If you
want to apply for your first home mortgage,at first it may seem
an easy process simply because people buy and sell
homes every day. However, buying a home is not like so easy.
Applying for a
home mortgage is most important a couple or a individual can take.Most of
the times it is the largest purchase an individual or
family will ever make,so it is very important for you to
approach the funding of the purchase with great caution.If
you haven’t found the time to refinance your existing
home mortgage, it’s time to take action—like
yesterday!
A quarter of a percentage point may not seem like much, given
that the federal funds rate currently stands at 2 ¾ per cent,
but a reality check quickly reveals that you, personally,
have probably never seen 2 ¾ per cent interest on anything
in your lifetime. Take a look at your credit card statements.
Are you paying 2 ¾ per cent on your credit? What about your
home mortgage? Without getting technical, there’s little correlation
between the federal funds rate and home mortgage rates except
the direction in which they travel, and right now that direction
is headed to the sky.
You’ve already missed the opportunity of a lifetime to lock
in the lowest rates you’ll see for the foreseeable future,
but you have a little more time to get your hands on relatively
cheap money. The window of opportunity is rapidly closing,
so if you’re going to refinance, you must do it as soon as
possible.
Things you may not
know about home mortgage
A small rate cut can pay off handsomely in smaller monthly
mortgage payments.
Smaller monthly mortgage payments will decrease your tax
deduction, because you will no longer be paying as much interest
as you’ve been paying. Factor this in, because it’s the total
savings that matters.
You can and should ask to have fees waived or reduced: application
fees, origination fees, appraisal fees, legal fees, points,
and closing costs.
If you don’t have cash on hand to pay fees, you can get them
tacked on to the mortgage, paying nothing out of pocket for
your refinanced home mortgage.
If you refinance and shorten the term of a home mortgage,
you will pay a higher monthly payment, but you’ll save a significant
amount of money over the term of the mortgage in addition
to paying off your home and building equity faster.
Standard home mortgage terms run 15 years or 30 years. If you’d
prefer a term somewhere in between the standard terms, ask
for a custom loan and designate a term that works better for
you. Find a term that strikes a balance between a term shorter
than 30 years and monthly payments lower than those of a 15-year
home mortgage.
If you cannot get a custom term, settle for a 30-year mortgage
and pay more than the monthly payment to pay off the loan
sooner. You must also negotiate no pre-payment penalty.
Where to go from here
1. Review your credit record with each of the three credit
bureaus: Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. Mistakes are common
in credit reports, and you may be surprised at what you find:
accounts that do not belong to you, balances that do not match
your statements, an identity mistake or worse. Correct any
bad information.
2. Compare mortgage rates and fees online among several finance
companies.
3. Use a good mortgage calculator. Using refinance calculators
is the only way to determine which loan is the better all-around
deal.
Work fast, but negotiate hard to make a deal that works for
you. The loan company wants your business as badly as you
want a better rate.
|