| "Can I still refinance my mortgage?" is one of the most | | | | are still refinances to be had. |
| common questions asked by homeowners in the | | | | What can you do to be sure you are in the best |
| wake of the credit crisis that began in 2007. It began | | | | position to refinance your mortgage in the face of |
| with defaults on home mortgages and soon inflicted all | | | | stiffening lender requirements? After all, the days of |
| manner of carnage on the world's financial markets. | | | | lenders taking a page from the military, and adopting a |
| The number of delinquent mortgages held by | | | | "don't' ask / don't tell policy" regarding income, credit |
| beleaguered Freddie Mac jumped 241%, from .46% to | | | | rating and employment history are gone for good. Only |
| 1.1% from August 2007 to August 2008. | | | | the prudent lenders have survived, and the financial |
| Bank failures, consolidations, and mergers hit record | | | | sector's pruning isn't over as of this writing. |
| highs, as even huge banks such as Washington Mutual | | | | I your credit is golden, for example your FICO score is |
| and Wachovia fell or were taken over by the feds to | | | | over 780, you have 25% equity in your home, and it's |
| avoid collapse. Many of these had invested heavily in | | | | not in an area that is experiencing rapidly declining |
| sub prime or other risky mortgage products and paid a | | | | home values, you can proceed almost as before. You |
| dear price. Other banks faced serious problems as the | | | | should have little trouble getting a refinance. If you have |
| value of their collateral, the very homes for which the | | | | a slightly lower credit score, say between 750 and |
| mortgages were written, faced a write down as the | | | | 779, you still stand a good chance of getting a |
| value of residential real estate slumped. | | | | refinance at an attractive rate. |
| With all this turmoil can you still refinance your home | | | | It's when you start falling below the excellent credit |
| mortgage if you need to get out of an adjustable rate | | | | scores, and have less home equity to protect the |
| mortgage or take advantage of low interest rates? | | | | lender's position that things become a bit tricky. Then |
| Thankfully, the answer is "yes", although your options in | | | | you must do your homework and have a plan to get |
| this regard are certainly more limited than they were in | | | | your home refinanced at an attractive interest rate. |
| 2006 or early 2007. Although we're not deluged by | | | | Don't despair, though, you can still get a refinance in |
| mortgage ads on the radio singing the praises of ill | | | | many cases. |
| advised, yet very creative mortgage products, there | | | | |