How to port a mortgage and save on interest payments
If you've found your dream house but your the mortgage on your current property has much better terms than a new mortgage would, don’t fret. By porting your mortgage, you won’t necessarily have to abandon your dream home.
Instead, you could take the loan on your current house to the new one, removing some of the downside of getting a new mortgage.
With more than $12 trillion in combined mortgage debt as of Q2 2023, many Americans are looking to save money every way they can. Especially on interest rates.
In a high interest rate environment, porting a mortgage can be the difference between keeping a competitive rate and having to pay thousands of dollars more in interest.
If you’re not familiar with how to port a mortgage, read on to learn the ins and outs so you can decide whether mortgage porting makes sense for you.
What is porting a mortgage
Porting a mortgage is the process of transferring your current home loan to a new property, thereby skipping the need to conform to new and different loan terms.
By porting a mortgage, the terms attached to the original loan are left intact, including the interest rate and the duration of the loan.
If you’ve ever consolidated your credit card loans, you’ll find that the mechanics of porting a mortgage are quite similar.
You direct the proceeds from the sale of your current home toward paying off your existing mortgage. Without skipping a beat, restart the mortgage with those very same terms and features on the new property.
Short and long-term savings
Chief among the reasons to port a mortgage is interest rates.
If the rate you are currently paying on your mortgage is lower than the prevailing rate you could save thousands of dollars in interest over the term of the loan simply by porting your mortgage.
Not only can you save money over the long term, you can keep more money in your pocket for the short term.
That's because by porting your mortgage, you’ll likely avoid any penalties or fees that your bank might attach to the loan for paying it off early, known as an early repayment charge.
But what does porting a mortgage mean for you personally? Let’s answer some of the common questions associated with porting a mortgage.
How do I know if I can port my mortgage?
Before you start counting how much money you’ll save on interest by porting a mortgage, make sure this option is available to you.
Not all mortgage loans are the same, and whether or not a mortgage is portable will vary from lender to lender.
For example, you have a better shot of porting your mortgage if you are paying a fixed interest rate. Variable rates are trickier and most likely won’t be portable.
Even if porting a mortgage is possible with your lender, there are still some hoops to jump through.
Your lender can’t just take your word that your financial profile is the same or better than when you were approved for your current mortgage. As a result, you can expect to have to reapply so the lender can perform its due diligence.
Even if you've been making timely payments all along, you can still expect the lender to ask you to update your financial information so it can be certain you are still in a position to afford the mortgage.
This is just part of the process. The lender will run your credit once again and make sure you haven’t taken on more than you can handle based on your income.
Porting a mortgage is more a privilege than a right, and the lender doesn’t make any promises.
Even if your financial situation hasn’t changed much, the lender’s criteria may have. So, whether or not you can port a mortgage may be out of your control.
How do I port my mortgage for a bigger-sized loan?
If you are buying your dream home, then it’s very likely that you will need a bigger mortgage than the one you currently have. But that doesn’t mean you have to abandon your hopes of porting your mortgage.
You might just have to be creative.
Your first step should be to:
- Calculate the amount of equity you’ve accumulated in your current property. You can do this by subtracting your loan balance from the home’s appraisal value.
- Combine that amount with any money you’ve socked away in savings, and put it toward the down payment on the new property, thereby reducing the size of the loan you’ll need.
If that’s still not enough to bridge the gap, you will need a bigger loan. Whether or not that's possible by porting a mortgage will depend on your lender and the amount you are approved for.
Keep in mind that in a porting situation, you’ll need to stick with the same lender.
The lender may require that any money above and beyond the current loan amount is delivered through a separate mortgage. In that case, that second mortgage may carry a higher interest rate—depending on your lender and where rates are.
How do you port a mortgage for a smaller-sized loan?
If you’re downsizing into a house with a smaller price tag, you still may be able to port your current mortgage. To do this, you might have to make a lump-sum payment to the lender for some of the balance.
Borrowers can generally pay up to 10% of the mortgage balance each year without being penalized with fees.
How long does it take to port a mortgage?
How long porting your mortgage will take will depend on your lender. So as soon as there is a sparkle of that dream house in your eye, you’ll want to get the wheels turning on porting your mortgage. You can do this by contacting your lender.
Once you know what they'll allow and the circumstances under which they'll allow it, start gathering any necessary information and avoid applying for any new credit.
Also, access any funds that you might need in savings to make the process go more smoothly.
Takeaway
Now that you know how to port a mortgage, you should have a good idea of whether it could work for you. Keep in mind that when you’re making a purchase as big as a new home, there aren’t any shortcuts.
There will still be paperwork for you to complete and conversations to have with your lender.
Sometimes the stars in the lending market don't align well and parting with your current mortgage could do more harm than good. Make sure you've looked at all the angles.
But if it is possible, porting your mortgage can save you thousands of dollars in interest and be well worth the effort.