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We are located in California, and have a loan through Bank of American, 30 year fixed at 5.6% with 22 years left on the loan. Like most people, we would love to re-finance at closer to a 4% rate. We have excellent credit and have been paying down principal like crazy for the last year, but even with bringing money to the table we can't get the loan down to what houses are actually selling for in our neighborhood.
Has anyone successfully refinanced a non-freddie/fannie loan with negative equity, or even at 100% loan/value? Would we have better luck with a different bank, or are we really just SOL? Are credit unions a better bet?
We paid off our second, which was a HFA loan and had restrictions on renting, hopeing that we may be able to move up into a large place and rent this one out. But the numbers would work out a lot better if we could re-fi.
I've looked in the past, it's probably just wishful thinking to think anything has changed.
Additionally, we have not gotten an appraisal because we know we are still upside down right now and most banks won’t accept an outside appraisal, but how do they appraise your house when there aren’t any comps? I assume they use the other houses in the area that have sold, but in our case those are all completely thrashed, or much larger than our home… Could we get a ballpark figure by looking at the price per sq ft on a house in similar condition in the same neighborhood? Mostly I just want a “goal number” to know when to bother to call.
Consider the refinance the same as getting a new loan. You'll have to come up with cash to fall within the requirements of the bank which are typically 3.5-20% equity. If you can't do that, you can't refinance. As far as appraisal, they will look for comparable sales in your neighborhood. A good appraiser will notice the difference in condition and allow for that. He might look at he square footage and selling price of a larger home in the same condition and come up with a $/sq ft and apply it your home. If you do not like the appraisal, refuse it or request another one. You cannot order your own appraisal and ask for the bank to use yours. They must do their own if they want to have an appraisal. Bank of America may just use zillow.com on a refinance. A lot depends on whether or not the bank is interested in refinancing your home. If they are, they will probably look the other way on low numbers and give you what you want if its reasonable. If they are not, they will just not write the loan. Getting loans is not as easy as it used to be and the requirements seem to change quarterly if not monthly. As an example, in the middle of 2011 the bank/Freddie rules were more relaxed than they were later in the year. Its probably worth asking every once to see if the rules have become more flexible, and also to talk to different lenders to see if some are more interested in writing you a loan. But no matter what you do, you'll have to come up with enough cash to have some equity based on the appraisal.
We are located in California, and have a loan through Bank of American, 30 year fixed at 5.6% with 22 years left on the loan. Like most people, we would love to re-finance at closer to a 4% rate. We have excellent credit and have been paying down principal like crazy for the last year, but even with bringing money to the table we can't get the loan down to what houses are actually selling for in our neighborhood.
Has anyone successfully refinanced a non-freddie/fannie loan with negative equity, or even at 100% loan/value? Would we have better luck with a different bank, or are we really just SOL? Are credit unions a better bet?
We paid off our second, which was a HFA loan and had restrictions on renting, hopeing that we may be able to move up into a large place and rent this one out. But the numbers would work out a lot better if we could re-fi.
I've looked in the past, it's probably just wishful thinking to think anything has changed.
Additionally, we have not gotten an appraisal because we know we are still upside down right now and most banks won’t accept an outside appraisal, but how do they appraise your house when there aren’t any comps? I assume they use the other houses in the area that have sold, but in our case those are all completely thrashed, or much larger than our home… Could we get a ballpark figure by looking at the price per sq ft on a house in similar condition in the same neighborhood? Mostly I just want a “goal number” to know when to bother to call.
unfortunately I don't see the new refinance plan getting anywhere, I wouldn't be pinning any hopes on that plan. Even if they did approve it, it'd be probably a year before it's implemented. The OP may be better off with a short sale IMHO.
We are located in California, and have a loan through Bank of American, 30 year fixed at 5.6% with 22 years left on the loan. Like most people, we would love to re-finance at closer to a 4% rate. We have excellent credit and have been paying down principal like crazy for the last year, but even with bringing money to the table we can't get the loan down to what houses are actually selling for in our neighborhood.
Has anyone successfully refinanced a non-freddie/fannie loan with negative equity, or even at 100% loan/value? Would we have better luck with a different bank, or are we really just SOL? Are credit unions a better bet?
We paid off our second, which was a HFA loan and had restrictions on renting, hopeing that we may be able to move up into a large place and rent this one out. But the numbers would work out a lot better if we could re-fi.
I've looked in the past, it's probably just wishful thinking to think anything has changed.
Additionally, we have not gotten an appraisal because we know we are still upside down right now and most banks won’t accept an outside appraisal, but how do they appraise your house when there aren’t any comps? I assume they use the other houses in the area that have sold, but in our case those are all completely thrashed, or much larger than our home… Could we get a ballpark figure by looking at the price per sq ft on a house in similar condition in the same neighborhood? Mostly I just want a “goal number” to know when to bother to call.
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wow, you know what's funny? i JUST got the answer to your question, but for MY situation...which sounds almost identical to yours! (even with all the numbers you've mentioned!)
the answer, YES. the loan officer from bank of america just emailed me back and said since it's a fannie mae loan and you've been current, he can do it. he's agreed to bring us down from 5.785% to 4.5% but i just got greedy and now i'm calling a couple of other places to get a better rate if possible.
the answer is YES. contact them!
Damn it....i just re-read your post......you said 'non-freddie-Fannie'. i'm sorry.
:-(
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