1. Skip the introductory rate (Honeymoon)
Beware of lenders bearing gifts! Introductory or honeymoon rates have long been an important marketing tool for lenders. You are initially offered a cheap rate on your loan to get you in the door but once the honeymoon period is over, the lender will switch you to a higher variable rate of interest. An example of this is an Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM).
There are two problems with this scenario. First, the variable rate is often higher than some of the lower basic loans available so you could end up paying more. Second, you need to clearly understand that a honeymoon rate applies only for the first year or two of the loan and is a minor consideration compared to the actual variable rate that will determine your repayments over the next 20 or so years.
You may also be hit with fairly steep exit penalties if you want to refinance in the first two or three years to a cheaper loan. So make sure you fully understand what you are letting yourself in before setting off on a “honeymoon” with your lender.
2. Pay it off quickly
Time is money. There are all sorts of strategies for paying less interest on your loan, but most of them boil down to one thing: Pay your loan off as fast as you can. For example, if take out a loan of $300,000 at 6.5 per cent for 30 years, your repayment will be about be about $1,896. This equates to a total repayment of $682,632 over the term of your loan.
If you pay the loan out over 15 years rather than 30, your monthly payment will be $2,613 a month (ouch!). But the total amount you will repay over the term of the loan will be only $470,397 - saving you a whopping $212,235
? Make repayments at a higher rate
A good way to get ahead of your mortgage commitments is to pay it off as if you have a higher rate of interest. Get a loan at the lowest interest rate you can and add 2 or 3 points to your repayment amount. So if you have a loan at about 6.5 percent and pay it off at 10 per cent, you won’t even notice if rates go up. Best of all, you’ll be paying off your loan quicker and saving yourself a packet.
? Make more frequent payments
The simple things in life are often the best. One of the simplest and best strategies for reducing the term and cost of your loan (and thus your exposure should interest rates rise) is to make your repayment on a fortnightly (bi-weekly) rather than monthly basis. How can this make a difference I hear you ask? It works like this:
Split your monthly payment in two and pay every fortnight. You’ll hardly feel the difference in terms of your disposable income, but it could make thousands of dollars and years difference over the term of your loan. The reason for this is that there are 26 fortnights in a year, but only 12 months. Paying fortnightly (bi-weekly) means that you will be effectively making 13 monthly payments every year. And this can make a big difference.
Using our example from above, by paying monthly, you will end uprepaying $682,632 over the term of your loan. But, by paying fortnightly (bi-weekly), you will save $87,254 in interest and 5.8 years off the loan. Zero pain to you, major benefit to your pocket.
? Hit the principal early
Over the first few years of your mortgage, it may seem that you are only paying interest and the principal isn’t reducing at all. Unfortunately, you’re probably right, as this is one of the unfortunate effects of compound interest. So you need to try everything you can to get some of the principal repaid early and you’ll notice the difference.
Every dollar you put into your mortgage above your repayment amount attacks the capital, which means down the track you’ll be paying interest on a smaller amount. Extra lump sums or regular additional repayments will help you cut many years off the term of your loan.
? Forego those minor luxuries
This is the bit you don’t want to read. Once you have a mortgage, your life is likely to be luxury-free (or at least pretty close to it). Think of all the weight you will lose by giving up your favourite indulgent snack. For the sake of your health you should quit smoking and drink less anyway. Take your lunch from home and save on bad fast food. Trust me, your body will thank you for it.
If you’re still not convinced consider the following example. A typical day may include a pack of cigarettes ($10), a coffee and donut ($5), lunch ($12) and a couple of beers after work ($8). That’s $35 a day or $175 a week or $750 a month or $9,100 a year.
Assuming a mortgage of $300,000 at 6.5 per cent over 30 years, by making $750 in extra repayments each month, you’d save more than $216,000 in interest and be mortgage free in just over 14.5 years.
No one is saying you should live a convict existence but just cutting down a little on your expenses will see you reap huge financial benefits.
3. Get a package
Speak to your lender about the financial packages they have on offer. Common inclusions are discounted home insurance, fee-free credit cards, a free consultation with a financial adviser or even a fee-free transaction account. While these things may seem small beer compared to what you are paying on your home loan, every little bit counts and so you can use the little savings on other financial services to turn them into big savings on your home loan.
There are also “professional” packages on offer for amounts over a certain limit, which can be as little as $150,000. Some lenders offer discounts to specific professional groups or members of professional organizations. Ask your lender if your occupation qualifies you for any discount. You might be pleasantly surprised. There are all sorts of discounts and reductions attached to these packages so make sure you ask your lender about them.
4. Consolidate your debts
One of the best ways of ensuring you continue to pay off your loan quickly is to protect yourself against interest rate rises. If your home loan rate starts to rise, you can be absolutely positive about one thing - your personal loan rate will rise and so will your credit card rate and any hire purchase rate you may happen to have.
This is not a good thing as the interest rates on your credit cards and personal loans are much higher than the interest rate on your home loan. Many lenders will allow you to consolidate - re-finance - all of your debt under the umbrella of your home loan. This means that instead of paying 15 to 20 per cent on your credit card or personal loan, you can transfer these debts to your home loan and pay it off at 7.32 per cent.
