Sierra W asked:


I was one of the many Americans who took out one of the risky interest only loans to purchase my second home two years ago. The plan was to refinance to a fixed before the two year term was up but life threw me a few curve balls financially and and finances got out of whack. Now my credit is really bad (score under 500), the term is up, mortgage is going up by $500, and the home has not appreciated in value. No mortgage lender will give me the time of day. This has taken a MAJOR toll on my family and my husband and I are near divorce given the financial situation. Is there any way out of this hole?

Christina

PoeticDevice asked:


I purchased my home last year at 5.75% and now I called my lender to refinance. They told me about an FHA loan and how they can offer me 4.5%. The monthly total will also now reflect any insurance or mortgage tax I have to pay. Is this right?

I use to pay around 1,750 a month, now I’ll be paying 2,082 a month. I was just hoping to lower the monthly payment but according to them, they must include the mortgage tax + insurance…yikes.

Sara

Leeway asked:


I want to sell my current home & purchase a condo. I am a retired senior with a fully paid-up home. The condo is in construction to be finished in a couple of months.

If I list my current home, it may not sell in time to simply pay for the condo. Therefore I have been to see lenders. They all recommend against a bridge loan due to unavailability and also due to high costs. They also recommend against a Home Equity loan. The one I think would be the best is this scenario but I am asking for your guidance on which one is the better way to do this for any and all reasons.

Re-finance my current home and take a $100k loan at less than 5%. This loan would have no prepayment penalty. I would make a $50k down payment on the condo Then sell my home and pay off the refinance loan on the home & owning the condo free & clear.

The other alternative, is to take a mortgage on the new condo & pay it off when the house sells but that mortgage cannot be done until it is completed. Again, there would be no prepayment penalty. Also the seller will not do a contingency.

If I would take the loan on my current home I would not have a problem making the mortgage payments because they would be low enough for me to afford to do this for a few months while the house is listed. But I’m not sure if it makes things more complicated to sell a home with a mortgage on it or not?

I would like to keep the home & rent to my son for property taxes only but it would be less rent than FMV & I think the IRS calls it my second home & the tax benefit is lost. What a shame not to be able to help out.

Thank you,

Nathaniel

veebeedee asked:


I got in on a bad loan with an adjustable rate. My husband lost his job and then we got behind on our mortgage. We have tried to refinance, but can’t because we’ve only been in this house a year and we have a prepayment penalty. We would need too much cash to close. We are now trying to work with our current lender to modify the loan, etc.

Just wondering, if we foreclosed, would they come after us?

Please no smart alec answers! Please don’t take joy in kicking someone when they’re down. I’d like to know from someone who’s actually been through a foreclosure. How was the process?
Elsa….thanks for your kind words! My husband did get another job after a month of looking and I do have a job. His company where he was supervisor moved to Ohio and we chose to not move. The only job he can get so far pays far less than the job he had when we qualified for the loan. We are not refusing to pay the mortgage. It is our first bill we pay each month. It is just hard to pay since we are behind because of the job loss. Also, we were given a bad loan to begin with, which I know is our fault. So, thanks again for the help and kind words. It’s obvious no ill fate has crept into your life……YET. I hope someone is as kind to you, as you’ve been to me! Have a great day!!

Carolyn

Healing Touch asked:


I am trying to engage in a cash-out refinance on my home to get some extra cash for home improvements. My credit score is excellent but my income to debt ratio is too large. I will certainly have enough finances to pay off the additional monthly fees but lenders do not think so. They will not approve my applications and there are no detectable no-doc or stated income loans out there anymore. Without this type of loan it seems impossible for me (in my situation) to get anywhere. Also, even though I owe only one third of the total property price, I have already pulled equity out of the mortgage. I’m stuck! Any ideas?

Laurie

CinTinOC asked:


My husband and I live in California and have a 5/5 ARM with a balance of about $480K. We are convinced this is our forever home, so are toying with the idea of refinancing into a FRM. I have been rate shopping for conforming FRMs and concurrent ELOCs. Does anyone know if it is possible to refinance into a conforming loan, with an ELOC for the remaining balance using two different lenders (assuming we can find a lender willing to subordinate the 2nd) If so, how could we go about doing this? With all the bailouts going on, I sure wish the govt. would increase conforming limits again, especially here in the OC where the median home price STILL exceeds conforming limits despite the severe downturn.

Alex

Doon asked:


I have a mortgage with BOFA. Due to circumstances beyond my control (job loss) I called about a loan modification. I do not qualify for the refinance as I am underwater on the mortgage. I was told I don’t qualify for a modification because my mortgage has ‘lender paid’ PMI. This caught me by surprise…Now I know that if you have PMI you can’t qualify for a modification, but I’d never heard of lender paid PMI. I researched my loan docs, and I see no reference to it. Is this a legit? Can someone lend me their wisdom? Thanks!!

Michelle

GERALYN S asked:


I will put this question out there and hope for a more definitive answer. I own a manufactured home on land that we put on a foundation and were told that if we did that it would equal a site built home and go up in value. We also had an ARM that we did get fixed, but it is still at 11.3%. We now cannot get any type of refinance simply because lenders won’t touch these types of homes. Also it has gone down in value dramatically. When we moved into it in 2003 it appraised at 93,000 and we had appraised again in 2007 and it went down to 85,000 and that was before the home prices hit rock bottom. So I guess my question would be would it be for us to try to sell it for what we owe on it, which is about 74,500, and get out from under it before we are completely underwater, or keep it and hope things get better? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Any other manufactured home owners out there have any input on this? Thanks!
I also forgot to add that the home is affixed to the land, making it a land/home package, so there is no way to separate the home and sell it outright even at a loss.

Rosa

dani asked:


I have a contract on a home and we’re supposed to close in one week. My boyfriend and I are both on the mortgage loan. I tried to get the mortgage broker to switch it to just be in my boyfriend’s name, without me involved. Well, he dragged his feet and today told me to do so would take another 21 days which would put us behind on closing and my bf is pressuring me to get over it so we don’t have to postpone. So, My question is, if I am on this joint mortgage loan with my bf, and something bad happens between us and I want out of the relationship, what can I do. I’ve heard I can have my name removed from the loan so that the lender can never come after me for funds in the future? is this true? Is it expensive/complicated? Or is the only option to refinance the mortgage just in his name? What is the process for this? Thanks for any help. I feel stuck between a rock and a hard place. Want to know my options should something go wrong with us… Thanks

Tony

Fran H asked:


I just want to find out basic info about getting a mortgage, refinancing, home loans, fannie Mae, etc? Is there a place like a mortgageguidance.info ? website or something? FHA? South Bay?

REINALDO