California Mortgage Rates and Refinancing

The rate of interest in which the banks borrow money is set by the Federal Reserve Bank, and then the banks get their profit by charging interest on the money they lend. California mortgage rates may vary according to the kind of loan you are applying for as well as your credit history. You should have a clear understanding of what you hope to accomplish by refinancing your loan, because the California mortgage rates can be influenced by what you are going to use the money for, and by your level of income.

Since California mortgage rates are lower than in years past, you may want to refinance for the sole purpose of lowering the interest rate on your loan, which could save you many thousands of dollars. Some homeowners want to cash out the equity in their home to remodel, make repairs, or build an addition to the home. Today’s California mortgage rates make it affordable to refinance their mortgage loans now.

You might be a homeowner that owns a 30 year mortgage, and you want to reduce it to a 15 year mortgage. By decreasing the number of years on your contract, the California mortgage rates may be lower, or they may be slightly higher; however, the money you would save over the life of the loan would be in the thousands of dollars.

If you are a homeowner that has an adjustable rates mortgage, you may want to take advantage of a fixed rate mortgage. There are almost as many California mortgage rates as there are types of mortgages. You may have an interest only mortgage and you want to stop having a balloon payment to refinance every year. Whatever your need, your lender can help you achieve your refinancing goals. If your goal is to lower your monthly payment, find the difference between your present monthly payment and the quote that the lender gives you and multiply that number by 12, which will give you what you will save per year by refinancing.

Maybe you have a second mortgage that you have been paying on, and you want to pay that loan off. You can refinance and pay that one mortgage off and structure the payments however you want them. If you want lower payments you can have a longer term, but if you want to pay less interest you would ask for a shorter term mortgage, even though you will be paying higher monthly payments.

If you are planning to sell your home and you are paying a slightly higher interest rate it might not be affordable for you to refinance. You might fare much better by keeping your present mortgage payment, rather than refinancing to get better California mortgage rates, and then when you sell your home pay off the mortgage.