Mortgage Refinansing Help

Mortgage Refinancing Help: Banks

“Give yourself plenty of time to close. With most refinancings, your file is turned over to a closing or title company, which dictates the closing details. Like the lenders themselves, these firms are swamped when interest rates are low. Moreover, appraisers get backed up and can be difficult to schedule. So don't expect the closing to happen as quickly as anyone promises. ”

Mortgage Refinancing Help : Regional: North America: United States: Texas: Localities: F: Fort Worth: Business and Economy: Financial Services : Banks (4)

If you are planning to stay in your home for several years, then you can save money by paying points for lower interest rates. You pay up front fees to ensure you have lower interest payments over the course of your loan. Remember, this only works if you keep your mortgage for several months.

Texas Capital Bank »
Largest initial bank capitalization of any privately-funded bank in the United States.

Southwest Bank »
An independent bank with branches in Burleson, Saginaw, Ft. Worth, Dallas, and Mansfield.

Worth National Bank »
Provides financial services to individuals and businesses in the North Texas area.

Star Bank of Texas »
Independent, full-service bank.

Be Realistic. Lenders have tightened up loan requirements, so you'll need a good credit score and at least some equity in your home to refinance. To figure out how much equity you have, subtract the total amount that you owe on all of your existing mortgages from how much you think your home is worth. If your credit is severely impaired or you owe more than the value of your home, you probably won't be able to refinance right now.

Know your credit score before you begin looking for a loan. If you can, try to remove any blemishes from your credit report before applying for a refinance.

Changing the term of your mortgage can help in several ways. First, if you were to refinance your current mortgage from 30 years to 15 years, you will accelerate the rate at which you pay towards principle each month meaning your house will be paid off quicker. Also, you will save an unbelievable amount of money in terms of interest because you would likely be taking 10 to 15 years off the life of your loan. Second, you can also refinance a 15 year mortgage to a 30 year mortgage. It seems like it might not make sense to do this, but if you have an immediate need to free up monthly cash-flow and you don't want to take out a home equity loan, this can work out to your benefit. When you take a 15 year loan and refinance it to 30 years you will have the same balance only the payments can be hundreds of dollars less than the 15 year loan. The only draw back to this is you will pay more in interest over the live of the loan.

You can also save money on your mortgage refinancing by paying "points." This is a fee that effectively lowers the interest rate of your loan. If you plan on staying in your home for a long time, this long-term strategy can be an excellent way to save thousands of dollars.