Saving money on a refinance

Originally posted on April 23, 2009 - Interest rates are at all time lows, and this is sparking many people to refinance their mortgages.  The general rule of thumb is that if you can reduce your APR by 1%, then it would benefit you to refinance.  The reason for this is the high cost of refinancing.  Why is it so expensive?  Because you will need to pay lenders fees, points (usually required for a refinance), abstracting costs, title insurance, new appraisal fees, closing fees, and possibly even a new termite inspection.  For those of you without a calculator, for a $100,000 house, a refinance could cost in upwards of $3,200. 

Now, on to the fun part: saving a few bucks! 

1. About a third of the expense in refinancing in Oklahoma is abstracting costs -- if you use the same abstract/title company that you used when you purchased your home, often times they can give you up to a 20% break on title expenses (in the above example, that could be about $300. 

2. Speaking with different lenders or going back to the lender that you originally obtained your loan through is another way of reducing some of your expenses.  Many lenders aren't reducing their fees because of the sheer volume of refinances coming in, but hey, it never hurts to ask.

4.75% interest rates will not stay around for very long, so if you are thinking about buying or selling a home in Norman Oklahoma, Moore Oklahoma, or Oklahoma City Oklahoma, I would love the opportunity to show you how I can help you with your next move.  In the mean time, you can always search for homes for sale in Norman, Moore, or Oklahoma City by using my home search tool which will pull listings directly from the Multilist.

 "With me it's not about houses -- it's about homes"

Rob Schaerer

Dillard Group Real Estate
Preferred: (405) 694-8537
Office: (405) 366-7707
Rob@Dillardgroup.com
www.OklaHomeSeller.com