Ravi Chandran
A good home loan refinancing strategy requires homeowners to have a clear understanding of their financial situation and objectives
How does good home loan refinancing work?
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Refinancing involves remortgaging your home loan to another bank. This is done to reduce your interest rates, resulting in savings on your monthly instalments.
If mortgage rates happen to be lower than when they were when the home was originally financed, or if the homeowner decided upon an adjustable or floating rate mortgage accompanied with a lower interest rate than the current rate, monthly payment will decrease.
That is assuming the homeowner doesn’t significantly shorten the loan term or cash out equity. When the home owner refinances, that means that monthly payments will be lowered and there will be extra money for those desired extras such as dinners, new clothes, or investing into a retirement or education fund.
However, that is not the only reason to get the good refinancing loan, but it is possible for the homeowner to not have the funds to bring to the closing table at the end of the initial mortgage loan.
Most of the time, all of the closing costs of the initial loan can be placed into a new loan, which means less money will come out of the homeowner’s pocket. Even an interest rate reduction of one-half of a percent can make a difference in the payments that is quite noticeable.
Due to the fact that fees associated with good refinancing loan can extend into the thousands of dollars, it is important to go over the numbers and make sure that the home will be occupied by the residents long enough to recover the costs of this type of transaction.
Is my credit rating important to get good home loan refinancing?
Those homeowners with good credit can get special deals on their closing costs from various lenders. In these cases, getting the good refinancing loan may make sense as it helps them to achieve lower interest rates.
If the homeowner is in the position to make a monthly payment that is higher than usual because of good fortune or an increase in salary, the homeowner may want to think about switching from a 25-year mortgage to a 15 or 20 year mortgage or do lump sum partial pre-payment.
Alternatively if the home loan interest cost is lower than the CPF OA interest rate, you may not want to pay down the loan from the CPF OA. This allows the homeowner to build equity quicker and save more money on the financing fees. In other words, the homeowner builds equity at a faster rate without putting out substantial amounts of money every month.
ARM or FRM which makes for good home loan refinancing?
In getting the good refinancing loan, many homeowners decide to go for an adjustable rate mortgage because of the low rates in the beginning, especially before interest rates begin to fall. However, these mortgages are quite unpredictable and may increase without warning. This means the mortgage is able to fluctuate and can do so monthly by hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
Some homeowners have the desire to move to a fixed rate mortgage after starting with an adjustable rate mortgage because of its added stability. Since interest rates are always fluctuating, the original deal suddenly becomes less attractive. People decide to change their loan programs so that they can capitalise on those available rates that are best for them at that time.
Achieving better credit scores is another great reason to get the good refinancing loan. If the homeowner’s credit score has gotten better because mortgage payments have been made on time, the homeowner may be able to take advantage of that improved credit by refinancing into a loan with lower interest rates decreased payments.
If the homeowner has paid off a car, inherited a sum of money, or received a bonus at work, if the homeowner is planning to own their home into retirement, refinancing down from a 25-year loan to a 20 or a 15 year loan may be a good move financially. The payments will rise, but the extra money can be used to cover the difference.
By paying off the home earlier with the good refinancing loan, the interest that is saved over the life of the loan is quite significant. The homeowner will also own the home free-and-clear sooner.
Homeowners of private properties may consider cash-out-refinancing. The homeowner can use the money from a cash-out refinance to pay off other bills such as credit cards. This is the same as transferring the debt into the home loan. Due to the fact that mortgage rates are most likely lower than that of credit cards, not only will the total amount of monthly payments go down, you they will also have the peace of mind.
Good home loan refinancing will give you better cash flow
One major reason why many people refinance, is to improve their cash flow in the here and now. You can lower your interest rate by choosing a mortgage rate which offers a better rate than you currently have. You can also consider lowering your payment by stretching out your current balance over a new term, but you must be mindful that age restrictions such as an age cap of 75 applies. And if you do that, you should take heed that it may take longer to pay off your loan but at the same time, you are improve your monthly cash flow and be more comfortable with repayment.
After all, even though people do live longer, it is still debatable if they will be able to work till age 75. But no harm kicking the can down the road and plan for it along the way and pass the issue to your children. They inherit the house/property, what is the issue with a little outstanding loan (debt)? Let the children work a little, do not serve it on a silver platter for them.
Even if your monthly payment drops, do keep in mind that the longer you take to clear your mortgage loan, the more interest you will have to pay over the life of the loan. This is the trade-off you have to make between immediate savings and long-term costs.
But if you choose to refinance, you can always choose to accelerate your repayment as your finances improve later in life. There are several reasons why homeowners may think they don’t qualify for a refinance for lower payments. One main reason is, they may believe that their mortgage balance is higher than the current market value of their properties that secures it. The other big reason being, their believe believing that their credit score is bad and won’t qualify them to refinance.
If you refinance to a lower rate, the chances are high that you will end up with a smaller payment. In fact, you can usually refinance for lower payments even if you get a higher rate. That is because in most cases, you will have reset the clock on your mortgage.
When should you seek good home loan refinancing?
Many homeowners explore refinancing in the third to fifth year, once their existing home loan’s lock-in period ends or the interest rates start to increase. If you’re unsure whether it’s time to refinance, you should speak with a professional.
