Q: How long do I need to wait to get a home Refinance Loan?

A: While some lenders require you to keep your original mortgage for a certain period of time before getting a home mortgage refinance loan, every mortgage is different. Check your loan documentation for any time restrictions. Generally though, there is no limit to how often you refinance. The decision to refinance has more to do with you.

Let’s say you want to refinance to lower your monthly payment. You’ve had your current mortgage – a 30-year fixed rate - for a year, and some life change has left you feeling squeezed. Mortgage rates have dropped some. Here’s how much you could save in a month, and how long it would take to recoup your costs and actually start to save.

Current mortgage

• Original loan amount: $150,000
• Term: 30 years
• Interest rate: 6.70%
• Monthly Payment: $967.92

Refinanced mortgage

• New loan amount: $148,386
• Term: 30 years
• Interest rate: 6.30%
• Monthly Payment: $918.47
• Monthly Savings: $49.45
• Closing Costs (2% of the loan amount): $2,968
• Break Even Point: 60 months, or five years.

If you plan to stay in your house longer than five years, a home refinance loan might make sense; on the other hand, maybe you can find that extra $50 a month elsewhere. Here’s another scenario: let’s say you have an adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) you got a year ago when shopping Mortgage Refinance Rates, with an initial fixed term of five years. You now think you are going to stay in your home longer than five years and Mortgage Refinance rates are rising; you’d like to lock in a lower interest rate or 2nd mortgage rates today rather than face a much higher monthly payment in a few years.

Current Mortgage

• Original loan amount: $150,000
• Term:30 years
• Interest Rate: 6.30%
• Monthly Payment: $928.46

So, even though your current monthly payment may increase by $27, you may feel more secure knowing your monthly payment will remain the same over the life of the loan. You can get bad credit mortgage refinance loan if you have a bad credit history.