By Deborah Higgins, INFOTRAK National Data Services

With mortgage rates at or near their historic lows, we often wonder if we should refinance our mortgage loan . . . again.  With 30-year fixed rates well under 5% (as of this writing 30-year fixed loans with 0 points can be had for under 4.75 in most markets), there is no question that most of us can get a better rate than the one we have.  Whether or not we should refinance our mortgage loan to get the better rate is another story. 

The most important consideration is how long you plan to stay in your home.  The longer that you plan to stay, the more likely that it is a good idea to refinance.  You need to consider what the savings will be for the amount of time you plan to live in your home and compare those savings to the costs of refinancing.  While closing costs and discount points can often be folded into the loan amount, they are still real costs. 

The easiest way to figure out if refinancing makes financial sense is to use a calculator.  To use INFOTRAK’s mortgage calculator, go to: http://www.infotrak.com/index.cfm?event=Calculator&url=http://partners.leadfusion.com/tools/inds/home11/tool.fcs?toolpage=initial. 

There are also more personal decisions that you need to make.  If you need cash and have ample equity in your property, you may opt for a cash-out finance.  In other words, you will be taking out a loan for more than the balance you owe on your current loan and walk away from the closing with a check in hand.  This may be a good strategy to pay down your credit card debt, where interest rates are much higher than they are on your home loan.  Or you may need lower mortgage payments now because you can’t afford the current payments.  If you need the cash or lower payments now, even if the numbers don’t make financial sense in the long run, refinancing your loan may still make sense for YOU.
 
INFOTRAK provides local mortgage guides to help you to compare home loans and rates in your local market.  Please go to www.infotrak.com/search-local-rates.html for the latest rates in your area.  You can also calculate your monthly payments with our user-friendly mortgage calculators. Go to www.infotrak.com/mortgage-calculators.html.