Royal Mortgage›Loan programs›Refinance
The one door
There is one place to apply, and this is it.
Takes you to our secure application site at my1003app.com.
Refinance
Replace the loan, not the house.
A refinance pays off the mortgage you have with a new one. Whether that is a good idea depends entirely on which of four things you are trying to fix, and on one number that settles it, which is how long it takes to earn the cost back.
We will run that number for you before you commit to anything, including when it says do nothing.
Who this is for
And, just as usefully, who it is not for yet.
This is your page if
- You are staying in the house long enough for a saving to add up
- You are carrying FHA mortgage insurance and your equity has grown since
- You want to be done sooner and you can carry a larger payment to do it
- You need a real sum once — a renovation, a payoff — and you want it at a fixed structure
- Your income changed shape since you got the loan, and the old file no longer describes you
This is not your page if
- You are moving inside a couple of years. The cost will very likely outrun the saving
- You love your first mortgage and only need money in stages — a line of credit protects it
- You are buying rather than keeping — that is a purchase
- The only reason is that somebody called you about it. That is their reason, not yours
The four honest reasons
If your reason is not one of these, be suspicious of the pitch.
1. Lower the rate
A rate-and-term refinance changes the interest rate, the term, or both, and does not hand you cash. The only question that matters is whether the monthly saving pays back the closing cost before you sell or refinance again.
2. Take cash out
A cash-out refinance replaces your mortgage with a larger one and gives you the difference. Useful for a renovation, a debt consolidation, or a real need. Expensive if it is used to turn short-term debt into thirty-year debt without a plan.
3. Shorten the term
Moving from thirty years to twenty or fifteen usually raises the payment and lowers the total interest paid over the life of the loan. Worth running the numbers on, even if it is not the reason you came.
4. Get rid of mortgage insurance
FHA mortgage insurance often stays for the life of the loan. If your equity and credit now support a conventional loan, refinancing out of FHA can remove that premium entirely.
The break-even question
One division problem that settles most refinance arguments.
Take the total cost of the refinance. Divide it by what you save each month. The answer is the number of months you have to stay in the loan before the refinance has paid for itself.
- If you are moving before that month, the refinance costs you money no matter how much the rate dropped
- Rolling the cost into the balance does not make it free — it moves it, and you pay interest on it
- Restarting a thirty-year clock on a loan you are eleven years into is a real cost, even at a lower rate
Royal will show you this number with your actual figures in it. If it says wait, we will say wait.
Replace it, borrow behind it, or leave it alone
Three different answers, and the right one depends on the sentence you would say out loud.
- I want a better deal on the whole balanceRate-and-term refinance
- I want to be done with this loan soonerShorter-term refinance
- I need a real sum once, and my current rate is high anywayCash-out refinance
- I need money in stages and my first mortgage is a keeperHELOC
- I am moving in a year or twoUsually leave it alone
- I am not sure which of those I amAsk before you apply
If it is the last one, touch the gold bubble in the corner and say it in your own words. Royal Ai will walk the arithmetic with you before anybody asks you for a document.
What to have ready
A refinance needs less than a purchase, because you already own the house.
The loan you have
Your most recent mortgage statement, and the statement for any second lien or line behind it.
The house
The homeowners insurance declaration page and the current property tax bill. The HOA too, if there is one.
Income
Recent pay stubs and W-2s, or returns if you are self-employed. Retirement and benefit income counts — bring the award letters.
Assets
Recent statements, if the file needs reserves or you are bringing money to the table.
Identity
A government photo ID, and your authorization to pull credit.
Your actual plan
How long you expect to stay. This is not paperwork, and it changes the answer more than anything on this list.
How a refinance runs here
Same standard, fewer moving parts than a purchase.
- The arithmetic first Current loan, current balance, current payment, and what the market will actually give you today. Break-even computed before anything is ordered.
- Documents, requested in order Income, assets, the mortgage statement, the insurance declaration page and the tax bill. Requested as the file needs them, not dumped on you in one email.
- Appraisal, or not Some programs waive it. We will tell you which lane you are in before you pay for anything.
- Underwriting, with a person on it The machine gathers and flags. A licensed underwriter reviews and signs every decision.
- Closing, and the days after A refinance of a primary residence can carry a right to cancel for a short period before the loan funds. Whether it applies depends on the transaction, and your closing package will say so plainly, with the exact dates on it.
The honest trade-off
A refinance is not free and it is not new money.
You are paying, again, to replace a loan you already have. That cost is real whether you write a check for it or roll it into the balance, and the saving only exists on the far side of the break-even month.
- The clock restarts unless you deliberately shorten the term, and years of paid-down principal go back to the beginning of the schedule
- Cash-out is not found money. It converts short-term debt into long-term debt, secured by your home
- We cannot tell you where the market goes next. We can only do the arithmetic on today, honestly
- Sometimes the answer is do nothing. That answer is free, and you will hear it from us if it is the right one
What we can refinance
The program is chosen for the file.
Conventional
Rate-and-term and cash-out, on primary residences, second homes and investment property.
FHA
Including the streamline path, which is built for existing FHA borrowers lowering a rate.
Jumbo
Above the conforming limit, including interest-only structures where they fit.
Non-QM
Bank statement, DSCR on rentals, asset depletion, and files with a recent credit event.
Consolidation
A first mortgage that absorbs a second, a HELOC, or high-interest debt — when the arithmetic actually works.