Article Sphere Logo
 

Should I Refinance Now or Wait for Higher Scores?

By Expert Author: Samantha Taylor | Article Abstract
Word Count: 419 words | Views: 75 view(s)
Scenario:

I’m looking to refinance from 8.5% 30 year fixed rate mortgage to lower 30 year fixed loan. I owe $70,000 on $150,000. My credit scores are 725, 680, and 695. I’m also looking for additional cash of around $5000 to pay off the balance of $3000 on a second mortgage. I don’t have any other loan or credit cards. Can I expect to get a good rate of interest for the refinance loan or should I wait for even higher scores for a lower rate of interest? I’d be making extra payments too.

Solution:

I must say that you have good credit scores in all. With a middle score of 680, you are likely to qualify for a refinance loan at favorable rate of interest. What I appreciate is that you don’t have credit card debts piled up. So, you can at least spend a part of your paycheck in repaying the refinance mortgage. It’ll also help you pay extra towards the principal. Making extra payments does help you get rid of debt faster.

Now as far as current mortgage rates are concerned, 30 year fixed mortgage rates have dropped down to 6.04% from 6.14% as on November 22, 2008. Since rates are on a slowdown, and are expected to go down further, therefore, you can try out for a 30 year refinance. Also, you need additional cash. Therefore, you can look out for lenders offering refinance with a cash-out option. But you’ll get a slightly higher rate if you go for cash-out refinance and not a simple rate and term refinance. However, there are lenders who may ask for penalty if you’re taking out a mortgage worth less than $80K.

Now, if the lender finds out that you’re interested in making extra payments, chances are that he may not offer a loan without prepayment penalty. This is because he’ll lose the interest you could otherwise pay during the time period between the end of the loan term and the date when you prepay the loan. As far as prepayment penalty is concerned, some lenders may charge 6 months of interest as the penalty. You can check out the loan doc for any information on prepayment penalty.

Finally, I don’t think you need to wait for higher scores. This is because you may get the same rate of interest for any credit score between 720 and 800. What’s important is to get the details of the loan offer and compare apples to apples prior to choosing the best.
Samantha Taylor

About the Author/Author Bio

Samantha Taylor is a contributing writer and moderator of Mortgagefit.com Forums. She specializes in refinance mortgage and real estate field.

Article Source: http://www.articlesphere.com/Article/Should-I-Refinance-Now-or-Wait-for-Higher-Scores-/171878

Article Submitted: 2008-12-26 | This Article has been viewed 75 times.

More "Mortgages Refinance" Related Articles

 
 

Listed below are more articles related to the above article from the "Mortgages Refinance" article category.

People interested in the above article "Should I Refinance Now or Wait for Higher Scores?" are also interested in the related articles listed below:

 
More mortgage shoppers seeking reliable home loan programs are opting for the FHA home loan program in greater numbers recently. In the early 1900s, the FHA was the choice only for those people who were not earning a lot, had credit issues, or were first time buyers with little down payment.
If you recently bought a home, look into getting mortgage insurance. If you support the mortgage and you die, you need insurance to pay it off. Mortgage life insurance pays off the mortgage when the insure dies. There are many different ways to write this insurance policy. Do you know what to include in this policy? Look over this article, to become more informed on mortgage life insurance.
If you are a normal mortgage shopper, you would probably think a mortgage lender, mortgage banker, and mortgage broker are all the same thing simply because they all provide mortgages to home buyers and refinancers. However, if so, you would be incorrect and this blunderer could end up costing you a ton of greenbacks.
First-time homebuyers and current homeowners now have unprecedented access to home purchasing power under the Obama Economic Recovery Act of 2009 to help jumpstart the US housing market and the flagging economy. Because of this recently enacted legislation, potential home buyers and current homeowners now have the opportunity to either receive a one-time home purchasing tax credit or refinance their current mortgages.
Don't be confused with the jargon regarding mortgages; there is a big difference between prequalifying and preapproval. Prequalifying for a mortgage is based on estimates and is not a guarantee that you can get a mortgage for a particular amount. When you are preapproved for a mortgage, you are guaranteed that the bank will cover you for a specific amount based on documentation of your income and expenses.
While your house is probably the biggest asset you own, your mortgage is also probably the largest expense in your monthly budget. Because of this, homeowners have started looking for and considering refinancing to lower their monthly payment. Mortgage refinancing is only one way of reducing monthly payments, increasing home equity, and lowering interest rates, making it more possible for you to own a house in a short period of time. Unfortunately, not only are mortgage refinancing institutions greatly affected by the economic crisis, they are also plagued by the increase in number of scammers in action.
As a Long Island homeowner, there's an important distinction you must be aware of: mortgage refinance versus loan modification. A mortgage refinance option is available for homeowners who are current on their mortgage, but want to take advantage of the new, lower market rates on mortgages.
 
Article Directory Home All Categories Finance Mortgages Refinance
 

Can't find what you're looking for? Try Google Search!
 
Copyright © 2005 - by Larry Lim, Singapore - Article Search Engine Directory at ArticleSphere.com™
All Rights Reserved Worldwide. All Trademarks and Servicemarks are the property of the respective owners.

Afrikaans Albanian Arabic Belarusian Bulgarian Catalan Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Traditional) Croatian Czech Danish German English Estonian Filipino Finnish French Galician Greek Hebrew Hindi Hungarian Icelandic Indonesian Irish Italiano Japanese Korean Latvian Lithuanian Macedonian Malay Maltese Dutch Norwegian Persian Polish Portuguese Romanian Russian Serbian Slovak Slovenian Spanish Swahili Swedish Thai Turkish Ukrainian Vietnamese Welsh Yiddish