The state of Arizona has several mortgage refinance loan lenders and brokers, but you should approach them only after you done your own bit of research. No, you don't have to zip around the Williams or Valley of the Sun, or anywhere else in Arizona where you live. You simply have to log on to the internet and take full advantage of the WWW before you sit across the table with a lender or broker.
Mortgage in Arizona
What to look for on the internet: Unlike in the past where market research was tedious, expensive and time-consuming for individuals, today it can be done in a jiffy through the internet. What you need to basically need to know is the best mortgage refinance package for you on terms suitable to your specific needs. The internet will not give you precise figures, but the figures it gives are usually reliable enough to serve as your reference for personal meetings with the real market operators.
Steps to take
You should take the following steps to arrive at a fairly reasonable approximation of the terms of your mortgage refinance:
- Decide if you really need to refinance your existing mortgage. Make up you mind on what you want the refinance loan to do for you. Do you want to reduce your monthly payments? Do you want to extend the duration of the mortgage over your property? Or do you want to reduce it? Do you want a lump sum of cash to meet with an immediate need? Or do you want an interest-only loan? Or do you simply want to take advantage of lower interest rates prevailing in the market now in comparison to the rate you are paying on your existing mortgage? It is essential that you know why you want refinance.
- Log on to the internet, and visit some of the mortgage loan websites such as www.mortgageloan.com, www.erate.com, www.bankrate.com among others. In each of these websites, you will find an online calculator. Use it. Provide the calculator with the data it asks you for. For example, the calculators ask you to enter the amount of loan you need, the number of years within which you want to pay it back, the type of property, the interest rate you are paying on your current mortgage, the number of years you want to own the property, its exact location, your personal credit profile, etc. It also asks you about the type of mortgage refinance loan you want, viz., fixed rate, adjustable rate, interest-only, or jumbo. Once you have fed all required data into the calculator, you get the possible offers for you right on your screen, within seconds. Take results from online calculators on three or four websites, and compare their results.
- The above step completes your homework. You now have a fairly reliable, though not precise, information on what your mortgage terms will be, hence how it will benefit you. If you see tangible benefit, go ahead and contact three or four mortgage lenders and/or brokers to get precise offers from them. You can get the contact details of lenders/brokers in Arizona from the websites named in point (2) above. Some websites also allow you to request personal contact from a lender or broker on their network. What is important is not how you locate your lenders / brokers, but that you obtain quotes from different lenders / brokers without they knowing who else you are in touch with. Compare their offers with each other's, as well as with the results you got from the online calculators. They should not differ widely. Then select the lender / broker who makes the best offer (note: you must judge the best offer not from the interest rate, but from the tangible difference a particular offer makes to you vis-à-vis your existing mortgage).
Conclusion
There is no dearth of mortgage refinance lenders and brokers in the state of Arizona. But you should be sure that you get the offer that's best for you and not for the lender or broker. You should therefore do your initial homework through the internet, and the contact lenders / brokers in your area. Just as it's advisable to use online calculators on three or four websites so that you can compare results, it's also advisable to contact three of four real-world lenders / brokers whose offers too you can compare. Once you have done all these comparisons, you will be in a position to select one offer.
