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I want to know what these terms mean because we are about to get a house and i keep seeing things about refinancing a mortgage. Also, whats home equity?

The equity of a home is the value minus the loan amount. If you buy a house for $100,000 and have a mortgage amount of $80,000, you have $20,000 in equity (or more, if you are getting a good deal on the house).

Refinancing does not apply to you at this stage-it is, in essence, re-selling the house to yourself at a more favorable rate, and / or cashing out some of your equity. For instance,
say you bought a $100,000 home three years ago. You put 20% down and your interest rate on the mortgage was 7% fixed. Now you find that prices in your area have gone up (lucky you!) and interest rates have come down. You refinance at a lower rate and lower your monthly payments, or you refinance at a lower rate and at a greater amount, and receive the amount of your equity in cash at closing Note that this is not a great idea, unless you are using the money to pay off unsecured debt or make improvements to the house. Good luck in your new home!

I currently have a 30 year fixed mortgage that I obtained one year ago at 6.00%. I was looking today's rate and a 15 year fixed mortgage is 4.875%. Do you know how easy or hard is to refinance through Bank of America? Average closing costs to refinance? Thank you

My personal experience with BOA was that they are difficult to deal with, tack on a lot of questionable fees that if not disputed, can cost you hundreds more and in general were arrogant. maybe in today's economic climate they may be more accommodating.

When I refinanced 3 years ago, I went to BOA (holder of my mortgage), Wachovia, Wells Fargo and WaMu. The best deal I got was 1% less than BOA nad 3/4% less than the others. Wells Fargo came in lowest at 5.25% APR, quickly and with few junk fees.

Check them out and compare. If you have good credit, good equity and in a viable economic commuinity you are in the driver's seat. Good Luck

24-months for F.H.A. as soon as the ink on your discharge papers dry for everybody else as long as you have the needed down payment and can handle the interest rate.

Our interest rate on Mortgage is 5.87%, but we have a variable rate currently at 7.5% on the Equity Line. Now that we have exhausted the Equity Line we are having trouble carrying both payments. Will the payment be lower if we combine the loans and refinance?

obviously if you could refinance into one fixed rate loan the 1st and 2nd that would be your best bet, is it possible is another question?

most important factor will be the equity in the property versus the note value of both the 1st and 2nd if you have at least 20% equity over the notes you should be OK with good credit

anything else without knowing the facts you may not be able to refinance the whole

The mortgage resets in another 2 months and the payment will go up about $500. Is their any plan to refinance this mortgage???

Not currently, and this is a part of the housing problem that hasn't been addressed by Bush's 'solution' yet. During the boom appraisers went CRAZY in an attempt to make all of the deals go through. So aside from people getting drawn into teaser rate ARM's, there are hundreds of thousands with fixed rates but homes that were appraised to a ficticious value. Now even though Bush has rolled out a plan to help those who picked up ARM's that are about to default, he has failed to take into account these inflated appraisals mean no mortgage company will refinance them with loan to value numbers like that. Add to that the fact that the fixed rate folks aren't currently being offered any sort of help yet and we have ourselves a real mess.
I am torn in my feelings on this matter. I can do nothing but bow down to Mr. Greenspan and his wildly successful efforts to avoid the economic storm that swept the rest of the world over the past 10 years, but I saw then what it was doing to the housing market and knew this day would come. I couldn't make any sense of the complete failure to see the issue and take measures, so finally decided that the housing market was deliveratley left to it's own devices being the commercial endeavor that it is. Just the scope made me wonder if that was such a good idea. In thinking on it over the last few months I lean toward agreement with Mr. Greenspan. Businesses and consumers came together with knowledge to offer and accept loans with clear terms.

I want to take advantage of the decline in intest rates by refinancing my mortgage. When I search online I find a lot of rates quoted for new loans but not much for refinancing. Is it safe to assume the refinancing rates will be similar to the new buyer's rates (with the same terms and credit rating of course)? Thanks.

