Mortgage refinancing lets you save money or tap equity. Set your home refinance goal, then compare rates and fees.

A mortgage refinance replaces your current home loan with a new one. Often people refinance to reduce the interest rate, cut monthly payments or tap into their home's equity. Others refinance a home to pay off the loan faster, get rid of FHA mortgage insurance or switch from an adjustable-rate to a fixed-rate loan.
Let's consider some important initial aspects of refinancing a mortgage — and then run through the process step by step

When you buy a home, you get a mortgage to pay for it. The money goes to the home seller. When refinancing a home, you get a new mortgage. Instead of going to the home’s seller, the new mortgage pays off the balance of the old home loan.
Mortgage refinancing requires you to qualify for the loan, just as you had to meet the lender’s requirements for the original mortgage. You file an application, go through the underwriting process and go to closing, as you did when you bought the home.