Low Rates Alone Not Seen Reviving Housing Market NPR
The turmoil in the financial markets has been pushing mortgage rates lower. Thirty-year fixed-rate mortgages have now fallen to about 4.3 percent, which is very close to the lowest level on record.
But many Americans can't qualify for those low rates, and analysts say these historic interest rates aren't likely to do much to help the housing market.
That is, unless the government intervenes.
Millions of Americans could be putting hundreds of dollars of more spending money in their pockets every month, if only they could refinance their home loans. But about half of U.S. homeowners can't.
"Yeah, well basically, we're not qualifying any new people," says Guy Cecala, publisher of Inside Mortgage Finance. "Ironically, the people who are looking to refi are the people who may have refied two years ago and qualified."
So maybe they can save a little more money refinancing again.
"We're certainly not picking up anybody who's been sitting on the fence for three years and suddenly waking up and saying, 'Woah, maybe I should go refi,'" Cecala says.
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is it possible to refinance a heloc without refinancing your first mortgage?
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?
yep....it's called a 2nd mortgage
Actually, trying to refinance your first and keep a Heloc is much more complicated. The Heloc lender would have to agree to subordinate their lien.
Are you thinking of refinancing from a Heloc to a fixed rate 2nd? Remember the Fed just cut short term rates, so Prime is already down .5% and more cuts are possible.
You can also try a major bank or credit union. Your rate should have gone down about .50 % with the recent rate cut, but there is no guarantee that rates won't go back up again.
Good Luck
Open Book Advisors
What's the best way to go about refinancing your home if you've refinance before two years ago. I am on a adju
I am on a adjustable rate mortgage and would like to go to a fixed mortgage with lower rate? I don't know who to go to for the refinancing, My Bank or credit union?
Actually, either one will work. What you need to do is pay attention to what you actually want - but also use the knowledge of your banking professional. SOOOO often I get people that just call and say "what is your rate?" and they assume that the lowest number wins. This is a very poor way to do it. You need to sit down and look at your goals and see how long you want to stay in your home.
Now, for an example of what rates and fees do for you -
If you stay at your home for 2 years, you don't need to pay as much attention to the rate as you would think. If you pay a point or two to get a great rate, you may never see the return on your investment. In reverse, if you stay at the home for 7 years and say "I want no costs", you will pay several thousand more in interest than you would have paid in points. Rate would be a good driving factor in this situation, as you will be paying interest for a longer period of time.
Now, after all that, realize that you should avoid brokers. Your average bank should be able to do the same loan for cheaper. If you don't see the term "bank" in their title - they are most likely a broker. They make their money by being the middle man. You pay them a few thousand bucks to find a bank for you. Why not just go to the bank directly?
So, if you need help with all this, let me know. I have worked for a bank for several years and don't mind being a guide (even if you don't want to become our bank's customer :) ).
Can we refinance after just refinancing?
My husband and I refinanced our home and our credit was pretty bad so countrywide said they would refinance us if we would have everything on our credit report payed off. well that was all well and good and we thought we were getting more cash out to pay other things. We thought our payment was going to be smaller thats what they lead us to believe so when everything was said and done our payments went up $400.00 and now we are trying to figure out how we are going to pay it. And pay our every day bills, food,gas,clothes for 3 children and all three of there b-days are coming up.
WHAT SHOULD WE DO TO GET OUT OF THIS MESS?
BcMessersmith-Burlington,WA
contact the bank/finance company and work it out with them. You normally can refinance before a year, but if you talk to them they may be able to fix it. Even if the difference has to go to a balloon note and then you refinance before it comes. Call your finance company now though.
can someone tell me how refinancing works? when you refinance, do you do it to lower your payments or?
to just take money out? if u already have a low fixed interest rate. is it possible, if u wanted to refinance to take money out you could, and ud end up taking alot of money out, BUT , instead you end up paying more montly payments that you were before? if i did try to refinance and it ended up making my monthly payments higher....doesnt that defeat the purpose of refinance? or is the money i take out worth it? i owned the house for almost a year, fixed low rate, paying interest only, but someone told me i could still reifnance to take money out before i plan to sell so that money i get back will be tax free since i plan on selling really fast.
what about when you also have a low fixed rate, but ur house appreciates 5% or higher? how does refinancing work with that? i heared about people refinancing and they end up paying a higher monthly payment and that confused me?
plus when u refinance there MORE closing cost...is it really worth it?
When you purchased your home, you got financing via a mortgage loan. If you choose to replace or change that financing you are refinancing your home.
Refis are basically broken down into two types: rate/term and cash-out.
A rate/term refinance involves getting new financing that just changes the rate and/or term of the loan. For example, if you had a 30-year fixed rate mortgage at 7%, and you got a new mortgage for 15-years at 6%, you would be changing both the rate (interest) and term (number of years remaining on the loan).
With a rate/term refinance, you either put more money into the house as you refinance, keep the balance exactly the same, or take out a limited amount of money. You would usually roll fees into this loan, but even with those fees, most people find their monthly payment lowers and the lower interest charged plus the fees means they pay less money in the long run. Because the risk is low on a rate/term refinance, most lenders offer a lower interest rate on this type of loan.
