Mortgage rates are at historic lows, and you've finally decided that now is the time to refinance your home.

The most critical question to answer before you start the refinancing process is, when will it pay for itself? Before you can enjoy the savings from the lower interest rate, you'll need to know how long it takes before you recover the costs of the new loan, no matter what method you use to refinance your mortgage.

Closing costs: your choice

How long a refinance takes to pay off depends on how you handle the closing costs:

• You can pay costs upfront with cash when you close (a traditional refinance).
• You can finance the costs by rolling them into your loan balance (effectively a low-cash-out refinance).
• You can avoid them altogether in exchange for a higher interest rate (a no-cost refinance).

Finding the best refi strategy

Which refi method is going to be best for you? It depends on your particular situation: how much money you've saved, how much equity you have in your home, how long you plan to stay in your home, and so on. The only way to find out which refinance mortgage will save you the most money over time is to crunch the numbers. Enter HSH.com's new Tri-Refi Calculator.

The Tri-Refi Calculator gives you an easy way to compare the costs and savings with these three common types of refinance mortgage: the traditional refinance, the low-cash-out refinance and the no-cost refinance.

• Traditional refinance. In a traditional refinance, you get current market interest rates and pay an origination fee, usually 2 percent of the loan. To make the deal pay off, your savings from lower interest rates have to at least cover the fees at closing. Rule of thumb: A good refi should break even in two years or less. You'll pay more up front, but over the long term you'll save money on interest costs.
• Low-cash-out refinance. If you opt for a low-cash-out refinance, your closing costs are included in the total amount of the loan. This option works well if you have some equity built up but want to avoid paying out a lot of cash up front. There's no free lunch, though -- you'll pay the fees, plus interest, over the term of the loan.
• No-cost refinance. With a no-cost refinance, you pay no closing costs, and no fees are added to the loan. What's not to like? Well, the catch is that you'll pay interest at a rate higher than the market rate in exchange for not having to pay fees. Expect to pay an interest rate of about 0.5 percent more than with a traditional refi.

Which option is best for you? HSH.com's Tri-Refi Calculator can help you get to the right answer quickly, and in one pass.

All this in a mortgage calculator? But wait -- there's more!

The Tri-Refi Calculator doesn't stop at comparing closing costs under different refinance scenarios. Once you've entered your particular scenario, you can easily see how much you'll save compared to your existing mortgage -- verifying your breakeven point in seconds. You'll get a lot of nifty analysis and graphs on your refi options to boot.

The right refi decision made easy

HSH.com's Tri-Refi Calculator helps get you to the right decision quickly, precisely and easily -- giving you the confidence that you're making the right refinancing choice and saving the most money. Run the numbers with this new tool, then find a mortgage lender on GuidetoLenders.com who can get you the best deal for the option you've chosen.