Refinancing lenders often require an upfront payment of a certain percentage of the total loan amount as part of the process of refinancing debt. If you are divorced refinancing your home can make things easier in regards to what happens to mortgage payments when the home is given to one of the parties. If youre unsure how much longer you might live in a particular locale use recouping your refinancing costs in five years or less as a good rule of thumb. If the value of your home has increased you may want to look at the possibility of refinancing more than the value of your current mortgage.