Mortgage Refinancing Tips For Today Part 1
Today were going to talk about 5 tips that can save you literally hundreds or even thousands of dollars on the refinance of your mortgage loan. Today we are looking at historically low interest rates so you want to be able to take advantage of that by saving as much money as possible.
Tip 1). The first thing you can do is to go back into your records and look at your closing documents from the purchase of your home loan. If there have not been any structural changes to your house or lot, you should be able to use your existing survey on your next home loan. That alone could save you approximately $ 350.00 or more if you decide to refinance your home..
Tip 2). If you purchased your home in the past 7 years, you can get a discount on the cost of your title insurance. The amount of that discount varies by how long it has been since the policy was issued. Depending on the situation, you can use this discount to save up to 40% on your title insurance policy. Typically this is something that your lender is not going to ask you about or automatically pursue, so you should ask your lender about it to find out how much of a discount you are entitled to.
Tip 3). In today’s world, rates and terms are all risk based, so the higher your credit score is, the better your interest rate is going to be. Therefore it is critically important that you minimize the amount of inquiries done on your credit report . You should also know what your credit score is before you meet with a mortgage broker or lender.
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Also, if you get many recent inquiries on your credit report, this will decrease your credit score and put you up at a higher rate. To put that into perspective, just a quarter percent higher rate on a $ 200,000.00 home loan, will mean that you will pay an additional $ 12,000.00 in interest over the course of a 30 year loan.
There are some resources available to you that can help you understand and know what your credit score is before you approach a lender. You can do an online search using terms such as ” what’s my credit score” or ” know your credit score” etc and you will find many resources that can help you determine what your credit score actually is at the moment.
Tip 4). If you are looking to do some renovations or repairs on your home, make sure that you complete all the major work before your appraisal is done, especially if you have received insurance coverage for those repairs. ( this would certainly apply to those who have had property damage due to natural disaster). Not getting any repairs done will mean a lower appraisal, and that’s also going mean a higher loan to value that will put you at risk for a higher rate, and the possibility of having to take out a mortgage insurance on your loan. These costs can easily amount to thousands of dollars per year in additional costs, so you must make sure that all repairs are done before your appraisal takes place.
Tip 5). Make sure that your lender and title agent shop for the best appraisers and surveyors. Often they will go with a firm that they have a good relationship with, and don’t really consider the costs. However there are many great appraisers and surveyors out there who don’t charge premium prices. You can find a number of professional services that will charge $75.00 to $100.00 less, that will do an equally good job.
These are just 5 of many important mortgage refinancing tips available that can help you save thousands of dollars the next time your are looking for a loan.
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