Buying a house can be broken down into five steps:

1. Prequalify
   • Prequalifying for a mortgage can tell you how much house you can afford so you don’t waste weeks or even months shopping in the wrong price range.
   • Being prequalified also gives you a stronger bargaining chip to use when making an offer; sellers in today’s market may give more preference to a prepared — i.e., prequalified — buyer.
   • Prequalifying is easy to do from virtually anywhere with an app or online, and it can take just a few minutes during regular business hours.
2. Shop for a Home
   • It’s the moment you’ve been waiting for — the chance to comb through listings and schedule in-person or virtual tours.
   • Your lender helped you find an estimated mortgage payment you can comfortably afford. Now, your realtor is going to help you get in the door.
   • Again, prequalifying before you start your home search is crucial. Once you get an estimated loan amount, your realtor will be able to show you homes that fit in your price range.
3. Select a Loan Program
   • You’ve gotten prequalified. But there are still many different types of home loans to choose from with different financing options.
   • You may have been given multiple loan choices during the prequalification process (step 1). But know that some products or programs may be subject to change based on the property you decide to buy.
   • In this step, you’re going to get to know your loan officer a whole lot better as you work together to hand-pick the right loan program to meet your short-term and long-term goals.
4. Complete the Loan Approval Process
   • You’ve finally found your dream home, gotten your offer accepted, and made it through the appraisal and inspection in one piece.
   • Before you post that celebratory Facebook status, you’ll still need to get through the final approval process.
   • Your loan officer will collect the rest of your paperwork, including title work, flood certification, and homeowners insurance, to give you the seal of approval on your loan.
5. Close on Your New Home
   • Hectic as it may be, this is the time to celebrate. On closing day, you’ll meet with the seller to transfer the property and close the transaction.
   • To make it happen, you’ll need a certified or cashier’s check, made payable to yourself and ready to be endorsed to the title company.
   • Take a moment to review your Closing Disclosure, sign the mortgage note, receive the deed from the seller, and pat yourself on the back. It’s a done deal.

When you refinance your mortgage, it's out with the old and in with the new. Refinancing replaces your current loan with a new one, typically with a different interest rate, monthly payment, and term.

5 Ways Refinancing Could Be Right For You

1. Swap out an ARM for a fixed-rate mortgageIf you currently have an adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM), you may have seen your loan payments fall and rise. Are you ready for a stable monthly payment, something you can prepare for? You could refinance to a new, fixed rate, if you qualify.
2. Change your loan termLife changes as the years go by. Maybe you agreed to a longer loan term before you got a new job and a jump in income. Or perhaps you wanted a shorter loan term back when you lived in a two-income household, but now you’re not sure if you can make your payments. Talk to your loan officer about whether changing your loan term has benefits.
3. Cash out equityAfter months or years of payments, you may not realize how much equity you now have in your home. Your loan officer can tell you when it makes sense to pull that valuable equity from your home and convert it into cash. Cashing out equity could help you cover big expenses like renovations, education, medical bills, or debt consolidation.
4. Scrub down your interest rateIf rates are trending down, you could lock a lower rate than when you first closed on your home loan. Reducing your rate could save more money over the life of your loan. Having a rate that’s a percentage point lower, for example, might shave several hundred dollars a month on your mortgage. Just remember: The potential savings need to offset the other fees associated with a mortgage refinance, such as closing costs.
5. Say goodbye to PMIIf you financed your home without a 20% down payment, you may have had to pay for private mortgage insurance (PMI). But if you’ve been paying on your mortgage for a while now, you might not need to pay for PMI anymore. Refinancing could get rid of PMI if the new mortgage balance is less than 80% of your home's value. Speak with your loan officer for more details.