Refinancing
Refinancing means replacing an existing loan with a new one, usually to get a lower interest rate, a shorter term, or to pull cash out of home equity. It can lower your monthly payment or total interest, but closing costs mean you need to stay in the loan long enough to break even.
Example
Refinancing a $300,000 mortgage from 7% to 5.5% cuts the monthly payment by roughly $293, saving over $100,000 in interest across 30 years.