If you haven’t found time to refinance your existing home mortgage, it’s time to take action—like yesterday! Every time Alan Greenspan, Federal Reserve Board Chairman, opens his mouth, you can bet that federal funds rates will rise by at least a quarter of a point, or by 25 basis points in investorese. What that means to you is that home mortgages will rocket as well.

A quarter of a percentage point may not seem like much, given that federal funds rate currently stands at 2 ¾ per cent, but a reality check quickly reveals that you, personally, have probably never seen 2 ¾ per cent interest on anything in your lifetime. Take a look at your credit card statements. Are you paying 2 ¾ per cent on your credit? What about your home mortgage? Without getting technical, there’s little correlation between federal funds rate and home mortgage rates except direction in which they travel, and right now that direction is headed to sky.

You’ve already missed opportunity of a lifetime to lock in lowest rates you’ll see for foreseeable future, but you have a little more time to get your hands on relatively cheap money. The window of opportunity is rapidly closing, so if you’re going to refinance, you must do it as soon as possible.

Things you may not know about refinancing:

A small rate cut can pay off handsomely in smaller monthly mortgage payments.

Smaller monthly mortgage payments will decrease your tax deduction, because you will no longer be paying as much interest as you’ve been paying. Factor this in, because it’s total savings that matters.

Here are some suggestions of ways to put equity to good use when you go to take out a home equity or cash out refinance loan.

1. Do a home improvement that will increase equity in your home more than cost of doing improvement. As an example, I have heard rumors that adding a deck to a home, because of amount it increases homes resale value, can add up to 4 times cost of actually installing deck.

2. If you have a low interest rate on your home, invest your equity in a low risk investment that has a much higher return on your money.