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Refinancing Realities

Yesterday, I was in the position of wanting to make the most of my day off and I decided to try and refinance the mortgage...or at least learn what the steps would be if I chose to do it.

So what caused me to think this would be a good time to refinance? I have been watching the financial shows very carefully and I thought that the rates had dropped into the mid fives and a rate that low would be a big savings. My experience showed however that the experience described on TV is not available for everyone.

I placed a quick call to my mortgage company and learned that there was a limit now for people refinancing. This limit for my bank is a limit of ten percent equity...which would be an easy goal if we did not have the housing bubble collapse. And in order to determine whether or not I met the criteria, I would have to front the cost of an appraisal...a risky venture.

The point of this post is simply to share my experience. Perhaps this will motivate people to check on refinancing for themselves. The savings each month can be significant if it works.

From a selfish perspective though, I just keep hoping that the next congress passes some kind of relief for people refinancing without such a high equity limit, but a good credit score.

Comments

Anonymous said…
We've refinanced twice and bought two homes. The process is too much to think of doing again. The mountain of paperwork is not something to look forward to. I hated the gathering of all the financials they asked for.
9:27 PM
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