JustSomeGuy asked:


I have a good rate with my first mortage at 4.25 fixed for 15 years. I also have a heloc that is adjustible and is at about 8.5 percent right. I would like to refinance the heloc without loosing the rates on the 1st. Is there such a thing?

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fromthecabbagepatch asked:


With no money down? This is our first home and we’ve owned it for 4 years and looking to refinance.

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Tristan Hunt asked:


People across America are increasingly being faced with a homeowner’s worst nightmare: Foreclosure. The possibility of losing your home to the bank is very real, and it’s very normal to be scared and confused as the process moves along. What’s important is to keep a cool head, don’t panic, and evaluate your options as early in the process as possible. Many people who are approaching or are currently in a foreclosure do not realize that they may be qualified to refinance while in foreclosure and save their home, mainly because by this point in the process they have experienced rejection and denial by their own lender and often several others. But if you have Equity in your home, you can refinance in foreclosure and get back on track to improving your credit.

Refinancing in foreclosure is not like normal refinancing. When you apply for a regular, or conventional mortgage refinance, the most important thing a lender looks at when deciding whether or not to approve the loan is your credit and mortgage payment history. If you have not been more than 90 days late or behind on your mortgage payments, and your FICO credit score is above 500, conventional lenders will look at your refinance application and consider it. They may not approve it, but you’ll at least get looked at. When you go beyond 90 days late on your mortgage payments, no conventional lender will review your application, no matter how much money you make or how much better your situation is now than when you fell behind. Once you are considered 120 days late or behind on the mortgage, or your credit score falls below 500, the conventional lending industry simply cannot take the risks of lending to you anymore. If you’ve been rejected for a loan during the foreclosure process, even before the notice of default was recorded, it is usually because you are over 90 to 120 days late or your credit score is under 500, or both.

You are now in a special situation, and banks don’t like “special”. They just aren’t set up for “outside the box” financing, no matter how much sense it makes, so their response is to either deny your application, or in the case of the lender who holds the mortgage on your home which has fallen behind, they do the only thing they can, foreclose on the home and force its sale at auction to the highest bidder.

In order to handle special situations like this, you need a lender who specializes in refinancing foreclosures. There are only a few out there, but you’ll know one when you find one, because the first question they will ask you is “If you had to sell your home quickly, how much would it sell for?”, followed quickly by “And how much do you owe on your first mortgage”. This is because they are trying to establish how much Equity you have in the property. Equity for these purposes can be calculated easily:

A) Just subtract the Balance of your first mortgage from the Value of your home.

B) Take that Number and divide it by your property Value (there’s that word again),

C) Multiply by 100 and you’ve got your gross Equity percentage.

Because your credit and mortgage history cannot be considered for the purpose of qualifying you for a foreclosure loan, foreclosure refinancing is all about Equity. Lenders specializing in foreclosure refinancing will routinely request that you order an appraisal and an additional appraisal review performed by a realtor, commonly referred to as a BPO or Broker Price Opinion.

Here’s a general guideline: If you have 35% or more Equity in your property, and your property is Valued at $200,000 or more, you are probably qualified for a foreclosure refinance, and you can save your home from the auction block if you act quickly. Again, this is a rule of thumb. Sometimes, you may be able to get away with having a little bit less Equity, or a little bit less Value, and in some states you will need much more Equity and a much higher Value to qualify for a refinance in a foreclosure scenario.

If you have two mortgages, a first and second, you still may be eligible for a foreclosure refinance if you meet one or more of the following conditions:

1. The Balances of your 1st and 2nd mortgages added together amounts to less than 70% of the Value of your home.

2. Your 2nd mortgage can be “subordinated”, or kept in place while you refinance the 1st mortgage.

I can’t emphasize enough the importance of acting as quickly as possible to save your home through a foreclosure refinance. The foreclosure clock starts ticking from the day on which you receive a notice of default or on which you become 120 days past due on your mortgage payments, and it can move very quickly. While most foreclosures don’t get to the stage of a property auction, sherrif’s sale or trustee sale in which you will lose your home until about 120 days from the recording of the NOD ( Notice Of Default ), in many states this can happen much more quickly, as fast as 60 days. While you delay, your mortgage company’s payoff balance, the mount required to cure the default and prevent foreclosure, will increase as legal fees and interest pile up, eating away at your Equity and robbing you of the ability to refinance out of the foreclosure. It’s easy to feel lost, almost paralyzed by the shock and fear of losing your home, but if you are serious about saving your home from foreclosure, get on the phone and find a foreclosure refinancing specialist as quickly as possible.

