Refinancing current mortgages reduces the risk of  mortgage defaults and saves taxpayers money according to economists at the New York Federal Reserve.

They base their findings on 2012 research that studied payment savings for homeowners who refinanced with Adjustable Rate Mortgages or ARMs.  Taxpayers benefited because of the huge number of mortgages held by the federally back mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

With interest rates for both fixed and adjustable rate mortgages below 4% experts say this is a good time to refinance. But it’s smart to shop around for a refinance deal and ConsumerMojo.com explains how to do that in our Mortgage Shopping video and downloadable PDF.  It’s a good idea to pay close attention to the details. You want to make sure that you don’t cut into the amount you’ll save by paying high fees. ConsumerMojo.com’s Mortgage Fees video breaks it down. Again, there’s a downloadable PDF.