New Hampshire and Maine Homes and Condos

REFINANCING MORTGAGES WITH TODAY’S
RATES
 


Today’s post on refinancing mortgages for Portsmouth NH
Homeowners is written by -


David Linker of Countrywide Bank
Portsmouth, NH  
603-334-4616
(direct)
888-231-5004 x 4616 (toll-free)
603-767-2790 (cell)


 

The lower interest rates that have come with the mortgage meltdown
have created a mini-boom in mortgage refinancing.  Mortgage rates are about the
lowest they have been in 5 years.  The average 30 year fixed rate has been
hovering around 5.50%.  Refinancing a mortgage is currently the most pressing
topic for many homeowners.  As rates drop, people want to know what to do and
when.


The old rules of thumb with refinancing have gone out the window.  To figure
out whether it is a good idea or not to refinance the mortgage on Portsmouth NH homes or condos, the most
important issue is to determine the break even point with your monthly savings.



The break even point is the time it takes to make up what you spend in fixed
closing costs.  So, for example, if by lowing your mortgage by 1% saves you $125
a month, and the fixed closing costs were $1800, your break even point is 14.5
months, or $1800 divided by $125= 14.5 mo to break even.

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As we all know, the Federal Reserve has twice now in the last 10 days or so cut the Fed Funds rate. With all the media coverage of those rate cuts, I’ve been getting a lot of questions about just what that means to homeowners and those thinking about buying in the near future.




The first thing we all need to understand is that the Federal Reserve just doesn’t set mortgage rates. Who or what does? The bond market does. And these rate cuts by the Fed had already been factored into the bond markets.




OK, so what does that really mean? The
Federal Funds rate is the rate that banks use to borrow money from each other,
and it’s also used to derive all other interest rates - mortgages, credit cards,
etc. That rate is used by banks to determine the prime rate for lending.

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Portsmouth NH Homes | Portsmouth NH Condos

We’ve all heard the latest news about the Federal Reserve dropping rates by 75 basis points. And I know there are plenty of home-buyers out there wondering just what that means to them at this point.


Interest rates are now the lowest they’ve been in the last three years -
how great is that??!!?


Plenty of buyers have been trying to time the market, and that is a VERY difficult thing to do. Are the prices going down more, will the interest rates go down any more - what should I do…these are things we know buyers are thinking right now because we get the phone calls and emails asking just that.

The plain and simple answer is - we just don’t know! We can make predictions based on facts and figures from the last few months, and those can indicate trends. But at best, those are educated guesses.

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If you're a homeowner and you're in danger of losing your home or condo, please don't fall victim to mortgage foreclosure fraud!! There are so many schemes and scams out there, and there are new ones cropping up every day. Please, PLEASE, be careful who you give your information to! If it sounds too good to be true, IT REALLY IS!

This short video will show you just how easy it is to fall victim to a mortgage scam. Freddie Mac has just put this video out to show how mortgage scammers and schemers and con artists are out there trying to take advantage of homeowners facing financial difficulties.

If the video above doesn't open up and run for you, you can follow this link to see the video... "Avoid Mortgage Fraud".

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