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Mortgage Intelligence Blog

Actionable articles on rates, pre-approval, refinancing, and budgeting so you can lead your mortgage journey with data-backed confidence.

Showing 2 articles tagged with “interest rate”.

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May 14, 2025 10 minute read

Proven Strategies to Lower Your Mortgage Interest Rate

Discover proven tactics to lower your mortgage interest rate, including credit optimization, lender negotiation, buydowns, and timing the market.

Why this article matters

  • Boosting your middle credit score by 20 points can shift you into a better pricing tier worth thousands in savings.
  • Comparing quotes from at least three lenders can lower your rate by 0.25% or more according to CFPB research.
  • Combining a short lock window with targeted discount points often produces the optimal break-even savings.

Latest deep dives

April 22, 2025 9 minute read

Mortgage Points Explained: 2025 Guide to Buying Down Your Rate

Learn how mortgage discount points work in 2025, how to calculate break-even periods, and when buying points maximizes payment savings.

Key takeaways
  • One point equals 1% of the loan amount and typically lowers the interest rate by 0.125% to 0.25%.
  • Calculate break-even in months by dividing the cost of points by the monthly payment savings.
  • Buying points makes the most sense when you expect to keep the mortgage beyond the break-even point and have emergency savings intact.