PFT #95 - Personal Finance Tip of the Week: The Mortgage Refinance Double Trap

In times of high interest rate environments, most people will not refinance due to the cost. With that being said, circumstances arise to warrant this, such as divorce, marriage or a job relocation.
For the most part, people wait for the federal reserve to cut rates so that borrowing money is more palatable. For example, at the time of this recording, the average interest rate for a 30-year mortgage is 7%.

So when the rates begin to drop later this year, people will rush in to refinance.
For example, a 7% interest rate for a $300,000 mortgage generates a monthly payment of $1,995. If we go to 6%, the payment is $1,798 and at 5% it is $1,610. 

So this is why refinancing makes sense; however, this comes with a caveat. When crunching numbers, the cost is between 2-6% of the mortgage amount depending on items including loan size, the type of loan and credit score.  

For our $300,000 loan at a 3% cost, this would be $9,000 bringing the total to $309,000 and this is where caveat #1 comes in: it takes approximately 7 years to pay off the cost for refinancing; however, when stretching out payments for a new 30-year cycle with a reduced interest rate, the new monthly payment is lower than the original monthly payment and people are attracted to that eye candy. 

Now in truth, a 1%+ interest rate deduction is almost always a good move if the cost is right. What you have to watch for is refinancing again when rates continue to decline. 

For example, if you refinance from 7% to 6% and then say at 5.25% and 4.25%, you may run into paying more money with the cost to refinance and accumulated interest. 

As we said a moment ago, a $300,000 mortgage costs between 2-6% or $6,000 to $18,000. If you refinance three times, that ranges from $18,000 to $54,000; and this where the second caveat comes in. 

All that money you spent to have a lower monthly payment adds up and even though your monthly payment is lower, each time you refinance, a new 30-year mortgage cycle begins. What you are doing is stretching out more cost and interest over a longer period of time.   

To sum things up, refinancing makes sense when you actually save money over a long period of time meaning you are not refinancing for the sake of refinancing and not multiple times. It is understandable that pinpointing the correct time to refinance can be challenging; however, if the market trend is moving downward, it tends to stay that way for several months and this can aid in determining when to make your move. 
 
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