Clueless Husband w questions

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone,   Here is my story I hope that someone will help point me in the right direction and offer some advice.  I am scared to talk to a lender before getting informed because I am stupid and am worried that I could make something worse.

My wife purchased our home in 2007 before we were married.  We have a $145k loan @7.5%.  probably owe around $125k We live in TN.  

Wife stopped earning income shortly after we were married maybe 2009 ish.  Her credit is probably sub par to good

I have this idea that I want to refinance to a 20yr and use my income = $55k/yr and good credit to have a lower interest rate and hopefully lower payment.  shoudl be a win right? 

Wife tried to do HARP and was told by Fannie Mae that she doesn't have income so she cant refinance. Period. not just ineligible for harp but no refi whatsoever.

Also, that I am not on loan so they can't use my information. 

Again very stupid with this stuff don't even know if this is true but wife has tried and tried. 

What can I do with my curent loan situation?   ...

Can I BUY my own home from my wife? and then sell it not long after if needed?   Do we have to sell our home to get out of this loan?

I don't really want to try to move but it seems dumb to keep paying my mortgage company that won't work with us.  

I  could maybe purchase another home of equal value on a 20 year and save a bunch of money or keep paying the same expense and have a much nicer place. .. 

Thanks so much for reading this.   I have been working hard for a long time and I this thing keeps looming and I lose sleep. 

[Anonymous]

wife has already corrected me/provided more info...

first mort balance is $123k  and zillow estimates value of home at $155,000  which I would say is right on to a tad conservative. 

Which puts us at around 80% LTV 

we have approx $10k we could pay down a new loan to get lower LTV if needed  

[cartwrna]

You can essentially buy the home from your wife, as long as their are no liens on it or they will need taken care of. It will need to appraise for the value you are trying to refinance it at as well. As long as your not in a community property state they can use just you for the refinance, and your wife can be added to the title. Not sure if they can add her to the title during the refinance or if you will need to add her afterwards, due to she currently has "interest" in the property. I would talk to a lender, they want to do the deal since they make money off of it so usually they are pretty straightforward and honest. Hope this helps

[monkeywre]

Go to talk to a few lenders. You and your wife dont need HARP because you're not underwater.

[StartingOver10]

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@Anonymous wrote:

wife has already corrected me/provided more info...

first mort balance is $123k  and zillow estimates value of home at $155,000  which I would say is right on to a tad conservative. 

Which puts us at around 80% LTV 

we have approx $10k we could pay down a new loan to get lower LTV if needed  

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Before you do contact a lender, contact a Realtor and get an accurate estimate of value.  I am a Realtor and I can tell you the Zestimates from Zillow are not accurate by any standard (at least here).

The reason they aren't accurate includes but is not limited to the following:

• A undetermined radius around your home is used and all sales, not just similar sales, are used to determine your value. In other words, I have seen villas and townhome sales used as "comparable sales" for single family homes
• Zestimates will use sales outside of the neighborhood and it is possible that the neighboring area is totally not consistant with the homes in your neighborhood (this is an extension of the first point)
• There is no differentiation with  bedrooms, baths, garage spaces etc

It may be that the Zestimate is accurate, or not. It is an automated valuation system and I find that if you live in a neighborhood where all the homes are the same, then the value can be more accurate, but even then there are differences that the model simply doesn't take into account.

A Realtor can at least give you the actual comparable sales in your neighborhood. This is generally a free service with no obligation. You will have a much better idea of value.  I have seen differences of over $100k between what the Zestimate is and what we actually got for the property. 

Or you can hire an appraiser yourself. 

This makes a difference if you are financing the property - even if you aren't selling it, it makes a difference in the LTV. 

[ezdriver]

I also do not recommend online property value estimes [Zillow is just one example] and, if serious about determining current market value, a Realtor's comp analysis/report or an appraiser's report are the best two paths to that end.