Will the housing market hurt my chances for a refinance?
by Mortgage Rates on Tuesday, October 12th, 2010 | 3 Comments
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This is a tough question as most people that are losing their homes are the ones in your situation where they have no value in their homes and the rate adjusts upwards. If you are up-side down your best bet will be to call your current lender and ammend your current loan/note to be fixed for a longer duration.
If you do have value, you still may have a hard time finding a good loan. Stick to the standard 30 year fixed rate loans as they’re the easiest to get into as long as you have good credit. Shopping the banks against each other is wise on a limited scale as they’ll all offer you a similar product if you’re looking long term. Too much shopping will jeoprodize your deal (bird in the hand) but then again, too little will leave you thinking you have the best deal when something better is out there. If you qualify for a bank loan (WAMU, BofA, Citi, Chase, etc) you will most likely have the closest to the best deal in town . A broker, such as myself, and compare and shop different lenders for you, which will help too, as long as you trust your broker and his/her portfolio.
Good luck, start planning early, and talk to people to get a good referral on your side.
If you’re in California, call me. =)
You can still refinance as long as you have 2 years verifiable income, good credit, & equity in the home. You probably have a pre-payment penalty till your 2 years are up but I would start shopping about April. Banks are harder to get approved at & Countrywide is having some problems with the FBI. Look for a hud approved lender-
Scott, the current situation will definitely affect your refinance. You are probably dealing with a higher loan to value ratio today than when you bought two years ago. Meaning, your home is worth less today. And you are absolutely dealing with lenders that are tighter on underwriting standards than 2 years ago. The business success is good and the improved credit is great. You challenge will be the loan to value ratio. Fortunately, FHA is stepping in to do some refinances up to 97% LTV. This might help. As for shopping, you should call a few sources, one of which is current lender. Also call some local guys and a good mortgage broker. As one myself, I can tell you that one call to a well-connected mortgage broker is worth 15 or 20 individual calls. Let me know if I can give any more details, but this should help. Good luck!