinancing your mortgage typically include application, origination, and processing fees, as well as an appraisal to verify the value of your home, which affects the size of your new mortgage and the potential amount of cash you can take out. These fees are either paid out of pocket or you may roll them into your new loan. If they are rolled into your new loan, these fees will be deducted from the cash-out you were expecting.

It’s important to compare refinance lenders because they set most of their own fees, so it is worth your time to shop around. Some lenders don’t charge application, lender, and origination fees, so don’t accept them as a standard cost everywhere you go.

How We Chose the Best Mortgage Refinancing Companies

We reviewed 18 refinance companies to select these best seven. We made sure their rates were competitive, and we preferred lenders with lower fees than the competition. Except in a few cases, we favored lenders who were licensed nationwide online installment loans Louisiana online direct lenders. The lenders we awarded as best-in-class in a category but don’t lend nationwide made our list because they had an offering that really set the bar high.

We wanted our best refinance lenders to offer a variety of term lengths, fixed and variable rate choices, accepted lower credit score minimums, and financed several types of homes. To be determined as one of the best, they need to be inclusive of homeowners with different financial situations and home types. As always, customer service ratings, convenience, and reputation needed to be stronger than the competition to win one of our categories.

Nationwide Home Loans offers terms from five to 30 years, including terms specific to each client because they are an in-house lender. For example, if you owe 22 years on your loan, they can write a custom loan for a 22-year term.

Best Bank : Bank of America

We recommended Quicken Loans over the other winners on this list because they offer a variety of rates, terms, and loan types designed to suit people with different savings, equity, credit scores, and home types.