Home refinance: Costs to consider

by Carolyn Andrews 09/24/2023

Refinancing your home can have major benefits: a lower monthly payment, cash use of home equity for a variety of purposes, generate more appetizing mortgage terms, etc. However, there are a few things to remember when entering into a mortgage refinance, like refinance cost.

Here are a couple of cost options to remember when you’re ready to refinance your home:

Traditional closing costs

The biggest group of refinancing costs that you should be aware of is the closing costs. While you may not have to pay the same closing costs you did when you first purchased the house, there’s a good chance you’ll need to pay at least 2% of the remaining mortgage loan, but typically no more than 5%.

Average closing costs may include your loan application fee, private mortgage insurance, escrow fees, credit checks, attorney fees and any other property-related payments. However, these fees are based on the individual loan provider

No-closing-cost refinancing

Some refinance programs don’t require you to pay closing costs. No-closing-cost refinance options are often considered if the closing costs on your new loan don’t quite fit into the budget. The costs are typically added in with your new loan principal and may come up as higher interest rates, larger monthly payments or an extension of the loan term.

Refinance closing costs are typically part of the refinancing game, which may cause some homeowners to turn away from refinancing. However, the benefits of refinancing may outweigh the costs, and with a plethora of options available for a variety of financial situations, there’s a good chance you’ll find the right mortgage refinancing program for your circumstance.

If you need an extra bout of insight but don’t know where to start, try your real estate agent and the network of loan and finance professionals they may have at their disposal.

About the Author
Author

Carolyn Andrews

Carolyn Andrews has over 30 years licensed Brokerage experience in both California and Colorado. Born in England, Carolyn moved to California in 1980, then relocated to Denver, Colorado in 1991. Carolyn has also received recognition for Top Sales at RE/MAX Alliance Aurora in 2007-2008 and is a member of the RE/MAX Hall of Fame & Chairman’s Club, as well as a recipient of the ReMax Lifetime Achievement Award. Carolyn has sold over 2000 homes personally in her career. Carolyn has been actively involved in many aspects of the Real Estate business including investment property, luxury homes, mountain resort property, skiin/ski out, REO/default management, loss mitigation, valuations, and disposition. She has been a speaker and panelist at several conferences and has been consulted on many occasions by various organizations in the REO/financial industries for her expertise and served on many boards. She has attended numerous ongoing classes to stay abreast of changes in the ever-evolving Real Estate industry. She is the prior State Director for Colorado for VAREP(Veterans Association of Real Estate Professionals). She is a member of 3 boards of Realtors including Metro Denver, Colorado Springs and Summit County mountain areas. She heads up The Andrews Group and is or has been an active member of NAR, CAR,REOMAC, CIPS, CRS, AREAA, NAPW, NAHREP, and is an original member of the ELITEReal Estate network. She was ranked #1 for most homes sold in Denver 2007 by Denver Board of Realtors, #2 for 2008, and #2 for 2009, #5 in 2010 and #4 in 2011 and has been consistently in the top 10 ever since. Carolyn Andrews has been a top rated Endorsed Local Provider for the Dave Ramsey Organization and also a Top Producing agent for 2018 for the Homelight Company.