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The offers that appear on this site are from companies that compensate us. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site, including, for example, the order in which they may appear within the listing categories. But this compensation does not influence the information we publish, or the reviews that you see on this site. We do not include the universe of companies or financial offers that may be available to you. SHARE: Davel5957/Getty Images April 09, 2021 Jeff Ostrowski covers mortgages and the housing market. Before joining Bankrate in 2020, he wrote about real estate and the economy for the Palm Beach Post and the South Florida Business Journal. Bankrate logo The Bankrate promise
At Bankrate we strive to help you make smarter financial decisions. While we adhere to strict editorial integrity, this post may contain references to products from our partners. Here's an explanation for how we make money. Bankrate logo The Bankrate promise
Founded in 1976, Bankrate has a long track record of helping people make smart financial choices. We’ve maintained this reputation for over four decades by demystifying the financial decision-making process and giving people confidence in which actions to take next. Bankrate follows a strict , so you can trust that we’re putting your interests first. All of our content is authored by and edited by , who ensure everything we publish is objective, accurate and trustworthy. Our mortgage reporters and editors focus on the points consumers care about most — the latest rates, the best lenders, navigating the homebuying process, refinancing your mortgage and more — so you can feel confident when you make decisions as a homebuyer and a homeowner. Bankrate logo Editorial integrity
Bankrate follows a strict , so you can trust that we’re putting your interests first. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions. Key Principles
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Bankrate’s editorial team writes on behalf of YOU – the reader. Our goal is to give you the best advice to help you make smart personal finance decisions. We follow strict guidelines to ensure that our editorial content is not influenced by advertisers. Our editorial team receives no direct compensation from advertisers, and our content is thoroughly fact-checked to ensure accuracy. So, whether you’re reading an article or a review, you can trust that you’re getting credible and dependable information. Bankrate logo How we make money
You have money questions. Bankrate has answers. Our experts have been helping you master your money for over four decades. We continually strive to provide consumers with the expert advice and tools needed to succeed throughout life’s financial journey. Bankrate follows a strict , so you can trust that our content is honest and accurate. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions. The content created by our editorial staff is objective, factual, and not influenced by our advertisers. We’re transparent about how we are able to bring quality content, competitive rates, and useful tools to you by explaining how we make money. Bankrate.com is an independent, advertising-supported publisher and comparison service. We are compensated in exchange for placement of sponsored products and, services, or by you clicking on certain links posted on our site. Therefore, this compensation may impact how, where and in what order products appear within listing categories. Other factors, such as our own proprietary website rules and whether a product is offered in your area or at your self-selected credit score range can also impact how and where products appear on this site. While we strive to provide a wide range offers, Bankrate does not include information about every financial or credit product or service. More than a quarter of American homeowners don’t know the they’re paying, a reality that sheds light on the mystery of why millions of American homeowners have yet to take advantage of a historic opportunity to save money by refinancing. As mortgage rates plunged to record lows in the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic, the number of American homeowners who could have refinanced soared to nearly 20 million, according to research by mortgage data firm Black Knight. That total has fallen as rates have climbed, but it still numbers about 11 million. There are several reasons homeowners don’t swap out mortgage rates, including the time and expense involved in refinancing, mortgage insiders say. A Bankrate survey just before the pandemic pointed to another culprit: . “If you don’t know your mortgage rate, it is worth checking,” says Greg McBride, Bankrate’s chief financial analyst. Check your statement or contact your servicer
You should receive a monthly statement, either on paper or by email, from your mortgage servicer. That’s the company that collects your payments. The monthly statement gives a variety of details about your loan — the initial amount, the amount you owe now, the length of the loan, the origination date, the payoff date and the rate. If for some reason you’ve lost touch with your servicer, mortgage giant Fannie Mae has a that will help you track down information about your home loan. , along with their phone numbers and web addresses. How to decide whether to refi
Once you’ve determined your current mortgage rate, the next step is to decide whether you should keep the loan or refinance. Some things to consider: How long will you keep the property? If you plan to sell in a couple of years, don’t bother to refinance. You probably won’t be able to recoup the costs of a new loan through lower payments. If you’ll be there for five years or longer, however, a refi could make sense. What’s your break-even point? Closing costs can total 2 percent to 5 percent of the amount of the loan, so you’ll want to calculate whether the expense is worthwhile. Say you’ve got a $250,000 loan for 30 years at 4.25 percent. Your monthly payment is $1,230. If you can cut the rate to 3.25 percent, your payment will fall to $1,088. If your closing costs are $5,000, it’ll take you three years of lower monthly payments to make back the amount you spent to refi. What’s your credit situation? If your credit score has improved substantially since you first took out your loan, it’s well worth looking into whether you can benefit from a double boost: lower mortgage rates as well as a cut in the rate you are offered because your credit score is higher. You can check your credit score for free at annualcreditreport.com. What other factors affect your decision? Do you need a new kitchen? A cash-out refinance might be the best way to pay for it. Are you still paying private mortgage insurance? Soaring home values might mean you no longer have to shoulder that extra expense. There are reasons to refi beyond capturing a rate that’s near historic lows. “It’s not just about getting a lower rate,” says Joe Tyrrell, president of ICE Mortgage Technology. Learn more
SHARE: Jeff Ostrowski covers mortgages and the housing market. Before joining Bankrate in 2020, he wrote about real estate and the economy for the Palm Beach Post and the South Florida Business Journal. Related Articles