It is often said that you should refinance when mortgage rates are 2% lower than the rate you currently have on your loan. Refinancing may be a viable option even if the interest rate difference is less than 2%. A modest reduction in the loan rate can still trim your monthly payment. For example, the monthly payment (excluding taxes & insurance) would be about $770 on a $100,000 loan at 8.5%. If the rate were lowered to 7.5%, the monthly payment would be about $700, a savings of $70. The significance of such savings in any scenario will depend on your income, budget, loan amount and the change in interest rate. Your trusted lender can help calculate the different scenarios.

Most lenders will charge fees to refinance a loan. If you plan to stay in the property for less than a couple of years, your monthly savings may not get a chance to accumulate and recoup these costs. Let's say a lender charged $1,000 to refinance your loan, but it resulted in a monthly savings of $50. It would take 20 months (1,000 divided 50) to recoup the initial costs before you start to realize some savings. Some lenders will charge a slightly higher than average interest rate on refinance loans, but waive all costs associated with the loan. The attractiveness of these loans will depend on the interest rate you are being charged on your current loan.

In addition to an application fee ($250-350) you will likely have to pay an origination fee (typically 1% of the loan amount). In many cases you will have to pay much of the same costs that you had to pay with your current home loan (title search, title insurance, misc. lender fees, etc.). The sum of these fees could cost you up to 2-3% of the loan amount. If don't have the money to pay for associated loan costs, look for lenders that offer 'no-cost' loans. These loans will charge a slightly higher interest rate, so ask a lender if it would still make sense to refinance using this type of program.

Points are costs that need to be paid to a lender in order to receive mortgage financing under specified terms. A point is a percentage of the loan amount (one point = one percent of the loan). One point on a $100,000 loan would be $1,000. Discount points are fees that are used to lower the interest rate on a mortgage loan (you are discounting the interest rate by paying some of this interest up-front). Lenders may express other loan-related fees in terms of points. Some lenders may express their costs in terms of basis points (hundredths of a percent). 100 basis points = 1 point (or 1 percent of the loan amount).

PMI fees can be paid in several ways, depending on the PMI company used. Borrowers can choose to pay the first-year premium at closing; then an annual renewal premium is collected monthly as part of the house payment. Or the borrower can choose to pay no premium at closing, but add on a slightly higher premium monthly to the principal, interest, tax, and insurance payment. Buyers who want to sidestep paying PMI at closing but not increase their monthly house payment can finance a lump-sum PMI premium into their loan. With this type of payment plan, should the PMI be canceled before the loan term expires (through refinancing, paying off the loan, or removal by the loan servicer), the buyers may obtain the rebate of the premium.

If you plan on staying in the property for at least a few years, paying discount points to lower the loan's interest rate can be a good way to lower your required monthly loan payment (and possibly increase the loan amount that you can afford to borrow). If you only plan to stay in the property for a year or two, your monthly savings may not be enough to recoup the cost of the discount points that you paid up-front. Ask your lender how long it would take for your monthly savings to recoup the costs of the discount points.

No one knows for sure how interest rates will move at any given time, but your lender may be able to give you an estimate of where it thinks mortgage rates are headed. If interest rates are expected to be volatile in the near future, you may want to consider locking your interest rate if rising rates will no longer allow you to qualify for the loan. If your budget can handle a higher loan payment or if the lender's lock fee seems excessive for your means, you might want to consider allowing the interest rate to 'float' until the loan closing.

Obtaining a home loan is possible even with extremely poor credit. If you have had credit problems in the past, a lender will consider you to be a risky borrower to lend to. To compensate for this added risk, the lender will charge you a higher interest rate and usually expect you to pay a higher down payment on your home purchase (typically 20-50% down). The worse your credit is, the more you can expect to pay for an interest rate and a down payment. Not all lenders choose to lend to risky borrowers, so you may have to contact several before finding one that will.