With a cash-out refinance, you are pocketing some money in the transaction by more leveraging your house. You are borrowing more money and using the equity in your home as collateral. Since your loan will be larger, your payment may go up. Your interest rate may or may not go up, but the lender will assess more risk to your loan, which means the rate will be higher than if you did not take cash out. Finally, your term may change. If you were already five years into a 30-year loan, and change to a new 30-year loan, then you've added five more years to repaying the loan. And here, too, you will probably roll in closing costs. These factors can all make your monthly payment go up or down.
Also, consider that you may drop PMI by refinancing, or, if you take too much money out, put yourself in a position where you will now need the insurance.
can you refinance again after refinancing a few months before?
my aunt has a house in pennsylvania and she refinance her house in july. the whole refinance situation was really weird. at the end she ended up paying around $1,100 dollars a month for mortgage but she had to pay $150 dollars every month for having a fixed rate. what is this fee? i know of other people that have refinance and they don't have this fee for having a fixed rate.
well around 3 weeks ago she got a letter saying that her mortgage was going to go up from $1,100 dollars to $1,800 dollars because they were going to add her taxes.
she says that what she is going to do now is refinance again so she could lower her payments. is this possible? i was under the impression that you could only refinance once in a certain period of time.
thanks for all the responses ahead of time.
Technically you could refinance every other week until you ran out of equity. In reality your payment probably won't go down unless a few things have happened. A few ideas of things that would affect the loans available to her.
1. She can document enough income to support the mortgage where before she wasn't able to.
2. A drastic increase in her credit score.
3. She's paid off a significant portion of the home (paid an extra 10% or more of the mortgage in addition to her payments)
4. Or if the deal she got last time was really that terrible and that much outside of what she qualified for.
I'd approach with caution, but odds are she won't get much better of a deal unless she chose a really bad mortgage last time.
Refinancing a condo I bought when I was unmarried, will a refinance give my husband rights to the equity?
I bought the condo in 2001 and got married in 2007. I am tempted to refinance but I do not want to lose the community property rights (California) I get from owning this property before I married. If I refinance now, with my married name, but leave the condo in my name, will my husband get half the equity if we split?
Any changes to finances after you get married entitles either of you to any of it. You shouldn't think like that though. Protect yourself but plan like it's long term. Good Luck!
Can a person refinance a home equity loan, as opposed to a refinancing a mortgage? ?
A couple of years ago, my spouse and I doubled the size of our home which we had owned "free and clear." To do so, we took out a 20 year home equity loan for $250,000 at a rate of 5.85%. Since we already owned the home and this was technically not a mortgage, there was no downpayment on this loan. With rates coming down, do we have any hope of refinancing our home equity loan? Or, is refinancing basically restricted to mortgages? Thanks.
because the loan was secured by real estate it is technically a mortgage. If you do refinance you will be looking at a either a new conventional mortgage or a new home equity loan.
We have a variable equity line of credit and would like to refinance it without refinancing our home.How?
Have you already "tapped" into your line of credit? If so, then you will have to check w/the lender to see what you can do. Maybe you could take out a 2nd line of credit, pay off the existing 1st LOC.
If you haven't, you might want to meet with your lender to see about getting terms that are more favorable to you.
Maybe one of the mortgage brokers who post here can give you a better answer. I think your best answer will come from your lender.
Good luck.
This is about home refinancing. My husband would like to refinance but my credit is poor.?
If he refinances with our son, who has better credit then I do, would that mess up my sons chances of getting home financing in the future? Also would that put my son on the deed and take me off?
Would it affect my sons ability to purchase a home even if we showed that we were making the payments?
Hi 123abc,
It could affect your sons ability to buy his own home in the future. Lenders want to know what his back end debt ratio will be. IE: Does he make enough to support two homes. A back end ratio greater than 55% may put him in jeopardy depending on his situation when he looks to buy his own home.
If your husband and your son wanted to proceed they would be legally responsible for paying the loan. You would be off title until you submitted what's called a quit claim deed, or warranty deed in some states.
You would then hold legal interest in the property, but you would not be held responsible to pay on the mortgage.
Your credit will still show, however if you are not going to be taken into consideration for qualification purposes, than there are programs that can minimize the effect of a derogatory spouses credit profile.
Good Luck,
~Trey
What exactly is involved in refinancing? How soon can I refinance?
I live in IL- I purchased my home in my Mom's name 6 mos. ago I have an 80/20 @ 8.5% and 12.75% (yeah, I know-but circumstance made this my only option) I want to refi ASAP as my mom's credit score should be better- all she really had was a debt that belonged to my brother that we had to pay off before closing ($6000.00) She owns her home outright and is going to semi-retire by July of 2007- she's 65.I'm thinking senior exemptions here. She does not mind if we refi in her name/credit if it gives me a better interest rate,the tax breaks, etc. I will be on title. Is this a wise move?
Being you are the one who did it you will be able to use this when you file. You may have to file something showing this is so. When you refinance you want to get a better interest rate as it will cost you more money in the long run if you don't. You want to check out closing cost charges and things of that nature. It all will make a difference how much you will have to pay. Also you can get a lower monthly payment or a higher montly payment and this will make a difference in how much you will pay in the long run.