Your loan type sets the clock: FHA and VA streamline refinances carry seasoning requirements, while a conventional refinance has no set waiting period. FHA and VA both offer streamlined refinances (the FHA Streamline and the VA IRRRL) that skip income documentation and an appraisal, and each has its own seasoning rules: - FHA Streamline: you need all three, measured when the new FHA case number is assigned: at least six payments made on the loan you are refinancing, at least six full months since that loan's first payment due date, and at least 210 days since its closing (disbursement) date. - VA IRRRL: the later of two dates: 210 days after the first payment due date of the loan being refinanced, and the date you have made six consecutive monthly payments. A common misreading says you need twelve months of history; the requirement is six consecutive payments. Refinancing out of an FHA or VA loan into a conventional loan generally has no such waiting period, and a conventional-to-conventional refinance usually carries no prepayment penalty. One wrinkle: on a zero-point loan, the lender can get hit with an early-payoff penalty if the loan pays off within roughly the first 180 days, so your original lender may not love an immediate refi. Talk to whoever did your loan first and give them a shot at the opportunity. The bigger picture on timing: you refinance when the math works for you, on no particular schedule. Nobody can promise where rates go, so we would never buy a home counting on a refinance later. If rates improve enough to cover your costs and pay you back in a reasonable window, great. If they never do, you still own the home. We can run your break-even in a Roadmap conversation so you know your real number.