How to Get the Best Mortgage Rate When Refinancing
If you’re considering a new mortgage to refinancing your existing home loan, choosing the right lender with the lowest rate can be a confusing process. If you choose the wrong person to arrange your mortgage you could be paying thousands of dollars unnecessarily to give that person a bonus. Homeowners who understand how commission based markup works can save themselves thousands of dollars on their home loans. Here is a discussion to help you find the best mortgage rate when refinancing your home loan.
How is Your Mortgage Rate Marked Up?
The mortgage company or broker arranging your loan charges you an origination fee for their part in setting up your mortgage. On top of this fee the lender pays them a commission for locking and closing loans with above market mortgage rates. This fee paid by the lender is called Yield Spread Premium. Learn how to avoid it and you can save thousands of dollars every year you have a mortgage loan.
How Yield Spread Premium Works
Here’s an example of Yield Spread Premium in a typical transaction. You’ve decided to refinance your home and need a new mortgage for $250,000. The mortgage broker locks and closes your new loan with a 6.75% interest rate and charges you an origination fee of one percent. This means you’ll have to pay $2,500 at closing for the mortgage broker’s work. What your mortgage broker isn’t telling you is that the lender actually approved you for a 6.0% rate and they’ve marked it up for a commission. The lender pays your broker 3% or $7,500 for overcharging you in addition to the $2,500 you’re paying.
How Yield Spread Premium Affects Your Mortgage Payment
Is .75% of your mortgage rate worth worrying about? In the previous example if you refinanced with the rate you qualified at six percent your payment would $1,498 per month. Had you agreed to the mortgage rate that includes Yield Spread Premium your mortgage payment would be $1,621 per month at 6.75%. This adds up to $1,476 per year that you’ll pay to give your mortgage broker a bonus.
Refinancing Your Home Without Yield Spread Premium
Homeowners who learn to recognize this commission based markup of their mortgage rates can refinance with a wholesale mortgage rate and save thousands of dollars in finance charges. It is possible to refinance your home with a wholesale rate and only pay one percent to the broker. You can learn more about doing this yourself without paying lender junk fees.