Mortgage & Refinancing Information

Mortgage Cycling - Brilliant or Risky


With mortgage rates near 20-year lows, competition in the mortgage industry is fierce. It seems like every day a new mortgage loan strategy comes out that is suppose to be the best thing since sliced bread. Whether it's a mortgage with no closing costs or an interest only mortgage, everyone is claiming they can save you a ton of money. Now someone has come out with something called Mortgage Cycling. Mortgage Cycling could save you thousands of dollars or it could cost you your home.

Mortgage cycling is a program that advertises itself as a method to payoff your mortgage in 10 years or less without making biweekly mortgage payments or changing your current mortgage. Does mortgage cycling work as advertised? The answer is unequivocally yes - with a few caveats. I'm going to let you in on the secret to mortgage cycling.

Mortgage cycling is based on making huge lump sum principal payments every 6-10 months. What this means is mortgage cycling works well for those who have at least a few hundred dollars in extra cash at the end of each month. The problem is most people don't have that kind of cash available.

Mortgage Cycling relies on using a revolving Home Equity Line of Credit to make huge lump sum payments against their original mortgage principal balance. When you take out a home equity line of credit, you pay for many of the same expenses as when you financed your original mortgage such as an application fee, title search, appraisal, attorney fees, and points. You also may find most loans have large one-time upfront fees, others have closing costs, and some have continuing costs, such as annual fees. You could find yourself paying hundreds of dollars to establish a home equity line of credit. Most home equity lines of credit also carry what is known as interest rate risk.

Home equity line of credit interest rates are typically variable. The Federal Reserve is currently in the process of raising the overnight federal funds rate. As the Fed continues to raise rates, it is all but inevitable that variable interest rates for mortgages will also rise. Your savings may not be as great as anticipated.

While Mortgage Cycling does have some additional costs for most people, that is not what makes this mortgage reduction strategy risky. If you use a Home Equity Line of Credit and money gets tight, you could lose your home and the equity you have built up. Home equity lines of credit require you to use your home as collateral for the loan. This may put your home at risk if you are late or cannot make your monthly payments. And if you sell your home, most lines of credit require you to pay off your credit line at that time.

Mortgage Cycling requires you to make mortgage payments and Home Equity Line of Credit payments for up to 10 years. For most people mortgage cycling is an extremely risky way to payoff a mortgage. Mortgage cycling should be used only after a careful assessment of the risks and benefits. Prepaying your mortgage is smart. You should explore all of the mortgage reduction alternatives before choosing Mortgage Cycling as a mortgage reduction strategy.

George Burks of http://www.mybiweeklymortgagepayment.com has offered a biweekly mortgage payment plan with no enrollment fee since 1999. His interest in financial topic is varied. Visit http://www.mybiweeklymortgagepayment.com financial library for more information about a revolving Home Equity Line of Credit.


MORE RESOURCES:



UPI.com

New Article on Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac HARP Mortgage Refinance Program ...
PR Web (press release)
In a new article, AimLoan.com explains why Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's program to refinance underwater homeowners should be expanded, as lowered mortgage ...
Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and The Obama Underwater Mortgage Home Affordable ...Red, White, and Blue Press (blog)
Obama Admin Too Busy To Deal With Fannie, Freddie, Says Assistant Treasury ...Huffington Post (blog)
Will Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Short Selling Help Underwater Homeowners In Obama ...Red, White, and Blue Press (blog)

all 270 news articles »



Bankrate.com

Bankruptcy haunts home mortgage refinance
Bankrate.com
We have about 60 percent equity in our home. We both have credit scores above 700 and both have good incomes. ...

and more »


FreeRateUpdate.com

Get Lower Bad Credit Mortgage Refinance Loan Rates
TMCnet
However, there are some websites that will help you get bad credit mortgage refinance loan without a lot of hassles. Some of them will also to give you a ...
Home Loan Mortgage Refinance Rates For Wells Fargo Stay Below 5%Red, White, and Blue Press (blog)
Bad credit home mortgage refinance Loan is starting to make a revivalPressitt
How to Choose a FHA Mortgage RefinanceBatchBuzz (satire)
Subprime Blogger (blog) -Bleacher Report -MonitorBankRates.com
all 256 news articles »


Mortgage Rates & Trends (blog)

The Death of Mortgage Refinance Looms
FreeRateUpdate.com
Even with sub 5 percent mortgage rates available to well-qualified consumers, mortgage refinance is slow. When rates do rise to 6%, and they will, ...
Underwater Mortgage Refinance Plan—Is It Working, Is Walking Away Okay?Red, White, and Blue Press (blog)

all 3 news articles »


Refinance Home Loan Rates – Apply for a Mortgage Refinance Online Today
Subprime Blogger (blog)
Many current homeowners will look to apply for a mortgage refinance online today. There are many options available at the present time and refinance home ...

and more »


Poynter.org

What 15 Journalists Took Home from South by Southwest
Poynter.org
Never sell an ad that cheapens your site (berry cures and fat pills and shady mortgage refinance offers). Ideally, only sell ads for products you use and ...

and more »


White House extends refinancing program for troubled homeowners
Washington Post
The Obama administration announced Monday that borrowers with little or no equity in their homes will have another year to take advantage of ...

and more »

Google News

home | site map
© 2006