Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Ten Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Remortgage Your Home

By Chad Copp

If you are thinking about remortgaging your house, you are probably wondering whether or not it's the right move for you. A lot of times, remortgaging is not necessary, and other times it's totally necessary if you want to save your house and not go broke in these tough financial times. After answering these ten questions, you are going to know whether or not remortgaging is right for you.

1. How good is my credit? Knowing where you stand when you want to remortgage your house as far as your credit goes is going to give you an idea of what type of interest rate you are going to get on a new mortgage. If your credit isn't that great, you may want to wait until it gets better to consider remortgaging.

2. What is your current rate of interest on your mortgage? If you're only going to save a half a percent or even a percent, you might want to consider holding off on remortgaging. You want to make it worth your while, and you also want to make sure you get the best deal possible. By holding off a bit you can see if mortgage rates go down even further.

3. What's the interest rate now? Before taking the plunge and remortgaging, you are going to want to see exactly how much money you are going to be able to save every month.

4. What are the fees associated with remortgaging? Every company is going to have different fees for remortgaging, and you want to choose a company with the lowest fees. However, sometimes the fees can be hidden so make sure to read the contract thoroughly.

5. How much longer is your mortgage? If there isn't much time on your current mortgage, it might be best if you just worked on paying it off as quickly as possible. You will need to weigh the benefits paying off your home quickly or getting a better interest rate. Remortgaging is not usually going to speed up paying off your house, just make it less expensive.

6. Do you plan on moving anytime in the future? If you plan on moving in the next one or two years, it probably won't be worth the time and effort to remortgage. Just ride it out and get a better mortgage when you get a new house.

7. Is your family life stable? Again, if your family life is going to change either by divorce or marriage in the next couple of years, you might want to hold of getting a new mortgage. Remortgaging costs a lot of money and takes a lot of paperwork. You don't want to do it more often than you have to.

8. Have you been thinking about remortgaging for very long? A lot of people see commercials on television and think, "Oh remortgaging is for me," not realizing how much work it actually is.

9. Do you have the time to remortgage? Remortgaging is going to be a major hassle, and it is going to take a lot of time. If you don't have the time right now to remortgage, consider waiting until you do have the time so it doesn't stress you out to much.

10. Are banks enthusiastic? If you are still unsure, go to a couple of banks and see if they are enthusiastic about all of the benefits of remortgaging for you. You will usually be able to tell whether or not remortgaging is for you and you are under no obligation to go through with it if it isn't.

Remortgaging is going to be a hassle to do, and what is even more confusing is that it isn't always crystal clear when you should and shouldn't go through this headache. After you ask yourself all of these 10 questions, you should be able to see whether remortgaging is a smart move.

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