If you’ve been paying off your home for a while, you may be interested in refinancing your mortgage. Mortgage refinancing gives homeowners the opportunity to tap into the equity they’ve built up and use it in a way to positively change loan conditions or invest back into the property itself.
What is mortgage refinancing?
When you replace your old home loan by paying it off with a new one, you refinance your mortgage. Benefits include switching insurance rates (Example: from an adjustable rate to a fixed rate), shorten the term of the loan or even decrease the loan interest rate.
In addition to home improvements, with cash out refinance, you can turn your built-up equity into cash.
Find out how much equity you have in your home
Speaking with your mortgage lender, you can check how much equity you’ve built up on your home. This amount is made of the money you’ve paid back towards the balance of the property.
For example, if the value of your home is $400,000, and you owe $300,000, you would have $100,000 of equity.
Prepare your documents and apply
Once you’re ready for a mortgage refinance, you’ll need to gather documents to apply. These documents include, but are not limited to:
- Tax statements.
- Salary info.
- Copy of homeowners insurance policy.
- Etc.
Once all needed signatures and loan conditions are met, you’re given a cooling-off period of 3 days to retract your mortgage refinance request. In this case, you would just continue making your normal monthly payments on your original mortgage.
Refinancing your mortgage is a huge step, so consider taking your time to weigh out the pros and cons.
About the Author
Taylor Stewart
Taylor Stewart was born and raised in Richmond, Va. He attended Elon University on a baseball scholarship, but after suffering an unlikely injury, he was forced to give up on his dreams of making it to the big leagues.In 2006, Taylor moved to Bonita Springs, FL to pursue a career as a Professional Golfer. After traveling up and down the east coast of the United States playing in various golf tournaments on various golf tours, Taylor suffered yet another injury and was forced to change his career plans. Now, as a real estate agent,Taylor as chosen to put the same drive and determination that made him successful in sports, into helping others find their own piece of paradise in southwest Florida. Especially for those living in or looking for that perfect golf community, Taylor is able to guide his buyers and sellers through his expertise of the golf game and southwest Florida golf courses. Taylor is"Your ace in the hole."