How Many Times Can You Refinance a Mortgage?

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A lot of people who are looking at today's low mortgage rates might be apprehensive about applying for another mortgage because they've refinanced in the past and wonder how many time can you refinance a mortgage. The fact is, you can refinance your mortgage as many times as you want. Of course there are some other considerations you should probably weigh out before making such a decision. In other words, simply because rates are currently very low and there is a lot of chatter about refinancing today to take advantage of them doesn't necessarily mean that doing so would be a wise choice for you.

What you always need to keep in mind when thinking about refinancing is that you're not just getting a lower rate on your existing loan; you are paying off your existing loan and getting an entirely new loan. Whenever you get a new loan, you will have to go through the complete process involved in getting one. And this includes many of the same expenses such as getting an appraisal, paying title fees and closing fees as well as paying the lender some fees to undertake the whole process. When you add all these expenses up, it comes out to a pretty good chunk of money. You'll need to figure out if it actually makes sense for you to incur such a big expense right now.

If you are wondering how to know if it would make sense for you, there are a couple of routes you can take. There's no doubt in my mind that the best thing you could do would be to sit down and talk to a good, honest, well qualified loan advisor. There is certainly no doubt that the mortgage industry and its players have taken a lot of heat the past few years. Despite what you hear in the news all the time, there really are a lot of good, honest, hard working mortgage advisors out there who can, and do, give out solid information to their clients (and would be clients).

The thing is, a good lender will answer your questions and not try to 'sell' you on anything, instead they will want to simply display their knowledge, integrity and honesty to you, helping you any way they can (and that includes telling you that you don't need a new loan right now). And while a good loan officer won't try to pressure you to buy a loan you don't need, they may very well ask you to keep their name in mind in case you hear of anyone else considering a home financing. There's a good chance that they'll even hand you a short stack of their business cards to hold on to and pass out, should the situation occur. You should recognize this as totally normal behavior of a good lender, as the majority of their business will be based on referrals of people who were happy with the service levels they provided. Considering the fact that they have given up their time to carefully listen to you and evaluate your situation, you really should feel good about passing their name along. Why wouldn't you want to send a friend to get the same kind of good, completely honest treatment you received?.

If you don't know of any good, reputable mortgage lenders, ask around. More than likely, someone you know has the name and number of a quality lender that they would be more than happy to share with you. Zillow.com is another option you might want to consider if you don't have anyone you can ask. The website is known more for its real estate valuations, but they now have a good section all about mortgages. By visiting that site you can take a look at various lenders who can help you in your area and, even better, you can get a look at the kinds of customer reviews they have received. When you take a look you will see that there are definitely differences in quality and customer satisfaction out there. One more thing that I think is really great about this site is that you can request mortgage quotes for your particular situation, but you will remain completely anonymous to the lenders at all times. In other words, you won't get barraged by phone calls and emails. Instead, if you see a quote and a lender that you like, it is up to YOU to reach out and contact them. This is a very different model for doing this kind of online comparison shopping; it's a combination of price and performance and only the buyer gets to decide who is worthy of their time. I think it's a great concept.

And one final option, if you don't want to do either of the things mentioned above and you just want to read some more you can go to this article to read a bit more about "When to refinance rule of thumb".

Other articles that may be of interest regarding mortgage refinancing:
- Long Term Benefits of Refinancing
- Refinancing for Financial Planning