Refinancing may refer to the replacement of an existing debt obligation with a debt obligation under different terms. The terms and conditions of refinancing may vary widely by country, province, or state, based on several economic factors such as, inherent risk, projected risk, political stability of a nation, currency stability, banking regulations, borrower's credit worthiness, and credit rating of a nation. In many industrialized nations, a common form of refinancing is for a place of primary residency
mortgageA mortgage loan is a loan secured by real property through the use of a mortgage note which evidences the existence of the loan and the encumbrance of that realty through the granting of a mortgage which secures the loan...
.
If the replacement of debt occurs under
financial distressFinancial distress is a term in Corporate Finance used to indicate a condition when promises to creditors of a company are broken or honored with difficulty. Sometimes financial distress can lead to bankruptcy...
, refinancing might be referred to as
debt restructuringDebt restructuring is a process that allows a private or public company – or a sovereign entity – facing cash flow problems and financial distress, to reduce and renegotiate its delinquent debts in order to improve or restore liquidity and rehabilitate so that it can continue its...
.
A loan (debt) might be refinanced for various reasons:
- To take advantage of a better interest rate (a reduced monthly payment or a reduced term)
- To consolidate other debt(s) into one loan (a potentially longer/shorter term contingent on interest rate differential and fees)
- To reduce the monthly repayment amount (often for a longer term, contingent on interest rate differential and fees)
- To reduce or alter risk (e.g. switching from a variable-rate to a fixed-rate loan)
- To free up cash (often for a longer term, contingent on interest rate differential and fees)
Refinancing for reasons 2, 3, and 5 are usually undertaken by borrowers who are in financial difficulty in order to reduce their monthly repayment obligations, with the penalty that they will take longer to pay off their debt.
In the context of personal (as opposed to corporate) finance, refinancing multiple debts makes management of the debt easier. If high-interest debt, such as
credit cardA credit card is a small plastic card issued to users as a system of payment. It allows its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services...
debt, is consolidated into the home mortgage, the borrower is able to pay off the remaining debt at mortgage rates over a longer period.
For home mortgages in the United States, there may be tax advantages available with refinancing, particularly if one does not pay
Alternative Minimum TaxThe Alternative Minimum Tax is an income tax imposed by the United States federal government on individuals, corporations, estates, and trusts. AMT is imposed at a nearly flat rate on an adjusted amount of taxable income above a certain threshold . This exemption is substantially higher than the...
.
Risks
Most fixed-term loans have penalty clauses ("call provisions") that are triggered by an early repayment of the loan, in part or in full, as well as "closing" fees. There will also be transaction fees on the refinancing. These fees must be calculated before embarking on a loan refinancing, as they can wipe out any savings generated through refinancing.
If the refinanced loan has lower monthly repayments or consolidates other debts for the same repayment, it will result in a larger total interest
costIn production, research, retail, and accounting, a cost is the value of money that has been used up to produce something, and hence is not available for use anymore. In business, the cost may be one of acquisition, in which case the amount of money expended to acquire it is counted as cost. In this...
over the life of the loan, and will result in the borrower remaining in debt for many more years. Calculating the up-front, ongoing, and potentially variable costs of refinancing is an important part of the decision on whether or not to refinance.
In some jurisdictions, varying by American state, refinanced mortgage loans are considered
recourse debtRecourse debt is a debt that is not backed by collateral from the borrower. Also known as a recourse loan, this type of debt allows the lender to collect from the debtor and the debtor's assets in the case of default as opposed to foreclosing on a particular property or asset as with a home loan...
, meaning that the borrower is liable in case of default, while un-refinanced mortgages are non-recourse debt.
Points
Refinancing lenders often require a percentage of the total loan amount as an upfront payment. Typically, this amount is expressed in "points" (or "premiums"). 1 point = 1% of the total loan amount. More points (i.e. a larger upfront payment) will usually result in a lower interest rate. Some lenders will offer to finance parts of the loan themselves, thus generating so-called "negative points" (i.e. discounts).
