If you know that you have to refinance your home loan, make sure you plan ahead.  By planning ahead I mean you should have a plan in place to have the best possible credit score.  Oftentimes a homeowner looking to refinance has dropped their credit score since when I helped them purchase their home a few years earlier.  The reason is usually more credit cards.  A lot of people purchase their refrigerator, washer, and dryer at a store like Best Buy or Home Depot or Lowes.  They usually put it on a store credit card and get no payments and no interest for an initial period.  The problem is that when these stores approve you for a credit line, if it's exactly the amount that you need to borrow, you've instantly added a maxed out credit card to your credit profile.  Maxed out credit cards will send your credit score down.  And if you have a no payments until 2009!, chances are the card will be maxed out for a while. 

Try your best to plan ahead when you are thinking about refinancing.  Perhaps doing a balance transfer from your maxed out card to another card that has plenty of space can raise your credit score.  And if you have the money available, then pay down the balance.  Depending on where your score is, a few points difference either way can have a big impact on interest rates and ultimately the types of financing even available to you. 

Planning ahead is the way to go.  You don't want to wait until you have to refinance and not have the time to restructure any existing debt to improve your situation.

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