I have had a lot of questions lately about streamline refinances for FHA loans. These are a truly great product if you are currently in an FHA loan. Here are a few points that I'd like to point out to help you in your decision as to whether or not your should do a streamline refinance.
1. There is no origination, appraisal, processing or underwriting fees which makes your costs a lot lower.
2. The lender doesn't re-verify your income or most other items on your application so there is very little effort on your part.
3. Depending on how long you've had your loan, you usually won't have to come in with much more than one month's payment and FHA will refund a portion of your up-front mortgage insurance and put it to your new loan. If you've had the loan for a while, there's a good chance you won't have to come in with anything. You also typically get to skip a month's payment after the refinance so many borrowers find that it's worth it.
4. Current rate for a fairly straight forward streamline refinance is around 5.5%. There are credit score requirements and other underwriting guidelines in order to get that rate, but if you have good credit your rate would be right around there. Please let me know if you have any more questions about refinancing.
