We've been asked thousands of times: "When I refinance my mortgage, Is it better to pay closing costs out of pocket, finance them into the loan amount, or trade them for a higher interest rate?" There's no one simple answer, since each refinance choice has its own benefits and total costs over time. One may be more or less expensive depending upon how long you'll hold onto the mortgage.
The TriRefi calculator allows you to run the numbers for a Traditional Refinance, a Low-Cash-Out Refinance and a No-Cost Refinance so you can determine which is best for you. Fill in the information once and instantly compare the costs and savings.
- How to use our refinance calculator
- Tips to Use Refinance Calculator
How to use our refinance calculator
The Traditional Refinance calculator assumes you pay the closing costs out of pocket today. While you get the benefit of the lower interest rate, you have to overcome your outlay today before you realize any benefit. This is your breakeven point, and in order to get any real savings, you'll need to stay in the new mortgage beyond this point. We assume that the fee for refinancing will be approximately 2 points (2 percent of the loan amount) but if it is different, you can change it; just type the expected dollar amount into the yellow box.
You pay the fees once, and then they are gone.
The "Low-Cash-Out Refinance" calculation (LCOR) uses the Estimated Costs you plugged into the Traditional Calculator. However, instead of you paying them today out-of-pocket, it adds them into the loan amount you are borrowing. This is a popular choice for homeowners who have some equity available and don't want to (or can't) come up with the cash needed to get a new mortgage.
Since you are financing the costs, you'll not only pay them but also interest on them. However, you are only paying them a little at a time, and depending upon how long you remain in the mortgage, they may cost you more or less than if you paid them right up front, as you would have in a traditional refinance.
A "No-Cost" refinance might be your best bet if you don't have cash to spend or equity to use for your refinance. You can still refinance, but you won't get today's rock-bottom interest rate, but instead something slightly above the market. As such, your interest rate and payment differential will be smaller, possibly making your refinance less valuable. We assume that the interest rate available for a "no-cost" refinance will be a half-percentage point higher than if you had paid the fees. If it is different, you can change the information in the yellow box.
In effect, since the whole amount of your loan will be exposed to this "higher-than-market" interest rate, your savings over time will be smaller than if you could use one of the other options.
Tips to Use Refinance Calculator
Below the initial calculations, we've provided some examples of your costs over time, including the interest cost and the remaining loan balance after a given period of time. This way, you can see what those costs will be at varying intervals. You might find, for example, that relative to your time frame, incorporating the fees into the interest rate might mean they cost you less in interest over a given period than the amount you might have paid out-of-pocket up front.
Tip: Check current mortgage rates to make sure you are getting the best deal on your mortgage. Learn more about refinancing and refinancing options.
Before you add in your actual numbers, we suggest that you use an example of an existing loan which is three years old, with a $100,000 loan amount for 30 years and a 6% interest rate, and use a 4% rate for refinancing. It will make it easier to follow the discussion of savings comparisons below.
Tri-RefiSM Calculator