Article: Should you refinance for extra cash? It depends

WASHINGTON For thousands of American homeowners, the question of the week is not whether to refinance their mortgage, but whether to pull extra cash out when they do refinance.

Put another way: Mortgage rate decreases since the summer have rendered the refi question a no-brainer for lots of people. If you can cut your fixed mortgage rate from the mid- or upper-7 percent range to the mid-6's at a cost you can recoup in 12 to 18 months, then the answer is virtually always yes to a refi.

But what happens to the equation when you - like many other homeowners - are tempted to take out extra money, beyond your current total mortgage debt, to use for some non-housing purpose? Say you have a ...

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