6 thoughts on “How Soon Is Too Soon to Refinance Our Mortgage?”

1. You need to weigh all the facts – not just look at interest rates.
   - does your current loan have a prepayment penalty?
   - what will it cost to refi?
   - what will the new payment be vs. the current payment and what is the “payback period” for the refi cost?
   - how long do you expect to keep the house?

2. Run the numbers. . . .
   How long will it take to recoup the costs of your Feb refi, and how much longer to recoup the costs of this new proposed refi? Or how long before costs are consumed and you start to get some actual subsidy??
   Oftentimes it is smarter to make EXTRA principal payments with the money you would pay in fees, reducing your principal, thus reducing the amount of interest paid.

   Contact current lender and question if they would do a loan modification for the lower rate.

3. Don’t bother paying another 6k or more for 1%

4. how do you know you would be approved for a lower Mtg? and you probably have not even recovered the fees from the first refi yet and another refi will cost you a couple $1000 more – except you plot on staying there 10 yrs – you may never get your money back in savings

5. It only makes significance if you are plotting to stay. Every refi costs you money, it may not come out of your pocket, but it costs you thousands of dollars which the lender rolls into your balance. The amount it costs you depends on the lender and the loan amount you received. For the sake of argument, say the first refi cost you $3,000, and this one will too, for a $6,000 total. If you are saving $100 a month because of refi #1, you have saved $800 so far. If you are going to save $125 a month with the new refi, you are going to have to stay in this house about 3 1/2 more years to have this make significance. Of course these numbers are ficticious, you are going to have to pull out your red tape to check the real numbers.

6. The excellent news is, there is no limit. Legally, you could close on one mortgage today, then go right out tomorrow and refinance it – although it’s hard to presume a scenario where that would make significance. But if you’ve had your current mortgage for one or two years, you’re perfectly within your legal rights to refinance, regardless of whether your current mortgage is a refinance or the original one you bought the home with.

   That said, few lenders are likely to approve you for a new mortgage if you’ve been in your current one for less than a year. In addition, your current lender may have restrictions on how soon you can get out of the loan, usually in the form of prepayment penalties (because you’re using the new mortgage to pay off the ancient one). Typically, you need to stay in your current loan at least 12 months before refinancing without penalty, although not always.