There's no simple yes or no answer to this question. It would be better to leave it at ?it depends? on your situation, priorities and preferences. Generally, however, you should refinance if you can save money by so doing. This can come about in two ways.
Lower interest costs: First, if you are refinancing to a loan with a lower interest rate than your current mortgage, then you can conceivably save on interest rate payments and therefore be able to make more payments towards the principal, increase your equity at a faster rate and pay your loan much earlier than you expected to do so.
For example, if the current annual rate of interest of your mortgage is 8.25%, your monthly interest rate is around 0.6781%. If your current mortgage balance is $80,000 and you have an interest-only mortgage, then you're expected to make an interest payment of around $542.48 monthly.
You will save money on interest payments if you manage to refinance to a lower rate. If you manage to obtain a mortgage refinance loan with an interest rate of only 6%, for example, your monthly interest charge will become only $394.52. This is a savings of around $147.96 every month on an interest-only payment scheme.
Lower future interest costs: Second, if you have a mortgage with an increasing variable rate of interest, then you can gain savings on future interest rate payments through refinancing your mortgage with a fixed-rate loan program. By doing this, you'll be able to keep your mortgage interest rate ? and thereby your interest costs ? at a constant level.
For example, if you have a mortgage whose interest rate is currently 6.5% and a balance of $80,000 (as in the previous example), monthly interest payments would be around $427.40. However, if your loan's index rate (the rate on which your actual interest rate is based) increases by one point and becomes 7.5% the next year, then your monthly interest charges on the same balance would be $493.15. If the year after that, your interest rate increases by another point, your interest rate will become 8.5%. Assuming that you still haven't made any payments towards your principal, your monthly payments will become $558.90.
In three years, therefore, your interest rate payments will change from 427.40 to $493.15 then to $558.90. Assuming that each particular interest rate sticks around for a year, your interest rate payments in three years will amount to $17,753.42.
On the other hand, if you changed to a fixed rate of interest now, you can save yourself money on future interest payments. For instance, you can replace your 6% adjustable rate mortgage with a 7% fixed-rate mortgage refinance. This will actually make your current interest rate payments greater at $460.27 but this will lead to savings of around $32.88 next year and $98.63 the following year. In this fixed-rate loan, your interest payments in three years amount to only $16,569.86 ? yielding a total savings of $1,183.56 in interest rate payments.
Of course, current and future savings aren't the only considerations when deciding to refinance. You should also weigh your savings with the costs of refinancing. When you refinance, you will also pay various loan processing fees as well as the origination fee. Compute the costs of a mortgage refinance and compare it with your projected savings. Refinance only if your savings will be greater than the costs.
Becoming bankrupt
If you are in a bad debt situation and are thinking of declaring yourself bankrupt, then the first thing you should do is get legal and financial advice to make sure that this is your best option. Don't leap ahead to thinking about refinancing after bankruptcy if you haven't even decided if bankruptcy is the best thing for you.
Once you have taken the decision to become bankrupt, or you have been declared bankrupt by your creditors, you will need to take some time to deal with the immediate consequences of bankruptcy and work out your next moves. Think about what you want to achieve in the future. If your house has had to be sold, or part-sold in order to clear your debts, then you may want to look into mortgage refinance after bankruptcy so that you can see what your options are.
My options
If you have been declared bankrupt, but your period of bankruptcy has ended because all your debts have been cleared, you can look at your options for the future. These might include:
-Employment. If you were self-employed before bankruptcy, then you may want to consider being an employee. This can remove the stress of self-employed earnings and can also put you in a better position when it comes to applying for loans or mortgage refinance after bankruptcy.
-Debt. The experience of being declared bankrupt should have convinced you to take a different attitude to debt, and make sound financial plans, with help and advice where needed, to ensure that you don't run into such big problems again.
-Restrictions. Expect some restrictions to be placed on you, even though you have been discharged from bankruptcy. Most credit applications will ask if you have ever been declared bankrupt and you must answer honestly. Your chances of getting a loan at standard rates may be affected by your bankruptcy for some time.
-Advice. Even after your period of bankruptcy is over, it is worth retaining some of the advisers you had to use. Not only will they know your financial background, but they should be well-placed to advise you in the future.
Getting Advice
If you are thinking about mortgage refinance after bankruptcy, then all the above considerations apply to you. A mortgage lender will want to know that you are serious about not returning to a position of bad debt and they will also be reassured if you are in full or part-time employment. There will be restrictions placed on you because of your credit history and you will need professional mortgage advice to ensure that you get the best mortgage product for your needs. If you don't already have a mortgage adviser, then talk to an experienced mortgage broker who can talk you through the mortgage refinance products that are available to you, and advise you on how to approach your application to get the best results. Whilst getting mortgage refinance after bankruptcy is a good idea, because it can give you access to lower interest rates than some other mortgage deals, you will need to take advice to make sure it's the right route at the right time.
Both Robert Thomson & Elizabeth Grant are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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