As always, any extra repayments or lump sums will benefit you in the long run.
5. Split your loan
Many borrowers worry about interest rates and whether they will go up but don’t want to be tied down by a fixed loan. A good compromise is a split loan, or combination loan as they are often known, which allows you to take part of your loan as fixed and part as variable. Essentially this allows you to hedge your bets as to whether interest rates are going to rise and by how much.
If interest rates rise you will have the security of knowing part of your loan is safely fixed and won’t move. However, if interest rates don’t go up (or if they rise only slightly or slowly) then you can use the flexibility of the variable portion of your loan and pay that part off more quickly.
6. Make your mortgage your key financial product
Mortgage products known as all-in-one loans, revolving line-of-credit or 100 percent offset loans allow you to use your mortgage as your key financial product. This means you have one account into which you can pay all of your income and draw from for your living expenses by using a credit card, EFTPOS or a checkbook, as well as making your mortgage repayments.
These types of accounts can make a huge difference to the speed at which you pay off your loan. Because your whole pay goes into your mortgage account you are reducing the principal on which interest is charged. Sure, you might take a couple of steps back as you withdraw living expenses but careful use of this sort of product can get you thousands of dollars ahead of where you’d be with a “plain vanilla, pay once a month” home loan.
These loans work well when you are able to make additional payments towards the loan. If you are only able to make the equivalent of the minimum repayment on your loan (and not put in any extra) you may be better off with a cheaper standard variable or basic variable loan. However, it’s not unusual for dedicated borrowers using these types of loans to cut the term of a 30 year-old loan to less than ten.
7. Use your equity
If you have already paid off some of your home, you are said to have equity. Equity is the difference between the current value of your property and the amount you owe the lender. For example, if you have a property worth $500,000 on which you owe $150,000, you are said to have home equity of $350,000, which you can re-borrow without having to go through the approval process by accessing it through your existing loan.
Many lenders will allow you to borrow using your equity as collateral. Most lenders will allow you to borrow up to about 80 per cent of the loan-to-value ratio (LVR) of your available equity. If you are careful, you can use this equity to your advantage and help to pay off your home loan sooner.
Using an equity loan to improve your property could be a good way to ensure that your home increases in value over time. But larger expenses such as cars and holidays that would have been paid by credit card are more affordable on the lower rate of your home loan.
8. Switch to a lender with a lower rate (But do your sums)
It may sound like a simple idea but switching out of your current loan and taking out a loan at a lower rate can mean the difference of years and thousands of dollars. If you have a loan that is tricked up with all the features, or even if you have a standard variable loan, you might find that you could get a no frills rate that is as much as a percentage point cheaper than your current loan.
However, before you jump the gun, check out what it will cost you to switch loans. For example, there may be exit fees payable on your old loan and establishment fees and stamp duty on your new loan. Work it all out and if it makes sense, go for it.
About the Author
Kevin Saunders is one of the founders of MortgageLoanHints.com, bringing you tips and hints for paying off your mortgage quickly, helping you to use the power of a mortgage loan to increase your wealth and learn to take control of your own finances. You can see more of Kevin’s articles here: http://www.mortgageloanhints.com
You?ve seen the commercials on television: ?When mortgage lenders compete? Should you use a website like this to refinance your mortgage? These sites can be a good resource for refinancing if you read the fine print. Here are several tips to help you avoid being stung with a ?Computerized Loan Origination Fee? when refinancing your home loan.
You might be surprised to learn that the majority of mortgage sites on the Internet have absolutely nothing to do with mortgage loans. These companies put up a website with a contact form for harvesting information, advertise on television and sell the information they collect to every mortgage lender willing to purchase it. The problem comes from a handful of these well known sites that receive ?Computerized Loan Origination Fees? from the lenders that purchase your information. Here?s what you need to know about this fee.
Take a look at the website of the well known mortgage company that advertises on television that they?ll get lenders competing for your business. At the bottom of the page you?ll see a link called ?Licenses & Disclosures.? About halfway down the page in the middle of all the legal mumbo jumbo you?ll find disclosure of the fee they receive for selling your contact and financial information. This particular ?lending? website receives a fee of $1,300 for their part in ?arranging? your new mortgage loan.
You might be asking yourself ?If the lender pays the fee, what?s the problem? The problem with these so called ?Computerized Origination Fees? is that the charge is passed on to you on your Good Faith Estimate. This is money that you?ll be required to pay at closing because you put your name and address in the contact from of the wrong mortgage website. The bottom line: always read the terms and conditions before you fill out a contact form on any mortgage site.
You can learn more about refinancing your mortgage while avoiding costly mistakes like computerized loan origination fees with a free mortgage tutorial.
To get your FREE six-part Mortgage Refinancing Tutorial, visit RefiAdvisor.com using the link below.
Louie Latour specializes in showing homeowners how to avoid costly mortgage mistakes and predatory lenders.
To get your hands on this free video tutorial: “Mortgage Refinance - What You Need to Know,” which teaches strategies for finding the best mortgage and saving thousands of dollars in the process, visit Refiadvisor.com.
