Ahwatukee Living’s Ask the Experts

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Have you refinanced your home yet?

Hi, my name is Kevin Keleher and I am a Loan Officer for Great Western Financial Group, Inc. in Mesa, AZ. Over the past couple of years, home values in Arizona have risen dramatically, and Ahwatukee has seen some of the greatest appreciation out of the whole valley. There were points when homes were appreciating by as much as 20% per month! This is compared to a national average of around 5% per year.
So, if you’ve owned your home for around a year or more, you will have made a lot of money in equity on your home. Say you purchased your home a year ago for $200k, at the rate of appreciation we’ve seen this past year, your home could be worth as much as $300k - $350k right now. That’s a lot of money you could be using for any of a number of things.

This money is just sitting there in your home, doing nothing for you. You could use it to:
1. Invest in a second home
2. Make improvements on your home
3. Pay off a second mortgage
4. Pay off high rate loans such as auto, credit card, or personal loans
5. Pay off school debt
6. Buy gifts for the holidays
7. Take a holiday vacation
8. Buy that new car you’ve been wanting
9. Reinvest it in the stock market for higher returns
10. The list goes on…

Another benefit of refinancing around the holidays is that you get to skip a payment on your mortgage, which is often handy around January when all of those holiday bills come rolling in.

Right now, 30 year fixed mortgages are still at historically low rates. Now is the right time to get locked in at these low rates before they go up. The new Federal Reserve Chairman is sure to shake things up when he moves into office in Jan. and who knows what he’ll do. But what we do know, is right now is a good time to move.

Feel free to call me any time to discuss your own personal scenario. I’d be happy to discuss the options you may have, or go over your credit report with you. I look forward to helping you take advantage of the opportunity refinancing your home can offer.

Sincerely, Kevin Keleher

Posted on January 20, 2006