The Cost Of Refinancing - What Costs To Expect When You Refinance Your Home Mortgage Loan

Refinancing can save you thousands, especially if you have several years left on your mortgage. However, you can also choose to refinance simply to tap into your home’s equity or reduce your monthly payments.

“How much will it cost?” is a common question for homeowners considering refinancing their mortgage. While costs vary between lenders and loan amounts, the following will give you some guidelines to help you compare financing companies and their offers.

New Home Loan Fees

When you refinance, you are getting a new loan and paying for all those fees again. Fees, including application fee, appraisal fee, survey costs, attorney review fee, title search, and home inspection, will usually add up to around $1000 and $2000. That is in addition to the loan origination fee, usually 1%, and any additional points.

Some lenders offer zero point loans and low refinancing costs but with higher interest rates. These types of financing packages make sense if you are concerned about initial costs and are willing to spend more over the course of your loan.

Loan Points

Each point equals 1% of the loan, which is due at the loan’s signing. So a point on a $100,000 loan would be $1,000. Besides the loan’s origination fee of 1% or more, you can also purchase lower interest rates with points. If you plan to stay in your home for over seven years, then you can probably save money with lower interest payments.

Locate Lower Costs

You can also sometimes locate a lower cost for your mortgage by comparing companies. The easiest way to do this is to request quotes online to compare interest rates and fees.

You can also sometimes negotiate a lower interest rate or closing cost with your original mortgage company. It helps if you can tell them that you have found a better offer with another lender. But sometimes other lenders will have the better deal.

Different Loan Terms

A shorter loan term or a fixed rate mortgage can also save on long term interest costs. By picking a 15 year term loan, you can nearly cut your interest costs in half. You can also protect yourself from rising interest rates with an adjustable rate mortgage by converting to a fixed rate mortgage.

To apply for mortgage refinance in Oklahoma with the #1 rated mortgage lender in the state the last 4 years, log on to our site http://www.zfgmortgage.com or call 918-459-6530

Mortgage rates for 30-year fixed loan hit new record low: 3.49 percent!!

Based on an article in the Washington post from 07-26-2012. The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage fell again, this time dropping below 3.50 percent for the first time on records dating back 60 years.Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the rate on the 30-year loan declined to 3.49 percent. That's down from 3.53 percent last week and the lowest since long-term mortgages began in the 1950s.The average rate on the 15-year fixed mortgage, a popular refinancing option, dipped to 2.80 percent. That's below last week's previous record of 2.83 percent..The rate on the 30-year loan has fallen to or matched record-low levels in 13 of the past 14 weeks. Cheaper mortgages have helped drive a modest but uneven housing recovery this year. Sales of new and previously occupied homes fell in June but were higher than the same month last year. Home prices have started to stabilize in many large markets. And builders are more confident and are putting up more houses than they have in nearly four years. Fewer Americans signed contracts to buy homes in June, the National Association of Realtors said in a separate report Thursday. The group's index of sales agreements fell to 99.3, down from May's reading of 100.7.A reading of 100 is considered healthy. The index is 9.5 percent higher than it was a year ago. There's generally a one- to two-month lag between a signed contract and a completed deal. Low mortgage rates could also provide some help to the economy if more people refinance. When people refinance at lower rates, they pay less interest on their loans and have more money to spend. Many homeowners use the savings on renovations, furniture, appliances and other improvements, which help drive growth.Still, the pace of home sales remains well below healthy levels. Many people are still having difficulty qualifying for home loans or can't afford larger down payments required by banks.The sluggish job market could deter some from making a purchase this year.U.S. employers added only 80,000 jobs in June, a third straight month of weak hiring. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 8.2 percent, the government reported last week. Slower job creation has caused consumers to pull back on spending. Mortgage rates have been dropping because they tend to track the yield on the 10-year Treasury note. A weaker U.S. economy and uncertainty about how Europe will resolve its debt crisis have led investors to buy more Treasury securities, which are considered safe investments. As demand for Treasurys increase, the yield falls. To calculate average rates, Freddie Mac surveys lenders across the country on Monday through Wednesday of each week.The average does not include extra fees, known as points, which most borrowers must pay to get the lowest rates. One point equals 1 percent of the loan amount. The average fee for 30-year loans was 0.7 point, unchanged from last week. The fee for 15-year loans rose to 0.7 point from 0.6 the previous week.The average rate on one-year adjustable rate mortgages rose to 2.71 percent from 2.69 percent. The fee for one-year adjustable rate loans edged up to 0.5 point from 0.4 point.The average rate on five-year adjustable rate mortgages jumped to 2.74 percent from 2.69 percent last week. The fee was unchanged at 0.6 point.To find out the rates on a Oklahoma Mortgage Today. Log on to http://www.zfgmortgage.com or call ZFG Mortgage at 1-877-205-7266

