Is it good to refinance your home?
Refinance to a loan with a lower interest rate can save you money in the long-term. Refinancing typically entails costs, such as closing costs. Consider staying in the home long enough to recoup the costs of refinancing. Getting rid of the cost of private mortgage insurance (PMI) is one good reason to refinance.
More specifically, it's often a good idea to refinance if you can lower your interest rate by one-half to three-quarters of a percentage point, and if you plan to stay in your home long enough to recoup the refinance closing costs.
The main benefits of refinancing your home are saving money on interest and having the opportunity to change loan terms. Drawbacks include the closing costs you'll pay and the potential for limited savings if you take out a larger loan or choose a longer term.
Don't refinance if you have a long break-even period—the number of months to reach the point when you start saving. Refinancing to lower your monthly payment is great unless you're spending more money in the long-run.
Refinancing has a lot of advantages: It can allow you to lower your monthly payment, save money on interest over the life of your loan, pay your mortgage off sooner and draw from your home's equity if you need cash. Refinancing also comes with closing costs, which can affect your decision.
If your goal is to get a lower interest rate, right now isn't the best time to refinance. You're likely to end up with a higher rate, plus you'll need to pay closing costs on your new mortgage. If you can hold off, mortgage rates are expected to slowly trend down over the next couple of years.
Refinancing will hurt your credit score a bit initially, but might actually help in the long run. Refinancing can significantly lower your debt amount and/or your monthly payment, and lenders like to see both of those. Your score will typically dip a few points, but it can bounce back within a few months.
When you refinance, you may pay more in the long-term if you have a higher interest rate or a longer loan term. Refinancing often entails fees and closing costs.
A rule of thumb says that you'll benefit from refinancing if the new rate is at least 1% lower than the rate you have. More to the point, consider whether the monthly savings is enough to make a positive change in your life, or whether the overall savings over the life of the loan will benefit you substantially.
Refinance closing costs commonly run between 2% and 6% of the loan principal. For example, if you're refinancing a $225,000 mortgage balance, you can expect to pay between $4,500 and $13,500. Like purchase loans, mortgage refinancing carries standard fees, such as origination fees and multiple third-party charges.
What is the current interest rate now?
| Product | Interest rate | APR |
|---|---|---|
| 30-year fixed-rate | 6.926% | 7.008% |
| 20-year fixed-rate | 6.804% | 6.903% |
| 15-year fixed-rate | 6.067% | 6.197% |
| 10-year fixed-rate | 5.969% | 6.190% |
Your servicer wants to refinance your mortgage for two reasons: 1) to make money; and 2) to avoid you leaving their servicing portfolio for another lender. Some servicers will offer lower interest rates to entice their existing customers to refinance with them, just as you might expect.
In most cases, it makes sense to refinance to a new home loan only if the interest rate on the new loan is a lower one. After all, interest is the cost to borrow, and it may make little sense to take out a new loan that charges you more for the debt you've taken on.
If you want to refinance, no down payment is needed. Still, it does not mean that you won't have to pay anything to refinance your mortgage. You will have to pay closing costs that typically add up to about 2 to 5 percent of the loan amount.
The Bottom Line
For homeowners, refinancing is a great way to lower the cost of their mortgages when interest rates fall, allowing them to obtain a lower interest rate than they currently have.
Current mortgage refinance rates
As they continue to head down, more borrowers who got their mortgages in 2023 will have an opportunity to refinance. But those who got their mortgages earlier than this may need to wait a couple of years before seeing substantial savings by refinancing.
Owners with high mortgage rates
One of the primary reasons to refinance is to pay less each month by paying a lower interest rate than you had previously secured. So if you have a rate higher than what's currently available, you may be able to start saving by refinancing to the lower prevailing rate.
Legally speaking, there's no limit to how many times you can refinance your mortgage, so you can refinance as often as it makes financial sense for you. Depending on your lender and the type of loan, though, you might encounter a waiting period — also called a seasoning requirement.
In many cases, there's no waiting period to refinance. Your current lender might ask you to wait six months between loans, but you're free to simply refinance with a different lender instead. However, you must wait six months after your most recent closing (usually 180 days) to refinance if you're taking cash out.
However, remember that when you apply for a loan and the potential lender reviews your credit history, it results in a “hard inquiry” on your credit reports. Hard inquiries remain on your credit reports for 24 months and may affect your credit scores, depending on your credit history and borrowing habits.
How much equity do you need to refinance?
Conventional refinance: For conventional refinances (including cash-out refinances), you'll usually need at least 20 percent equity in your home (or an LTV ratio of no more than 80 percent).
- Home equity loan.
- HELOC (home equity line of credit)
- Sale-leaseback.
As a baseline scenario, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate is expected to fall to the low-6% range through the end of 2024, dipping into high-5% territory by early 2025. Here's where mortgage rates are headed for the rest of the year and how that will impact the housing market as a whole.
On average, homeowners can expect to pay 2% to 3% of the loan amount to refinance a mortgage. Refinancing a $300,000 home loan, for example, may cost $6,000 to $9,000. These costs would be due at or before closing. Inspection and appraisal fees, for instance, you'd pay during underwriting for a refinance loan.
“Mortgage rates will decline over the course of the next two to three years as the rate of inflation declines and hopefully gets to the Fed target of 2%,” Cohn says. “Mortgage rates will be at least a full 2% lower by 2025.”