I would go to a reputable, bricks and mortar (physical location) of a known bank to refi. Part of the mortgage debacle was using anyone and everyone (including the big banks, though) and it is critical to be sure you know who you are dealing with and what you are dealing with! Get a referral and go with someone with a good track record. Also, start with the bank you deal with. They want to keep your business and may not charge closing costs like another lender would. The credit score will determine the "good rate" that sounds low but still depends on credit score.

We are looking to combine our first and second mortgage on our home. current first approx. $80,000 current second approx $60,000 house value @ $165,000 would also like to have a little cusion in the bank. With less than perfect credit who is our best choice of lender

here's the thing…

You're looking for a 90% Loan versus a value at 165k, right there you are going to be in a higher interest rate range. Remember interest rate = RISK… The higher the risk to the lender, the higher the interest rate is going to be. 2nd you state that you have "Less than perfect credit", that is another hit to the interest rate.

In cases like this, I most often find it beneficial to actually HELP people understand thier best path. Now, you've been paying on the two mortgages for several months I'm sure, being as you have a 2nd mortgage that is comparable in size to the first, so what's the rush???

You should find a professional who has been in the business for several years and can help direct you in the most financially beneficial direction. Personally, I would work with you on your credit for a month or two and get your scores up. Have you had any lates to the mortgage? If so, when? What other late payments have been made and when? What is your primary source of income? how long have you been on your job? Do you plan to move within the next few years? how old are you? do you have a retirement plan set up? when do you want to retire? I already know you don't have significant savings and that is a concern to you, how can we work together to tackle that issue? What type of lifestyle do you lead/what's important to you? do you have children? what are thier ages? Finally, what is the market like in your area? Are values increasing/decreasing/holding steady???

All these questions are a major concern to you at this point. The only reason I go through all this is so you can see that there is more to it than the simple "What's the best bank for a refinance for a person in my position?". The question should be, "Who knows what they are talking about and isn't just some kid sitting behind a telephone looking to make a quick commission?" Trust me, I used to be that kid until I found out that I wasn't going to be in this job for long if I didn't start liking what I was doing.

Find a reputable mortgage broker, one who wants to assist you financially, not just help himself financially. Stay away from large mortgage companies at this point.

How do you know the broker is reputable? Well, he'll ask you all those questions I just aked. If you want to talk further email me, I won't even ask for your business

David

Thankfully, my mortgage is fixed rate. For those out there who are getting pounded by their balooning adjustable payments, do they have an option to refinance their property with a fixed rate mortgage?

Yes, you can.

However, the reason most of these borrowers opted for ARM's in the first place is because ARM's, at least initially, result in lower monthly payments than fixed rate loans. The borrowers couldn't qualify for the higher payment fixed rate loans, so they took out ARM's.

So, if they couldn't qualify for fixed-rate three years ago, then they aren't going to qualify now, unless they are now earning significantly more income.

I own a single family property in IL. I have a 1st mortgage that was 100% LTV that was used to purchase the home and a 2nd mortgage that is a 120% LTV that was used to consolidate debt. The value of the home is about $40,000 short of what I owe based on both loans. I want to refinance my 1st mortgage which is at a rate of 7.25%. Is this possible?

you would have to create equity by putting up the the differance plus probably a bit down as well, looks like that would be a bit of a hefty sum

Need a refinance of 20 northern Idaho acres that is:
1) in foreclosure, 2) is an animal sanctuary, 3) has older mobiles used for "kennels" and staff, 4) the animal sanctuary is a 501c3,
5) has gone through probate and is now in the name of the Pres/CEO, 6) no verifiable income except the CEO's SSI (donations vary).

We really need someone who is humanitarian-oriented, perhaps a philanthropist, who will believe in what we do: we specialize in helping handicapped animals; we are a right-to-life, right-to-love, right-to-respect 9 year old organization needing some help.

Does anyone know where we can turn for help?

Ed, VP/Sanctuary Director,
Cheryl, Pres/CEO

Cheryl,
Email me would like to help. Commercial is something I do and since its on the west coast I can get some good lenders for your situation.