If you already own a home, but would like to take advantage of current low interest rates, you may be interested in refinancing your loan. Refinancing allows you to lower your monthly payments, get cash back, shorten the term of the mortgage, and consolidate your first and second mortgage into one loan.

Until recently, the rule of thumb for refinancing was to wait until mortgage interest rates were at least 2% lower than your current rate. But with newer low- and no-closing cost refinancing programs, you may benefit from refinancing with smaller rate reductions.