No Closing Cost
Borrowers with this type of refinancing typically pay few if any upfront fees to get the new mortgage loan. This type of refinance can be beneficial provided the prevailing market rate is lower than the borrower's existing rate by a formula determined by the lender offering the loan. Before you read any further do not provide any lender with a credit card number until they have provided you with a
Good Faith EstimateA good faith estimate, referred to as a GFE, must be provided by a mortgage lender or broker in the United States to a customer, as required by the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act...
verifying it is truly a 0 cost loan. The appraisal fee cannot be paid for by the lender or broker so this will always show up in the total settlement charges at the bottom of your
GFE.A good faith estimate, referred to as a GFE, must be provided by a mortgage lender or broker in the United States to a customer, as required by the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act...
This can be an excellent choice in a declining market or if you are not sure you will hold the loan long enough to recoup the closing cost before you refinance or pay it off. For example, you plan on selling your home in three years, but it will take five years to recoup the closing cost. This could prevent you from considering a refinance, however if you take the zero closing cost option, you can lower your interest rate without taking any risk of losing money.
In this case the broker receives a credit or what's called
yield spread premiumA yield spread premium is the money or rebate paid to a mortgage broker for giving a borrower a higher interest rate on a loan in exchange for lower up front costs, generally paid in Origination fees, Broker fees or Discount Points...
(YSP). Yield spread premiums are the cash that a mortgage company receives for originating your loan. The broker provides the client and the documentation needed to process the loan and the lender pays them for providing this service in lieu of paying one of their own loan officers. Since a brokerage can have more than one loan officer originating loans, they can sometimes receive additional YSP for bringing in a volume amount of loans. This is normally based on funding more than 1 million in total loans per month. This can greatly benefit the borrower, especially since April 1st 2011. New laws have been implemented by the federal government mandating that all brokers have set pricing with the lenders they do business with. Brokers can receive so much YSP that they can provide you with a lower rate than if you went directly to the lender and they can pay for all your closing cost as opposed to the lender who would make you pay for all the third party fees on your own. You end up with a lower rate and lower fees. Since the new
RESPA law as of April came into effect in 2011, brokers can no longer decide how much they want to make off of the loan. Instead they sign a contract in April stating that they will keep only a certain percentage of the YSP and the rest will go toward the borrowers closing cost.
True No Closing Cost mortgages are usually not the best options for people who know that they will keep that loan for the entire length of the term or at least enough time to recoup the closing cost. When the borrower pays out of pocket for their closing costs, they are at a higher risk of losing the money they invested. In most cases, the borrower is not able to negotiate the fees for the appraisal or
escrowAn escrow is:* an arrangement made under contractual provisions between transacting parties, whereby an independent trusted third party receives and disburses money and/or documents for the transacting parties, with the timing of such disbursement by the third party dependent on the fulfillment of...
. Sometimes, when wrapping closing costs into a loan you can easily determine whether it makes sense to go with the lower rate with closing cost or the slightly higher rate for free. Some cases your payment will be the same, in that case you would want to choose the higher rate with no fees. If the payment for 4.5% with $2,500 in settlement charges is the same for 4.625% for free then you will pay the same amount of money over the length of the loan, however if you choose the loan with closing cost and you refinance before the end of your term you wasted money on the closing cost. Your loan amount will be 2,500 less at 4.625% and your payment is the same.
Cash-Out
This type of refinance may not help lower the monthly payment or shorten mortgage periods. It can be used for home improvement, credit cards, and other
debt consolidationDebt consolidation entails taking out one loan to pay off many others. This is often done to secure a lower interest rate, secure a fixed interest rate or for the convenience of servicing only one loan....
if the borrower qualifies with their current home equity; they can refinance with a loan amount larger than their current mortgage and keep the cash out.
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