August 27, 2015
When you’re thinking about refinancing an FHA mortgage loan, there are many options to consider. Should you stay with your original lender or does another lender have better terms and/or interest rates? Do you remain in your current adjustable rate mortgage or fixed-rate loan? Do you want cash back in the refinance loan transaction?
All of these are important questions to ask.
You don’t have to stay with the original lender you took out your first mortgage with; regardless of whether you have an existing FHA loan or a conventional mortgage or even an VA loan, refinancing into an FHA mortgage is definitely an option for you.
Your original lender might be willing to offer you better terms since you’re already known at that financial institution, but it’s never safe to assume you’re getting the best deal by staying put.
Some borrowers don’t think about their options when it comes to the nature of the refinance loan. You may have started out with an adjustable rate mortgage, but you can refinance into a fixed-rate FHA loan and get into a more stable type of mortgage payment.You also have the option to apply for an FHA-to-FHA streamline refinance loan (provided you have an existing FHA mortgage) that can help lower your interest rate and/or monthly payments.
You also have the option to apply for FHA cash-out refinancing. This requires both a new appraisal and a credit check, and you would receive cash back once the original loan obligation is paid in full, minus any fees and/or expenses that might be taken out of the remaining amount.
Talk to your loan officer about the terms and conditions of a cash-out refinance as the money you get back on the transaction may be used for “any purpose acceptable to the lender” to include home improvements and other house-related issues, but not necessarily limited to those things.
Do you work in residential real estate? You should know about the free tool offered by FHA.com. It’s designed especially for real estate websites–a widget that displays FHA loan limits for the counties serviced by those websites.
It is easy to spend a few seconds customizing the state, counties, and widget size for the tool; you can copy the code and paste it into your website with ease. Get yours today: http://www.fha.com/fha_loan_limits_widget
Joe Wallace has been specializing in military and personal finance topics since 1995. His work has appeared on Air Force Television News, The Pentagon Channel, ABC and a variety of print and online publications. He is a 13-year Air Force veteran and a member of the Air Force Public Affairs Alumni Association. He was Managing editor for www.valoans.com for (8) years and is currently the Associate Editor for FHANewsblog.com.
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