Refinancing a Mortgage - Comparison Shop Before You Sign


by Michael Benifez - Date: 2006-12-03 - Word Count: 480 Share This!

Refinancing your home may be warranted when there is a change in your financial situation or a big interest rate drop takes place. Whether you are refinancing for the first, second or third time, it is important that you look into all of the options available to you so that you get the best possible interest rate and terms. True, it may require that you put in a great deal of work and time researching your options, but this is no time to be lazy since you can save a considerable amount of money by doing your homework.

Keep in mind that it is not necessarily advantageous for you to refinance through the same lender who gave you your first mortgage, nor the one who previously handled your refinancing. Most homeowners forget this fact, assuming that just because all went well before, it is not necessary to seek other options. However, this kind of attitude can cost you dearly.

Shop Lenders for the Best Rates and Terms

The best approach when considering refinancing your home is to get in touch with a number of lenders and have each of them give you a separate quote. Be sure to deal with only those who are established, because newer lenders, even if they offer a much better rate and better loan terms, have often proven to be risky. Do not let yourself be impressed by a great-looking website; those can be created and uploaded in a day or less. If you want to lessen your chances of being burned, then ask friends or family for recommendations of lenders whom they have used and trusted. If you find a lender that you believe will be more responsive to your needs, then it may be worth it to you to accept a somewhat higher rate.

When doing your comparison shopping for the best possible interest rates, let lenders know that you are shopping around and that you are in no particular hurry. This can be a great motivator for a lender to make you an offer that beats out his competition. Lenders, just like anyone else in business, will bend over backwards to win your hard-earned dollars. The more competition they have, the more likely they are to give you the best possible deal you can get. Let them know that you are collecting quotes from others and will take the best option that comes your way.

Bargain With The Lender

If you let a lender know that you have been offered a lower rate by one of his competitors than what he initially offers you, then he is likely to try to beat that rate in order to get your business. That is one of the reasons that our capitalistic system works so well for the consumer, so do not feel badly letting lenders know that you are shopping around for refinancing. After all, it is the American way!


Related Tags: loan, mortgage, refinance

Michael Benifez writes for http://www.LifeinPalmCoast.com, covering finance, debt, mortgage and insurance topics in Palm Coast, Florida and Flagler county. His latest article on home mortgage refinancing in Palm Coast covers refinance options.

Your Article Search Directory : Find in Articles

© The article above is copyrighted by it's author. You're allowed to distribute this work according to the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs license.
 

Recent articles in this category:



Most viewed articles in this category: