Top Resources for Refinancing Help

Don't head into a refinance without knowing the territory. Get organized with this list of resources that can help you prepare.

Man vs. Wild personality Bear Grylls can tell you how to survive in the Panamanian jungle. And Rachael Ray can guide you to a delicious home-cooked meal in 30 minutes or less. But who's going to walk you through to the successful close of your refinance mortgage?

Keep tabs on the lending environment

The Mortgage Bankers Association (www.mbaa.org) publishes weekly, monthly, and quarterly reports about the state of the economy and, in particular, the home finance industry. You could spend hours reviewing reports, articles, and press releases that discuss current industry trends, but you might focus on the monthly mortgage finance outlook. The report projects estimated mortgage rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages and 1-year Treasury adjustable-rate mortgages. While actual rates are likely to be slightly different, you can still use the estimates to make a rough payment calculation.

Monitoring interest rates

Fannie Mae (www.fanniemae.com), Freddie Mac (www.freddiemac.com), and the Federal Home Loan Bank Board (www.fhlbanks.com) provide a wealth of information on current and historical mortgage interest rates. A few words of caution: Don't try to time the market for the absolute best rate; you might end up waiting indefinitely for a low rate that never materializes. Remember, even the experts can't make accurate predictions about where rates are going.

Crunching numbers

Mortgageloan.com has dozens of calculators to answer all of your refinance-related questions. Compare the costs of two different loan types, calculate APRs, evaluate a cash-out refinance for debt consolidation, determine when you'll break even on a refinance, and much more. While you might hear otherwise, a refinance is always a complicated decision-don't proceed until you're confident that you understand all of the financial consequences.

Defining key terms

At some point in the refinance process, you'll run across a term you don't know. Ignoring it could be disastrous, and trying to define it with Google searches could be time-consuming. Take the easy road and use the Mortgageloan.com Glossary as your go-to lending lingo resource.

Preparing for the close

Freddie Mac's website has a closing cost worksheet that you can print out and take with you. It lists the most common fees that you can expect to see, and gives you a spot to add up the numbers. Once you apply for your refinance, your lender should provide you with a Good Faith Estimate of the closing costs. Review it carefully and compare the items noted with your Freddie Mac worksheet. If there's anything you don't understand, ask your lender for a full explanation.

With these resources in your back pocket, you're ready to star in your own reality show, Man vs. Refinance. Thankfully, they'll be no weird foods, extreme terrain, or ice-cold temperatures involved.