A cut section, top to bottom
3–7 yr · Which month does a refinance start making money?
A refinance is an amount now against a saving per month. Divide one by the other and you have the month it pays back — then check the second number, because a lower payment on a restarted schedule can still cost more in total.
Every figure this page produces is illustrative. The rate you type is an assumption, not an offer; nothing here is a quote, an application or a commitment to lend. The assumptions in force are printed at the bottom of the page.
It pays back in Illustrative
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Principal and interest on the loan you have. Illustrative.
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The number the monthly saving hides
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| Interest still to pay, loan you have | $0 |
|---|---|
| Interest on the new loan | $0 |
| Closing costs | $0 |
| Difference over the whole loan | $0 |
Both lines are cumulative payments. The refinance starts behind by its costs — rolled-in costs are still money you owe, so they are counted here either way — and the marked month is where it catches up. If the refinance line climbs past the other one later, that is the restarted term charging you for the lower payment. All figures illustrative.
Where the two curves finish is what each loan costs in interest from today onwards. A lower rate over a longer schedule can end higher than a higher rate over a shorter one, which is the whole reason this chart is here.
On a refinance of your principal residence, the Truth in Lending Act gives you a right of rescission: three business days after closing, after receiving your notice of the right to cancel and after receiving the material disclosures, in which you can cancel the loan and walk away. The money is not disbursed until that window closes. A purchase mortgage carries no such right, and neither does a refinance of a second home or an investment property.
An existing FHA loan can usually be refinanced through the FHA Streamline programme, with reduced documentation and, in most cases, no new appraisal. An existing VA loan has the Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loan — the IRRRL — which carries a reduced funding fee. Both change the costs on the left-hand side of this page, and the costs are half of the break-even sum, so it is worth asking before you price a conventional refinance.
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