How do you really know of it's worth it to refinance

Considering all the fees you have to pay?
Is it best to go meet with a lender and discuss?

Do you have to use the same lender again?

Re: How do you really know of it's worth it to refinance

I have heard you should be going down at least 2 pts to make it worth it.

Re: How do you really know of it's worth it to refinance

You don't need to go to the same lender; you can refi with a different one.

I've heard as a general rule that you should be reducing your rate by at least 1 point. But I think it all depends on what it will cost you to refi, and how many years are on your mortgage, and how long you plan to stay in the house.

I think you definitely need to talk to a lender (or a few) to find out what rate you can get now. Don't go by advertised "teaser" rates as they may not apply to your type of loan or your financial situation.

Once you know the rate, and get an estimate of closing costs (which you will probably roll into your loan), you can figure out what your monthly savings will be and how long it will take you to recoup the cost of refinancing. If it will cost you 8K to refinance, but you will save $250/month, for example, it will take you 32 months to recoup the costs. But if you plan to stay in your house for the next 10 years and you have at least that much left on your mortgage, I think it makes good financial sense.

Re: How do you really know of it's worth it to refinance

when we close, we are going from 5 to 4.125% so not a full point (the rate went up unfortunately and the lender locked) but we would still be saving a little over $200 a month. Although we plan on staying in this house for a while, so we will re-coup the costs in the long run. You don't have to stay with the same lender but something we have been dealing with is the transfer of the mortgage tax (CEMA) from our current lender to the new lender.