If I'm not mistaken, we have a local (TX) mortgage broker on here.

I want to refinance my home loan, but every company has a good/terrible story attached. I have no idea who to trust, and my credit union rates are not the most competitive.

Member mortgage brokers aside, if anyone has any recommendations of who to use or not use, I'd appreciate the advise.

Sent you a PM with contact info.

@carsandguns has helped several people here.

Thank you @cremora

@crabdizzy I am happy to answer any questions you might have.  Been in the business a little over 20yrs.  

Right now rates are as good or better than they have been in the last year.  

I tried to do a cash out refi a couple months ago.  It was all approved up until the appraisal.  The house needs a little work (maybe $20-$50k worth), and even though I don't owe a lot on it (about $60k), and supposedly it has gone way up in value (zillow says close to $400k), they backed out on me.  I was only looking to get what I need to do repairs and remodeling (which should increase value) and pay off a few other bills (which should improve my credit score), but no-go.

I guess I just keep paying on the current mortgage (paid off in a few years) and find a way to do the minimum needed repairs, postpone the remodeling and pay off what I can and just forget the refi.

Sucks.  I guess the market isn't as good as what people say it is or something.

Did you try to go with just the house repairs?  Those kinds of re-fies should be easy to obtain.  Though those kinds of loans usually require the money to go directly to a contractor who's doing the repairs.

Have you checked into a HLOC?   We currently don't write them but many of the local independent banks or credit unions do.  

The very basic and short answer is your loan amount is the main problem.   Texas has very restrictive regulations that make cash out mortgages more complicated, more expensive and harder to get.  HLOC's don't have the same restrictions and usually can be had for minimal to no fees.  

I can discuss in more detail over the phone if you would like.   Send me a PM

Chris

The numbers should work if we could get the appraiser to give us a number.  But he won't because of the work that needs to be done.  We can't do the work without the $$$.  Chicken and egg situation.  The interest rates we were quoted on HLOC and the amount they would give made them far less attractive than a cash out refi.  Basically almost not worth doing.

For now the option seems to be to just wait it out.  How long do I need to wait for the ding on my credit due to the hard inquiry to go away?  I've been told I probably can't or shouldn't apply for anything else before then.

You could take out the HELOC, do the repairs, then refi both loans into a first lien and have both balances at one low rate (assuming the combined total/CLTV doesn't exceed 80% of your appraised value).  It's been 10 years since I've been on the originations side of the business, so my info may be dated on the 80% limit.

@carsandguns

Sent you a PM

The problem is I can't get an appraisal.  The appraiser refused to give a value.

Zillow says my house, if it were in tip-top shape would be worth around $395k.  I owe a little less than $60k.  My guess is that the (20 year old) house needs about $50-60k in repairs and remodeling to be in tip-top shape.  So if I take $395k - say $75k for repairs to be on the conservative side I'd guess a current value around $320k.  So that would mean I've got at least $200-250k in equity on paper.  Maybe my math sucks, but I've looked at online LTV calculations and with the amount I'd like out to pay off bills, I'm only at like 50-60%, which is way below the 80% limit.

The thing that really sucks is that if I could get the damned loan, I'd get the work done on the house and then it might actually be worth probably at least close to what the zillow number is.  And the rest of the cash out would be used to wipe out all my other debt so theoretically my credit score would go up.  But apparently they've decided my house has no value at all.

I'm just not sure why, but I think I'm getting screwed.  I'm not sure I could even get the HELOC at this point given the way this whole thing has gone.  I don't feel like the mortgage companies want to work with an average middle classed white guy, it almost seems like they just want to force us to sell and be renters forever.

The refi would be for 10 years, which would add about 4-1/2 on to what my current mortgage is.  As I said, at this point it seems like the safe option is just to do nothing but the minimum necessary repairs (mainly a new roof) and then in a few years when the house is paid off just do the remodeling without borrowing for it.  The new rate after the refi really isn't much lower than what I'm paying now, and it would add time to the loan.  The only really meaningful savings would be other interest paid off by the cash out.  The HELOC basically doesn't help me there because it doesn't sound like I could get enough that way to make a difference, basically only the amount I needed for home improvements.  Maybe I'm wrong on that, but what I was getting quoted wasn't that attractive.

I think you are complicating it by trying to pull money out to ' pay bills '.  

Try it without that factor and It'll get approved.  Thats a huge risk to a lender.

Not worth doing it then.  Being able to eliminate all my other debt is what would save me any money.  The loan amount would still be well under the normal 80% guideline, so there isn't much risk given the house is at least supposedly worth a lot.  Might as well just stick to the current mortgage and defer the remodeling.  Being able to refinance other debt is actually one of the things that they advertise for cash out refis.

Lots of companies will do a "drive by" appraisal, or even a virtual appraisal (AVM or BPO).  You might try calling around and ask a few different banks/lenders what their appraisal requirements are for HELOCs.  I took out a HELOC with Comerica about 4 years ago and they never even walked into my house (which is 22 years old now, back then it was 18).

During the application conversation with the lender, if you volunteer that the house needs a lot of work it is a red flag and will almost guarantee they will require a full appraisal (where the appraiser goes inside and outside the house) to assess the condition of the house.  If someone walking down your street can visibly tell that your house is in poor shape and needs lots of work, then you're pretty much out of luck on getting a home loan, unless you find someone willing to do a renovation loan (and I don't have any experience whatsoever with those).

@carsandguns will help you.  He did my refi and had my back through the entire process.  I highly recommend him!

@softwarejanitor  Are you a Vet with disabilities?
cheap home improvment loan

I did a traditional refi with no cash out in 2012, and they did a "drive by" appraisal then.  I was told this time that Texas law does not permit that for cash out refis.  Might be BS from the lender of course.  The house looks fine from the outside.  I've already had the most serious problem fixed on the outside and I can DIY pretty much all the interior problems that need to be fixed.  It needs a new roof, but I can figure out a way to pay for that myself.  The rest of the cosmetic remodeling stuff I would like to do will just have to wait.

Basically it sounds like I'm F'd on getting any kind of loan, and I should just forget everything and just do the minimum now and pay off the existing loan in less than 7 years.  HELOC just doesn't seem to be worth bothering with.

That's fine I guess.  F them all, they'll get nothing.

Nope.