Today's Rates Offer Great Money-Saving Opportunities
Despite a recent uptick from record lows, interest rates remain at attractive, affordable levels. It's still not too late to take advantage of today's market and refinance your home or trade up to a new one.

Here are six insider tips on smart ways to save when you refinance:

1. Lower monthly payment. Perhaps the biggest refinancing savings is reducing your monthly mortgage payment, either by taking advantage of lower interest rates or by extending the term of your loan. With a smaller payment, you'll have more money each month to put into savings or other investments.
   
2. No-cost closing. To eliminate any "out-of-pocket" expenses, you may be able to add the closing fees to the new loan balance and pay off fees over time. That way you won't have to dip into savings for settlement costs.
   
3. Re-issue your title insurance. A special refinancing rate for title insurance could be half the cost of a new policy. Be sure to ask the company that issued the title policy when you purchased your home.
   
4. Re-certify your old survey. If the property hasn't changed, use the same survey company that did your original property survey and save with a re-certification, which costs less than a new on-site survey.
   
5. Dump your PMI payment. For homeowners with 20% equity or more who have been paying Private Mortgage Insurance, refinancing is an opportunity to use the current appraisal and cancel the PMI premium. By dropping PMI, you could save $500 or more annually for every $100,000 of your mortgage. (PMI typically runs between .5% and 1% of the loan amount, based on your loan-to-value ratio.)
   
6. Pay off your equity loan. If your current equity loan is a point or more higher than current interest rates, you may be able to lower monthly payments by rolling the equity loan balance into your new first mortgage at the lower current interest rate.