Don’t forget, your first priority is to save your home, and a foreclosure refinance is considered a short term loan, usually with a fixed rate for 2 or 3 years. This gives you enough time to get your credit back together and refinance at the end of the fixed period into a much lower payment. Because you have shown your current lender, as well as the credit reporting agencies and by association every other lender in the country that you could not make the mortgage payments in accordance with the terms of the loan which is in foreclosure, it’s understandable that the lender providing the foreclosure refinance is taking a substantial risk in lending you the money to prevent the foreclosure, and the financing will not be at a very low rate. However, in most cases, the foreclosure refinance loan’s payments are Interest Only, and will be lower than the payments on most forbearance, or payment agreements, which your lender may have proposed or enrolled you in prior to filing for foreclosure. And if you consolidate high interest debts like credit cards and personal loans, payoff judgments, and clear away liens, you can potentially free up a lot of cash flow from your monthly budget and begin improving your credit score with a clean slate.

Don’t waste time talking to lenders and brokers who don’t know the foreclosure refinance process inside out, there are simply too many out there who will just waste your time and money trying to learn how to get your foreclosure refinanced while you slide closer and closer to a sale date and the real possibility of losing your home. On the other hand, the right lender can help you lay out other options to save the equity in your home even if you don’t qualify for a foreclosure refinance. Find a special lender for your special situation, and you will have a fighting chance of refinancing in foreclosure and saving your home.



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Dewey Kearney asked:


If you are considering a home refinance there are some things you should be aware that should be avoided. Here are the 10 top mistakes people make when refinancing a home:Drawing On Your Home Credit Line Before Doing A Home Refinance

Many lenders have “cash out” waiting requirements or “seasoning” as it is referred to in the industry. That means they want to see a set period of time elapse once you have withdrawn equity from your home prior to issuing a new loan. Cash-out followed by refinancing may indicate a pattern of irresponsible credit use; a red flag for a lender. This could lead to stricter requirements and possibly a rejection of your loan. The typical waiting requirement is six months.

Taking On A Second Mortgage Before Refinancing On Your First Mortgage

A lot of mortgage companies look at the combined loan amounts (i.e., the sum of the first and second loans) even when you’re only doing a home refinancing your first mortgage. Don’t be surprised if your first mortgage lender requires you to pay off both your first and second mortgages. Check with your lender to see if having a second loan will impact your refinancing.

In some instances lenders may allow you to keep your existing second mortgage while refinancing only the first. This is done by obtaining a “subordination agreement” from the lender who provided you with your second mortgage.

Paying For An Appraisal When You Think The Appraised Value May Be Too Low

Don’t pay for a formal appraisal if you think the home has a low appraised value. Home value is determined by many things, including the home’s location. Both lenders and Realtors use a market analysis based on the value of homes in your area to determine value. Paying for an appraisal shouldn’t be necessary.

Their comparable rate comparison should allow them to determine if your home is within the expected parameters of the financing you have requested. Especially in today’s market where home prices have stabilized or even declined a little, it pays to save your hard earned cash.

Not Doing A Break Even Analysis

Evaluate the money you will spend in getting the home refinance loan to determine if it is cost effective. It’s important to compare the total loan costs with how much you will save each month by lowering your monthly payment. Very simply, just divide the transaction costs by your anticipated monthly savings to figure the number of months you will have to stay in the loan to recoup your refinancing costs.

For example, if the costs of the home refinance total $2,000, and your monthly savings are $50, your break-even point is 2,000/50 = 40 months. In this case you should only refinance if you plan to stay with this new financing for at least 40 months.

Failing To Choose The Best Home Refinance Loan

There is more than one home refinance loan out there. There are fixed-rate loans, adjustable rate refinance loans, etc. While we at 1-800BadCredit don’t recommend the adjustable rate mortgages (ARM), there are people who insist on them. The loan that is best for you depends on your situation. We don’t recommend them because many people have been caught in a squeeze situation with ARM loans and have been unable to qualify to refinance.

For example, in some cases a 15-year term is better than a 30-year term and vise-versa. Think about your long and short term goals before you refinance and choose the loan program that fits those goals best.

Paying Too Much For Mortgage Insurance

Mortgage insurance, or PMI, is what you pay on your home in case you default on your mortgage. PMI adds a lot to your mortgage payment, but you don’t have to pay PMI if you have an 80% equity stake in your home. If you refinance at less than 80% then you could wind up paying too much for PMI.

