I often wonder my mortgage is $48,000. At 10.5% monthly payment is $474.00 monthly
the house is valued at $242,000.

what if I take an equity loan at a lower rate 6% and pay the mortgage off.

Do you think I would be ahead. Considering the fees and all?

Have tried asking your tax preparer? Even a bank . Good luck!

Your best bet is to get a HELOC from one of the major banks, or perhaps a credit union. Assuming that your credit is OK, the low Loan To Value should give you the best rate. My choice of product would be the adjustable one tied to the Prime Rate. The higher the credit line, the lower the rate: $50 K might be Prime -.50%; $100K might be Prime -1.00%. Prime is currently @ 7.25%. The bank should pay ALL of your closing costs. If you chose the security of a fixed rate, it will be higher than the variable. Good luck.

Consider the amount of time you plan on keeping your home if you refinance. Take the cost (fees) that the new loan would add on, divide that by number of months at a minimum you will be in the home at the new payment... and it should be easy to see if the new payment will be low enough to offset the cost of loan closing. It might take a number of years to recoup the cost of the fees, but after that you enjoy the savings if you remain in the home long enough.

I have never liked the variable rate loans, and would want fixed personally.