Over the past thirty years, Portland mortgage rates have gone up and down significantly in a financial tide of mortgage offerings. In the early ‘80s for example, interest rates for regular 30 yr., fixed rate mortgages were in the neighborhood 18%. In today’s market, though, we are seeing mortgage interest rates for the identical type of mortgage loan around 5% – and even sometimes, in the 4% range.

Numerous Portland home owners who bought when interest rates were much higher are now looking at refinancing so as to reap the benefit of the lower Portland mortgage rate available today. If you’re one of these people, know that there are some costs involved in refinancing your mortgage, such as a home appraisal, getting title insurance, and a mortgage origination fee, just to name some. To calculate if these costs will off set with the possible money you may be able to save by refinancing your mortgage, you can use the basic rule of thumb known as the 2 percent rule.

In normal language, this rule recommends that the percentage difference between the current rate you have on your mortgage and the new interest rate being offered should be at at a minimum two points. If you were amongst those those who borrowed in the 80s who received an interest rate in the double digits (and now you can secure a rate in the neighborhood of 5%), your Portland refinance would make pretty good sense.

Listed below are three advantages why people are refinancing in Portland:

1) Make your monthly payments lower – By lowering your Portland mortgage rate, you will see a dramatic difference in your mortgage payment every month. And, every small bit helps. Some people who refinance can save $1,000’s of dollars over the course of their loan period. How much you save, though, completely depends on your specific numbers. So, make sure to talk to a Portland mortgage specialist who is able to do the number crunching for you to determine how much you might be able to save by refinancing.

2) Changing the variety of loan you have – Some people decide to refinance even though they won’t save much money by doing so. Consider of the large number of folks who got an (Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM). We see many of these folks refinancing in Portland just to change to the fixed rate mortgage. In addition, some folks who have a balloon payment included in their loan are deciding to refinance as it gets closer to the date to make that balloon payment.

3) Getting money from your equity – If you have been in your home for 10 years or more, you probably have a decent bit of equity coming from overall Portland home appreciation (even with the existing reduction in home values) and to the fact that you have been making those monthly mortgage payments for quite a while. Because of this, some homeowners choose to extract cash out when they refinance their loan so as to help with things such as retirement or with college expenses for the kids.

If you’re thinking about refinancing your Portland home mortgage, be certain to talk to a seasoned loan officer – someone with a lot of experience specifically in Portland refinancing who can sit with you and review your situation and your numbers and the the various options you have. And know, that each situation is unique. Your home mortgage specialist should ask you about short-term and long term goals that may be specific to your situation and target your approach to best matchyour financial future.

Regardless of your goals, with today’s interest rates you absolutely should have a closer look to decide if a Portland refinance makes good financial sense for you.