America’s subprime mess has sent jitters throughout global financial markets and helped knock the Dow Jones Industrial Average down to two-year lows, but how has it affected daily practical matters — like refinancing your home? The answer comes down to your equity, your credit score and your personal goals.

Most homeowners refinance to take advantage of lower interest rates to bring down their monthly payment, convert from an adjustable-rate loan to a fixed-rate loan, or cash out their equity for a home improvement project or other expenditure. Whether now is a good time to trade in your mortgage will vary because each owner’s situation and goals are different; the key is to be realistic and plan smart.

If the decision to refinance were based purely on rates, everyone would be refinancing. “Now is a good time to refinance because mortgage rates may not go much lower in the short term,” says Paul Decoff, chief lending officer for Thornburg Mortgage, which specializes in large adjustable-rate loans. “Mortgages rates have fallen since the Federal Reserve’s recent actions, but the lack of liquidity in the secondary market has effectively put a floor on the how low rates will fall.” In other words, lenders are not buying your mortgages from each other like they were when the market was soaring, which drives down rates through competition and volume of transactions.

It’s this conservative environment that makes your credit score all the more important in refinancing, because lenders are not taking risks. Combine a shaky credit score with the tough reality that some houses have depreciated and are worth less than the amount due on the mortgage note — and suddenly refinancing isn’t appealing.

“If you bought your home for $500,000 and put 20 percent down, but the house has since devalued by 20 percent, you have little equity and no leg to stand on when it comes to refinancing,” says Lance Machovsky, a Realtor with Barry Ward Realty in Bear Valley, Calif., referring to the loan-to-value ratio of a home. Unless you’ve built up enough equity to absorb the depreciation, refinancing might not be an option.

For those with equity, solid credit and a compelling reason for refinancing — like to migrate to a 15- or 30-year fixed-rate mortgage from an adjustable-rate loan — go ahead and start mortgage shopping. Interest rates have dropped below 6 percent. History shows that the housing market goes up over time, so you’ll be well poised for the inevitable upswing months or years down the road.

“Although adjustable-rate mortgages have started to re-price, it’s a good time to move out of an adjustable-rate mortgage and into fixed rate,” says Yuani Ruiz, a vice president with Alpine Bank in Basalt, Colo. “Historically rates are pretty low.”

Remember that the region where you live is also a factor when considering refinancing. Mortgage brokers who operate in dense markets and deal with many properties changing hands tend to shave closing costs to be competitive. If you live in a more rural area, make sure that you’re saving at least 1.5 percentage points in your new interest rate to offset the closing costs. And read the fine print before refinancing: Some mortgages have stiff prepayment penalties.

If refinancing is out of reach, some lenders offer “loan modification” programs as a way to lower monthly payments or to avoid foreclosure. Companies like Improve My Loan can fold any past-due amounts, including interest and escrow, into the unpaid principal balance and re-amortized the new amount over a new period of time.