Is your Michigan mortgage
still working for you?
Refinancing a Michigan mortgage means replacing your current loan with a new one — ideally with a lower rate, better terms, or access to your equity. Whether you bought at a high rate, have an ARM adjusting soon, finished building and need a permanent mortgage, or need cash for a major expense, refinancing may reduce your monthly payment, shorten your loan term, or both. The right time to refinance depends on your rate, your equity, how long you plan to stay, and what you need the money to do. Subject to credit approval and underwriting.
Subject to credit approval. Not a commitment to lend. Rates and programs subject to change.
Union Home Mortgage NMLS #2229229
You built the home.
Now let's get you the right mortgage.
When construction wraps up, the construction loan has to go somewhere. The question is where.
Many local credit unions and lenders do a great job financing the build itself. But when the home is complete and it's time for permanent financing, some of them convert the construction loan into a short-term balloon mortgage or an adjustable-rate mortgage rather than a standard 30-year fixed. It's common. And for a lot of homeowners, it comes as a surprise.
A balloon mortgage isn't a permanent solution. It has a maturity date — and when that date arrives, the full remaining balance is due. An adjustable-rate mortgage can look attractive at first but introduces payment uncertainty over time. Neither one is what most families are looking for when they just built their home.
A 30-year fixed mortgage gives you a stable, predictable payment for the life of the loan. No adjustment dates. No balloon deadline. Just your payment, locked in.
You don't have to have done your construction loan with us to get your permanent mortgage here. If your construction lender rolled your finished home into a balloon or an ARM, we can refinance you into a conventional 30-year fixed. Kirby and Angie have completed this exact refinance for five Northern Michigan homeowners in the past 12 months alone.
Refinancing isn't always the answer.
Here's how to know if it is.
The core question is simple: will the savings over time outweigh the cost to refinance? That calculation — called your break-even point — is the first thing we run for every client.
Refinancing tends to make sense when your current rate is meaningfully higher than what you could qualify for today, when your payment is straining your budget, when an adjustable rate is about to reset, when a balloon deadline is approaching, or when your home has appreciated enough to let you tap equity without overextending.
It tends not to make sense when you plan to move soon and won't recoup closing costs, when the rate improvement is too small to justify the fees, or when rolling costs into the loan would leave you underwater on equity.
We show you math both ways. If a refinance doesn't make financial sense for you right now, we'll tell you — and we'll tell you what would need to change before it does.
Which situation fits yours?
Most homeowners come to us with one of these scenarios. Click any to learn more about how that refinance works and whether it applies to you.
From first call to clear to close.
Most Michigan refinances close in 20 to 30 business days when documents move on time. Here's what that looks like.
The refinance programs available in Michigan.
Different loan types have different refinance rules. Here's what you need to know about each program before you start.
Michigan refinance costs,
explained without the runaround.
There are two separate buckets of money due at closing on a refinance, and they are not the same thing. Closing costs are the hard costs of originating the loan. Prepaids are your own money being set aside for future expenses. Both show up on your Closing Disclosure, but conflating them inflates the number people fear.
Closing costs on a typical Michigan refinance cover the appraisal, title search, title insurance, recording fees, and similar third-party charges. On a $200,000 loan you are looking at roughly $4,000 in hard closing costs. Larger loan balances will carry higher costs on some line items, but many fees are flat regardless of loan size.
Prepaids are not a cost of the loan — they are funds collected at closing to cover prepaid mortgage interest, your homeowners insurance premium, and the initial escrow deposit for property taxes and insurance. You would owe this money regardless of whether you refinanced.
Points and pricing are a third factor worth understanding. A mortgage rate comes with a price, and that price is expressed in points. One point equals 1% of your loan amount. Paying points at closing buys your rate down — lowers it in exchange for more cash upfront. A lender credit does the opposite: the lender covers some of your closing costs, and you accept a slightly higher rate in return. Neither is automatically better. The right choice depends on how long you plan to keep the loan and what you can comfortably pay at closing. We model both options for every client.
| Cost Item | Notes |
|---|---|
| Appraisal | Required for most refinances. VA IRRRL and FHA Streamline often waived. |
| Title search | Flat fee. Verifies ownership and lien history. |
| Title insurance | Protects lender against title defects. Required on all refinances. |
| Recording fees | Charged by the county to record the new mortgage. |
| Points / pricing | Optional. Pay points to lower your rate, or accept a lender credit to reduce cash at closing. |
| The items below are prepaids — not closing costs. | |
| Prepaid interest | Interest from closing date to end of month. Varies by close date. |
| Homeowners insurance | Premium paid upfront at closing. Your money, not a loan cost. |
| Escrow setup | Initial deposit for future tax and insurance payments. Your money held in reserve. |
All figures are for informational purposes only. Actual costs vary by loan amount, program, property, and county. A full Loan Estimate will be provided after application.
Union Home Mortgage services
95% of the loans they originate.
Most mortgage lenders sell their loans after closing — which means the company you signed with is no longer the company you're making payments to. Your loan gets transferred to a servicer you've never spoken to, and the relationship you built during the process essentially ends at the closing table.
Union Home Mortgage works differently. UHM retains the servicing on approximately 95% of the loans they originate. That means when you close a loan with Kirby and Angie, there's a very good chance you'll still be making your payment to Union Home Mortgage a year from now, five years from now, and beyond.
The small number of loans where servicing is sold — roughly 5% — are typically specialty loan products. Like every lender, UHM reserves the right to sell servicing. But their commitment is to keep clients in-house as much as possible.
What that means practically: Kirby and Angie are your loan contacts for life. When rates drop and it's time to refinance, you call the same people. When you're ready to buy the next home, you call the same people. No starting over with a stranger.
"When you close with Kirby and Angie, you're not handing your loan off to a call center. We stay your contacts — through your first payment, your next refinance, and your next home."
Kirby Slocum and Angie Anderson, Union Home MortgageNot sure if refinancing makes sense right now?
That's the right question to ask. We run the analysis for free and show you the math either way. If it doesn't pencil out, we'll tell you.
Michigan refinance questions,
answered directly.
These are the questions we hear every week from Michigan homeowners thinking about refinancing. If yours isn't here, text or call.