Get your free mortgage refinancing tutorial today at: http://www.refiadvisor.com
Home Mortgage Refinance
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If you are refinancing your existing mortgage loan the Internet is an excellent tool for comparing mortgage offers. Comparison shopping for the most competitive loan offer can save you thousands of dollars if done correctly. Here are several tips to help you find the best mortgage loan utilizing the Internet.
I. Shop From a Variety of Online Mortgage Lenders
Avoid the temptation to accept the first mortgage approval you receive. In order to find the most competitive mortgage offer you will need to shop from a variety of mortgage lenders and compare all aspects of the loan offers. The Internet makes it easy to quickly locate mortgage offers from dozens of online lenders and brokers. You can quickly perform a side-by-side comparison of all aspects of each offer before choosing a mortgage loan.
II. Compare All Aspects of the Loan Offers
Many homeowners make the mistake of comparing only interest rates when choosing a mortgage loan. If you overlook lender fees and closing costs by concentrating on interest rates, you will overpay thousands of dollars for your new mortgage. To learn how to quickly compare mortgage loan offers and determine which offer is best for you, register for a free mortgage guidebook.
III. Don?t Make Hasty Decisions When Refinancing Your Mortgage
Refinancing your mortgage is not something you should rush. Taking your time and researching mortgage lenders will help you find the most competitive loan offer. Choosing the most competitive mortgage will help you avoid common mistakes and save thousands of dollars. You can learn more about mortgage terminology, researching mortgage offers, and choosing the most competitive offer by registering for a free mortgage guidebook.
When you own a home you might receive numerous solicitations to refinance your home, after a while this gets very tiring. If you have equity in your home, you can refinance you current mortgage for debt consolidation. A 2nd mortgage and a home equity loan are basically the same type of financing. You may also want to shorten your loan period to pay less on interest charges. With online lenders you can quickly trade in your balloon payment and extended loan periods for better rates and payments.
Today?s homeowners who are looking to refinance have a tool that many didn?t have ten years ago, the internet. A fixed rate second mortgage or variable home equity credit line can get you cash that you need and a tax deduction, you can do this without refinancing your home and you do not need to give up your low interest mortgage.
While you are looking to convert your loan, make sure you are getting the best long term financing for your budget Before refinancing do some research, there are many sites that can be used a resource to find the best interest rate and save you money in the long run.
When trying to improve your credit status there are creditors who offer credit in order to re-establish your credit and financial status. They offer credit, loans and mortgages. When times are tough and you cannot make your payments creditors will call your home, but if you cannot pay your more important bills like your home or car this will result in repo or a foreclosure.
Bad credit mortgage refinancing is used to solve two problems of investors. The first use of bad credit mortgage refinancing is applicable for those who have bad credit standing, considerable high interest card debt and a home with equity. If one of the reasons you are putting off refinancing is because your credit rating is bad, you should think again, by refinancing you can increase your credit rating if you make the payments on time.
The real estate market boomed in the 2000 and rate were low, but if you refinanced your home during this period everything has changed, the mortgage rates are much higher and as the new rates come into play the payments are much higher. If you were fortunate enough to lock in a low, fixed rate then good for you. If you have an adjustable rate mortgage that is scheduled to ?adjust? in the coming months to a higher interest rate, you might want to switch to a fixed rate mortgage to ensure your financial peace-of-mind.
You can lower your monthly payment by qualifying for a better interest rate and/or choosing a mortgage with a longer term length. A just drop of half or three quarters of a percentage point can lower your monthly payment. By refinancing your mortgage it allows a homeowner to lower his or her monthly payments or it improves the loan terms.
The interest rate on a home equity loan will always be higher then a first mortgage due to increased risk for the lender. When you hear the term home equity refinancing what everyone is talking about is tax deductions, lower interest rates to save money for the homeowner and to improve the credit score.
About the Author:
David Marc Fishman is the owner of credit advice site. The new way to give advice by video. Online auction shopping experience.
Refinance mortgage rates in California may be more affordable than you think. With today’s low interest rates, refinance home loans are available to more people than ever before.
The internet has also made getting mortgage rate quotes easier and faster than ever before. With one easy online application you can have multiple lenders give you their best refinance loan quotes. Virtually anyone with a computer and an internet connection can find the lowest refinance mortgage rates online.
The easiest way to get the best rate quote, is to fill out an online application, and let the lenders, brokers and bankers come to you. Gone are the days of going from bank to bank searching for a loan. Now you get to pick and choose your loan.
Do you want cash out of your home? Cash out mortgage refinancing is a great way of pulling money out of your home when you need it. You may even be able to do a cash out refinance without raising your monthly payment . If you’ve been paying down your mortgage, or your home has risen in value, then you may be able to get extra cash out of your home.
Do you want a lower interest rate? If the interest rate on your ARM is due to change soon, you should consider whether it makes sense to refinance your mortgage. In most cases, refinancing is best when the new interest rate is lower by 2% or more, than your current mortgage interest rate. This could mean big savings for you over the life of your loan.
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