Need A Low Cost Mortgage Refinance?
Home Equity 101. Most people who buy a home will, at some point, refinance. Refinancing is a service that is typically paid for by the customer, and it basically gives you a loan for a newly appraised amount instead of the original amount. The old loan is then swallowed by the new one, and the difference is…PROFIT for you.
When I bought my first home a year ago, I thought I was getting in at just the right time. Real estate prices had fallen sharply, and the home I got had appraised for $60k more than I bought it for. The mortgage was a little bit more than I had planned on, but I thought, “Hey, it’s an investment. This housing slump can’t last much longer, can it? My home won’t really lose any more value, will it?
It did, and it is. The value of my home has depreciated drastically since I bought it, despite my best attempts to improve the home and add worth. Right after I moved in, my mortgage broker told me he would give me a low cost refinance of my mortgage a few months after I’d moved in, but six months later I was already upside-down, and he couldn’t do anything for me.
So here’s the lowdown: If you need to refinance and you’re upside down, DON’T go through a mortgage broker. They will not be able to do anything for you. Cut out the middleman and go straight to the lender. It will be a lot cheaper, and you’ll thank me for it.