Record Low Mortgage Rates: What to do now

According to a CBS Money Watch article from 05-04-2012 Mortgage interest rates have hit record lows. That's according to the most recent Freddie Mac survey of conforming mortgage rates released this week.

Rates on the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.84%, down from 3.88% last week and 4.71% a year ago. Fifteen-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 3.07%, down from 3.89% a year ago and rates on 5-year Treasury-indexed adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 2.85%, which is down from 3.47% a year ago. You can get a survey and track mortgage rates at HSH.com.

Homebuyers who have applied for a mortgage should probably lock in their mortgage rate now. Homeowners who have a mortgage should consider their refinancing options, while mortgage rates are this low. Here are a few things for refinancers to consider:

Folks who can reduce their mortgage interest rate by at least one percent should look into their refinancing options. Also, if you have an adjustable rate mortgage, you should still think about this opportunity to lock in the certainty of a low fixed rate, even if your current adjustable rate is lower than the fixed rate.

If the lower payment of your new mortgage recoups the closing costs in 24 months or less and you plan to keep the home for at least that long, then refinancing can be worth it. If you refinanced in the last year or two, just be sure to consider any closing costs from your last refinance that have not yet been recovered.

Homeowners with larger mortgages should definitely look at refinancing again, even if they refinanced in the last year or two. The monthly savings from lower interest rates for larger mortgages are greater and can recover the costs of a refinancing more quickly.

Today's mortgage refinancing reality is that for folks who are unable to prove their income and assets with verifiable documentation will struggle to find any reasonable refinancing options. Expect to provide full documentation of income and assets with your mortgage application. This includes pay statements from the past three pay periods, three months of bank statements and tax returns for the past two years. Requirements may also include having cash in reserve equal to six to 12 months of mortgage, insurance and tax payments. In most cases, 70 percent of retirement account balances count towards this requirement.

If you can provide documentation of the income and assets required, your credit score is 700 or higher, have no late payments, your mortgage loan amount is less than 80 percent of the homes appraised value, and the loan is at the conforming limit (not more than $417,000 and up to $625,500 in designated High Cost Areas) then you'll have plenty of lenders offering attractive refinancing options.

Some borrowers will not be able to refinance: For folks who are working but are making a lot less than they were, or who are unemployed, refinancing is generally not an available option.

Don't wait to catch the bottom in mortgage rates: If your financial condition unexpectedly takes a turn for the worse (you lose your job, etc) while you wait, you may not qualify to refinance and could miss out on what could be the lowest mortgage interest rates you'll ever see.

If you would like a "FREE" Mortgage Check-Up, Log-on to our website or give us a call today! Act now before the rates to go back to normal levels!!

ZFG Mortgage
918-459-6530
http://www.ZFGMortgage.com

Oklahoma Mortgage rates hit a new low: 30-year fixed at 3.87%

According to a CNN Money Article from 2-2-2012
Just one day after President Obama detailed a proposal to enable millions of homeowners to refinance to record-low mortgage rates, those rates notched another record.

The 30-year, fixed rate fell to an average of 3.87% and the 15-year fixed dropped to 3.14% for the week ending February 2, both the lowest rates ever recorded in the 40-year history of the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey.

Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist at Freddie Mac said the rates fell to new lows after the fourth quarter gross domestic product report last week showed that the economy was growing at a rate that fell short of expectations.

The new record rates were "fortuitously timed" for the Obama administration to announce its latest refinancing proposal, said Greg McBride, senior financial analyst at Bankrate.com.

The plan, which requires approval by Congress, would allow borrowers who are current on their mortgage to save an average of $3,000 a year by refinancing into loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration

To Apply for a mortgage Refinance or Purchase and take advantage of the low rates today, log on to our website http://www.zfgmortgage.com