Using Your Current Lender When Doing A Home Refinance

Although you may have an excellent history with your current lender, you may not always get the best deal when considering a home refinance. That’s the reason why we give you so many choices.

Your original lender will need the same documentation as any other lender. Each time you refinance your financial picture has to be re-verified. You will be subject to re-qualification, even if you have developed a relationship with your lender. So you might as well shop around and get a couple quotes just to make sure you’re getting the best rates and fees.

Not Getting A Good Faith Estimate

You always want a written Good Faith Estimate (GFE) when securing a home refinance loan. Within three working days after receipt of your completed loan application, your mortgage company is required to provide you with a written GFE of closing costs. However don’t make the mistake of shopping for your mortgage via a simple GFE.

In fact, if the GFE has a substantial portion of the fees marked zero may be a warning sign that not all fees are being disclosed up front. Be sure to ask if all the fees are accurately reflected on the document.

NOTE: if you are considering a “no cost” home refinance many of the fees may be blank. Be sure to ask.

Not Getting Your Rate Lock In Writing

Know the length of time the rate lock is in effect and check all particulars, such as APR, closing costs and any other fees that are listed. A loan officer can tell you verbally that the rate is a certain amount and the interest rate can change radically within the next few hours based on the economic rates that are always in flux. When a mortgage company tells you they will give you the home refinance loan for a certain amount, get a written statement to that effect, the length of time it’s guaranteed and any other particulars about the loan. This information is readily available by a Rate Lock Commitment. Request a copy for your records.

Signing Documents Without Reading Them

Never sign documents in a hurry. And don’t expect to read them at the time of signing. Sitting in front of the escrow company’s desk having form after form thrust at you for signing is intimidating and can make reading them thoroughly difficult.

As soon as possible, request a copy of the home refinance loan documents in order to review what you will be signing at the close of escrow. This way you can read them at your leisure and get any questions answered ahead of time.

Make sure you understand what you are signing! Don’t be afraid to ask questions because you are entering into a long-term relationship. Be sure to bring your Good Faith Estimate when you go to sign the final papers.



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AccessNational asked:


Many different mortgage products make for a diversity of home loan and home refinance options. For you as a consumer faced with making this important life decision, it helps to know what the basic options are so that you can evaluate which product suits your needs most closely.

Options In Home Loans

The available home loan products are basically the same as the options in refinance home loans. Whether for a first mortgage or third refinancing, the interest rates and terms that are offered stay the same. The factors that determine your offer are the same, too, including

• Loan to home value (in the case of refinance mortgage rates and terms, the equity available in your home)

• Credit score and history

• Debt to income ratios

• Income

Based on these factors, you will be offered different mortgage products with varying rates and terms. These are outlined following.

Fixed Rate Home Loans And Refinance Home Loans

Fixed rate home loans and refinance home loans have one interest rate that stays the same and never changes for the life of the loan; that is, until the loan is either repaid or refinanced into a different loan. Fixed rate mortgage rates and refinance mortgage rates are generally a little higher than the introductory rate on an adjustable rate loan, but are far more stable and predictable, and still reasonably based on current rates. Fixed rate loans are the most common and secure types of loans, and are usually recommended for people who plan to be in their home for some time.

The major difference in fixed rate refinance and home loans is the term; the loan will usually be either 15 or 30 years, although there are also some 10 and 20 year options and some newer 40 year fixed rate mortgage terms coming on the market.

Adjustable Rate Loans And Home Refinance Options

An adjustable rate loan is another of the home mortgage and home refinance options. This type of loan has a fixed rate for just a limited amount of time—normally one, three, or five years. After that fixed rate expires, the rate adjusts according to the schedule set forth in the original mortgage (for example, every six or twelve months). The new rate is determined by the current mortgage rate market; it could be higher or lower.

Adjustable rate refinance mortgage rates are less appealing because they are less stable. When corrections are made, the mortgage payment may increase significantly. The mortgage payment is only predictable during the fixed-rate term.

Although less secure than fixed rate mortgages, there are good reasons to use an adjustable rate mortgage, or ARM. ARM’s are cheaper during the adjustable period, and so can be more affordable if you do not plan to stay in your home for a long period of time. ARM’s also give you time to enjoy a low payment while you build your credit rating to qualify for a better fixed rate mortgage.

