Refinancing a home mortgage can provide you with an incredible range of benefits. These include everything from reducing your mortgage term and lowering your payments to helping you more effectively build equity or pulling equity out to use for beneficial purposes.

One common question that many homeowners ask is how often a mortgage should be refinanced. While there are benefits associated with mortgage refinancing, there are also some points to consider before you rush into the process.

Think About Refinancing Costs

First, remember that each mortgage application will come with refinancing costs. These costs can equate to thousands of dollars in some cases, and they include title fees, lender fees, appraisal fees and more. While these costs can typically be rolled into your home mortgage so that you pay very little money out of pocket, these costs will increase the amount of debt that is tied to your home. When you refinance too often, you are negating the effects of principal reduction from your mortgage payments.

Consider the Impact On Home Equity

Some who refinance will choose a straight rate and term refinance, and they will not pull equity out of their home. Others, however, have the desire to tap into their home equity to pay off other debts, to fix up the house, to take a vacation or for other purposes. When you tap into your home equity, you may be having a negative impact on your financial situation, depending on how you use the funds.

Pay Attention To Your Final Loan Payoff Date

Before you make a decision to refinance your home mortgage, you also should focus on your loan payoff date. Many have the goal in mind of paying off their home mortgage before they retire, and this is especially true if you plan to live in the home after retirement. On the other hand, you may have plans to sell the home and downsize before retiring. Your refinance will adjust your loan payoff date, so this is an important factor to weigh into your decision making process.

You may know people who refinance every year, and you may know others who have owned their home for a decade or longer without ever having refinanced. Each homeowner has a unique financial situation. You can speak with a mortgage professional to learn more about the specific benefits associated with a refinance loan, and you may also keep these points in mind to assist with your final decision.

Refinancing your mortgage can make good financial sense, as long as you are doing it for the right reasons. Before considering a refinance, it’s worth spending some time to assess what your financial goals are.

Lowering Your Interest Rate

One of the most common reasons to refinance a mortgage is to take advantage of a lower interest rate. Because mortgages are long-term loans, even a slight drop in the interest rate on the loan can make thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars of difference over the life of the loan.

Before refinancing to get a lower rate, you’ll want to ensure that you will stay in your house long enough to reap the benefit of the lower payment. For example, if your refinance is going to save you $50 a month and your closing costs are $3,000, you would need to stay in your home at least five years just to break even.

A Shorter Loan Term

Another common reason people refinance their mortgage is to shorten the term of the loan. Though a 30-year loan gets you a much lower monthly payment, you wind up paying much more in interest over the term of the loan. If interest rates drop significantly, you might be able to refinance into a 15-year loan and only pay a couple hundred dollars more a month, which, if you can afford it, will mean you pay off your house much faster and pay significantly less in finance charges.

Moving From A Variable To Fixed Interest Rate

If you got a loan with a variable interest rate, you likely will want to refinance at some point into a fixed-rate loan. When you do so, however, you want to make sure you are getting a better deal. If interest rates look like they are going to increase, that would be a good reason to move to a fixed-rate loan.

Getting Rid Of Mortgage Insurance

If you put down less than 20 percent of the purchase price of your home, you likely had to get mortgage insurance. Depending on the insurance policy and how quickly your home appreciates in value, it might be beneficial to refinance at some point if you have enough equity in your home to drop the mortgage insurance.

If you think the time is right to consider refinancing your mortgage, contact your trusted mortgage professional to get more information.