Refinance Loan Calculator

Most mortgage holders will refinance their mortgage at least once during the time they hold it. Even the best interest rates are subject to change, and mortgages can’t wait forever. Often a person must accept a higher interest rate than they’d like simply so they can take advantages of a job in a new town or so that they have enough room for new family members. As such, when interest rates change, or when their credit rating improves, it becomes time for them to refinance their mortgage in order to save money.

The best way to refinance a loan is to use a mortgage refinance loan calculator. These programs determine if a person will save money in the long run when they shift from one outstanding mortgage to another. Mortgages are inherently complex and have a great amount of numerical variable inherent in the, and what appears to be a good deal at first glance may in fact be anything but the sort. Low “teaser” interest rates are often used to conceal large fees, traps or rate increases that can devastate any potential savings. Certain mortgages are also very good deals for some persons and very bad deals for other people. A mortgage which is a great deal for a person with a low credit rating may in fact be much too punitive for someone with a good rating, and a mortgage geared towards someone with a good credit rating may have stringent payment requirements that others cannot meet.

Mortgage refinance loan calculators are specialized computer programs that are designed to determine many of the complex financial aspects of a loan. Originally, these complex computer programs were only available to banking institutions, because they required substantial computing power in order to run. Fortunately for potential homebuyers, they became more and more common throughout the 90s and are now included in many financial programs such as Quicken. They are even available for purchase and download on some websites, and some banks now offer them for free as an incentive to potential borrowers. The ability to use a mortgage refinance loan calculator helps potential customers to feel better about their loan, and also ensures that they will walk away before taking on a loan they can’t afford as opposed to after.

For those who do not want to pay for a mortgage refinance loan calculator, there are various online options. Mint.com was acquired by the makers of Quicken in 2009, and now offers a simple but free mortgage refinance loan calculator. Integrated with the buying habits and credit rating of the user, this free online application enables users to determine if the loan they are considering is superior to the loan they already have. The only downside to this program is that all of the loan information must be entered manually, which may result in incorrect assessments in the event of a typo. Still, many banks and sample loans are now integrated into the Mint software, and it is often possible to extract data or at least get a good idea as to the fairness of a loan using Mint.

Persons who are looking for a new or better loan using Lending Tree will find that a mortgage refinance loan calculator is built right into the system. Considering the complex nature of the loans that are offered on Lending Tree, this tool is almost a necessity. Lending Tree operates by permitting users to upload their personal finance information and accept offers and bids from banks all across the United States. Since many of these loans will be somewhat predatory or otherwise undesirable and simply offered to anyone in the hopes that someone will take them, Lending Tree has integrated a complex mortgage refinance calculator so that their members can find out what a loan will actually cost. The calculator automatically transfers data from the accepted bid and translates it into plain English so that customers can get a quick breakdown of the cost of the mortgage. It can also compare costs across potential outstanding mortgages so that potential buyers can determine which mortgage gives them the most benefit. Because of this, Lending Tree’s mortgage refinance calculator is increasingly used by borrowers as a bargaining chip in loan negotiations, even among those who have no interest in accepting loans they are offered through Lending Tree.