Mortgage Refinancing – What You Need to Know Before Refinancing With a Broker

If you are in the process of refinancing your home loan you might consider using a mortgage refinancing broker to help you find the best loan offer. Mortgage brokers are an excellent resource for locating competitive mortgage refinancing offers as long as you understand how retail mortgage loans work. Brokers often significantly mark up the interest rates on loan offers; if you are able to recognize this markup you can easily avoid paying it. Here are several tips to save you money when mortgage refinancing witha broker.

The Mortgage Refinancing Market

The retail mortgage market is made up of mortgage companies and brokers that refer borrowers to wholesale lenders for a commission. There are also banks and broker- banks that write their own mortgages; however, due to loopholes in mortgage refinancing disclosure laws that protect homeowners in the United States, you should never refinance your mortgage with a bank or broker-bank. For the purpose of this discussion we will focus on mortgage refinancing with mortgage brokers which act as third party vendors for wholesale mortgage lenders.

Mortgage Refinancing With a Broker

Mortgage brokers that do not close on home loans in their own names are excellent time-saving resources for mortgage refinancing. This is especially true for special needs borrowers, like homeowners with poor credit. The first question you should ask every broker you consider is “Do you close on the loan in your own name?” If the answer to this question is “Yes” or the mortgage refinancing broker refuses to answer, you know that you are dealing with a broker-bank and should scratch this person off your list. Never refinance your mortgage with a bank or a bank pretending to be a mortgage broker.

What to Tell Your Broker When Mortgage Refinancing

When you have found a broker that you are certain is not a bank masquerading as a mortgage broker, tell the broker you will pay mortgage refinancing origination fees and closing costs, but will not pay Yield Spread Premium (YSP) of any kind. YSP is the markup mortgage brokers tack onto the interest rate your wholesale mortgage refinancing lender qualified you for. Mortgage brokers do this to receive an additional bonus for overcharging you.

Additional Resources for Mortgage Refinancing Information

You can learn more about mortgage refinancing with a broker, including common mistakes to avoid by registering for a free mortgage refinancing guidebook.