Refinance Loans

The most common type of refinance loan is a traditional refinance. It’s often called a rate and term refinance because you can use it to change your interest rate, your loan term, or both.

One common reason for refinancing is to tap into your home equity. A cash out refinance is like a traditional refinance, except the new mortgage loan is more than what you currently owe. The bank gives you the extra money in cash that you can put to other uses, such as paying off other debts or remodeling your home. The downside is that you’ll either have a larger monthly payment or a longer wait to pay off your new mortgage.

Another way to turn your home equity into cash is with a home equity line of credit, or HELOC. This is like a cash out refinance, except instead of drawing out a fixed amount in cash, your bank gives you a line of credit that you can draw on and pay back as needed, kind of like a credit card. You can take money from your HELOC using special checks. A HELOC is typically a variable-rate loan that’s good for a fixed amount of time, such as ten years.