To refinance is to pay off an existing mortgage with funds obtained from a new mortgage loan. There are numerous great reasons to refinance your mortgage, among them the following:

Lower Interest Rates: A prime time for many people to choose to refinance is when interest rates drop lower than the rate they’re currently paying. By taking out a new loan with a lower interest rate, not only do your monthly payments decrease, but so does the total amount you pay over the life of the loan, in the thousands of dollars.

Fix That Rate: If you currently have an adjustable rate mortgage, you may seriously want to consider refinancing to a fixed rate mortgage. Adjustable rate mortgages are far riskier to the borrow than fixed rate mortgages. The payments are unstable with a tendency to increase dramatically over time, making budgeting your monthly housing payments increasingly difficult.

Build Equity Faster: Buy refinancing to a loan with a shorter loan term, you pay off your loan faster and therefore build up equity in your home faster, equity that you can then use to make improvements to your home, pay for a big purchase or an emergency, or obtain additional credit. Borrowing against home equity through a refinance mortgage usually comes with a lower interest rate than other forms of credit, such as consumer loans and credit cards.

Own Your Home Free-and-Clear: It’s a phrase every homeowner covets, when they can finally be done paying off the money they borrowed to buy their home and own it outright. Refinancing is an excellent way to own your home free-and-clear sooner than you ever could have otherwise. One way to accomplish this is by reducing the loan term, or the amount of time you have to pay off the loan. A shorter loan term generally involves larger payments, but if you can afford to make them, it could be a wise and rewarding decision to refinance your current mortgage to one with a shorter loan term.

Get Cash in Hand: If you already have equity built up in your home, then you can refinance for a larger amount than you currently owe and take that additional amount out in cash. This is also known as a cash-out refinance.

Consolidate Debt: As home mortgages generally carry far lower interest rates than other forms of debt (ie.

credit cards, car loans, or student loans), many people choose to refinance their home lo