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Refinancing Your Home - Top Ten Mistakes
- Refinancing with your current lender
without shopping around.
Your current lender may not have the best rates and programs.
There is a general misconception that it is easier to work with
your current mortgage company. In most cases, your current mortgage
company will require the same documentation as other companies.
This is because most loans are sold on the secondary market
and have to be approved independently. So even if you have been
very good at making payments to your existing lender, they will
still have to do their verifications all over again.
- Not doing a break-even analysis.
Find out what the total cost of the refinance is, then figure
out how much you will save every month. Divide the total cost
by the monthly savings to get the number of months you will
have to stay in the property to break-even on your refinancing
costs.
Example: if your refinance costs $2000 and you save $50/month
your break-even is 2000/50=40 months. You should refinance if
you plan to stay in the house for at least 40 months.
Note: The break-even analysis only works if you are refinancing
to save money. If you are refinancing to switch from an adjustable
to a fixed or from a 30-year loan to a 15-year loan, it is much
more difficult to perform a break-even analysis.
- Not getting a written good-faith
estimate of closing costs.
Your mortgage company is required to provide you with a written
good-faith estimate of closing costs within 3 working days of
receiving the application.
- Paying for an appraisal when you
think that the house may appraise too low.
Have the appraisal company do a desk-review appraisal (typically
at no charge) to provide you with a range of possible values.
Your mortgage company can ask their appraiser to do this for
you. Do not waste your money on a full appraisal if you are
doubtful about the value of your house.
- Using the county tax assessor's value
as the market value of your house.
Mortgage companies do not use the county tax assessor's value
to determine whether they will make the loan. Instead, they
use a market-value appraisal which may be very different from
the assessed value.
- Signing your loan documents without
reviewing them.
Do not sign documents in a hurry. Whenever possible, try to
get documents that you will be signing ahead of time so you
can review them. It is advisable to ask for a copy of all loan
papers you will be signing a few days ahead of the close of
escrow. This way, you can review them and get your questions
answered. Do not expect to read all the documents during the
closing. There is rarely ever enough time to do that.
- Not providing documents to your mortgage
company in a timely manner.
When your mortgage company asks you for additional paperwork,
jump on it! Do not complain. They are trying to get you approved,
not trying to hassle you unnecessarily! Jump through the hoops
as quickly as possible. Borrowers who do not respond to requests
for documentation quickly enough can end up paying higher rates
if their rate lock expires.
- Not getting a rate lock in writing.
When a mortgage company tells you they have locked your rate,
get a written statement which details the interest rate, the
length of the rate lock and details about the program.
- Pulling cash out of your credit line
before you refinance your first mortgage.
Many lenders have "cash-out" seasoning requirements.
This means that if you pull cash out of your credit line for
anything other than home improvements, they will consider the
refinance to be a "cash-out" refinance. This leads
to much stricter requirements and can, in some cases, break
the deal!
- Getting a second mortgage before
you refinance your first mortgage.
Many mortgage companies look at the combined loan amounts (i.e.
the first loan plus the second) even when they are refinancing
the first mortgage. If you plan on refinancing your first, check
with your mortgage company to see if having a second will cause
your refinance to get turned down.
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