Hobo
Recycles dryer sheets
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2008
- Messages
- 274
Paying down a mortgage faster than necessary seems to a lot easier to do than consciously saving excess discretionary income. That's a plus.
However, since mortgage interest can be a tax deduction a good mortgage calculator can be a big help to make what can be some pretty lengthy, complex calculations. Easy to make a mistake with Excel too.
With that fancy $20 mortgage calculator, plug in the cost of an appraisal and compare it against the cost of the money saved at a substantially lower interest rate payment. I always heard the rule of thumb: If you can save 2% with a re-finance, it is worth the cost.
You might want to talk to your mortgage lender too. If your house won't appraise at a high enough value to re-finance, then you may fall into the category of an "underwater mortgage". I think some mortgage lenders are anxious to re-finance an underwater mortgage because they certainly don't want you to default on your payments. They don't want to foreclose on another "toxic asset".
However, since mortgage interest can be a tax deduction a good mortgage calculator can be a big help to make what can be some pretty lengthy, complex calculations. Easy to make a mistake with Excel too.
With that fancy $20 mortgage calculator, plug in the cost of an appraisal and compare it against the cost of the money saved at a substantially lower interest rate payment. I always heard the rule of thumb: If you can save 2% with a re-finance, it is worth the cost.
You might want to talk to your mortgage lender too. If your house won't appraise at a high enough value to re-finance, then you may fall into the category of an "underwater mortgage". I think some mortgage lenders are anxious to re-finance an underwater mortgage because they certainly don't want you to default on your payments. They don't want to foreclose on another "toxic asset".
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