Evaluating Your Mortgage And Home Refinancing Value

The only real way to evaluate your mortgage and home refinancing value is to talk to reputable lenders, get quotes, and compare them against your budget and future plans. There is no right or wrong mortgage product, as all situations are different. Find a trustworthy lender and she will help you determine what the loan and home refinancing value really is for you given the options that are open to you.

Nationwide Home Loan Options

One thing you should know before you choose that lender is that you have a whole nation of products and options at your disposal. With modern technology, you can just as easily take advantage of the great rates a Colorado refinance loan offers as any other. If you do your research and find that that Colorado refinance loan is most beneficial, and that you feel most secure with that lender, then by all means that is the lender and product you should choose. Location is no indication of where the best mortgage and refinance mortgage rates will be.



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traveler#305 asked:


I have a loan that is paid on diligently every month. It is secured by a cd of the original loan amount. I would like to refinance this loan to the amount of the original security, take the cash, and keep my original monthly payment

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infinite357 asked:


Heres the situation. My mother is a homeowner and has poor credit and is not employed. The house is valued at $400,000+, the remaining balance to pay off is $260,00. She has been turned down a couple of times. So is it still possible for her to refinance or any other options? Thanks.
Me and my sister still live at home and pay her monthly to cover the house payment and all bills. We just want to get a lower monthly payment and pay some debts.

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Cindy Heller asked:


With more people living in a mobile home, refinance loans have grow to be more available. With the countless accessories available for mobile homes, they are no longer considered the car loans of the mortgage industry.

When mobile homes first hit the market, many lenders were unenthusiastic to offer financing as they were considered by most to fall into the same category of vehicles. For the majority they would depreciate in value quickly, unlike a traditional house that would appreciate in value over time. It was unlikely that a mobile home refinance loan would be available due to the rapid depreciation leaving little in the way of equity over a few short years.

Nevertheless, the quality of manufactured housing, coupled with the federal and state laws governing their construction and an owners continued maintenance and improvements have slowed the depreciation. Now owners have been able to locate non-traditional financing plus mobile home refinance options to pay for additional improvements, or further needs as well as vacation loans taken out against the equity built into the home.

Using Equity To Pay First Mortgage

In different cases a person may have bought their mobile home with an interest rate higher than presently being offered. They may have built up adequate equity that a mobile home refinance loan is able to be initiated to pay off their first mortgage, and bring down the monthly payment amount. Another mobile home refinance option may be to reduce the principal amount owed and continue with the same payment to help pay off the mortgage quicker than with the original loan.

In general, homeowners can make use of the equity in their home as collateral on a second mortgage. They still make payments regards to the existing home loan balance, while making further payments on the second mortgage. By means of a mobile home refinance loan, they may be able to disburse off the balance, at the same time as using left over funds for a vacation or for educational expenses while leaving them with only one payment per month.

The accessibility as well as the amount that may be available for a mobile home refinance loan will hinge on the circumstance of the mobile home and the property on which it is situated as well as the amount owed on the principal amount. Lots of lenders offering mobile home refinance loans, up to 80 percent of the equity can be on loan with a second mortgage agreement; however the borrower’s credit standing will have an impact on the interest rate presented.

Colorado And Florida Have Some Good Options

If you are keen in Colorado home loan refinance, you ought to know a little bit of the things that are required such as assessing whether to go in for refinancing or not, which is generally a good thing for those who have lived in a house for a period of seven years or more and who desire to lower monthly obligations that is a result of say a thirty year fixed rate loan. It is certainly possible to bring down your monthly payments by as much as twenty to thirty percent if you opt for Colorado home loan refinance.

What’s more, there are yet lenders that will allow for borrowers paying off just the initial loan interest rates and if you wish to work out the estimated savings per year that can be quite considerable which you can find out by simply reducing your monthly obligation by twenty percent which should show you a staggering seven hundred and twenty dollars monthly saving, and more than eight thousand four hundred dollars in the entire year.

Therefore, it is effortless to see how it can pay to avail of Colorado home loan refinance and it is also very useful for anyone that is also in need of making improvements to their homes. Above and beyond, Colorado home loan refinance there is another state where you can get a good deal and that is in Florida.

Florida home loan refinance will guarantee you that you get a good deal provided you look around for different lenders who will have many viable packages on offer that will help in refinancing a past loan by changing it into a steadier loan which would also facilitate in making lower payments each month and hence keep you free from worries should rates get hiked further. Moreover, be sure to look over the horizon and see beyond your initial rate and see whether there are any hidden charges that can stab you in the back, especially if you have not bothered reading the fine print.



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