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Hi! New here. I have 609 FICO and MUST refinance by August 1st.

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Anonymous
Not applicable

Hi! New here. I have 609 FICO and MUST refinance by August 1st.

Well, I am not sure if I MUST.  But I also don't know what will happen if I don't.  (And I don't know how to find out.)

 

My mortgage (currently owned by HSBC) has a balloon with no provisions for payments after the due date of August 1, 2009. 

 

I have wanted to do this refinance before,  but it seems every time I start, it isn't long before I feel defeated.  (Small wonder, since I recieve disability benefits for a mental illness.)

 

I have been paying on-time recently (23 months), and even paying  larger than scheduled payments.  I have also been cutting way back on other expenses (including food, heat, home maintainance and repairs. ) But I will not be able to pay the loan in full by the due date.  The outstanding balance right now is less than $25K.  If I could take every cent I have, and every cent of my SSD until the due date,  I will still be short $8K.

 

I am guessing the home is worth $180K.  The original mortgage was for $40K (on about $60K.)

 

I don't owe much of anything else.  But it is a lot of little stuff.   And I have done some dumb stuff.

 

6 accounts with a missed payment, or derogatory description.   Only two show a balance, my mortgage ( less than $25K , and another account for $116.)

 

5 Collections, 3 unpaid of $110, $27, and $75. totally $212.

 

My most recent late pay was 1 year 11 months ago (30 days, on my mortgage.)

 

I allowed my current lender to pull my score on January 7,2008.   And 8 inquiries are shown.

 

I think I have a lot of other little collections, that don't seem to be reported.

 

It has never seemed worthwhile to refinance, due to the small loan balance, the closing costs seemed large in proportion to the mortgage.  But now the balloon will need to be dealt with, in some way, or I will lose my house.

 

I have never really shopped for a loan though (only responded to telephone calls from lenders.)

 

So, does anyone have any itnsight in how to minimize the cost of my refinance?

 

Thanks,

AHB

 

PS.  I usually feel like a schmuck about my lack of control over my finances.  But yesterday I did feel great when I realized that I have kept the equity in my home.  And though I feel undiciplined in my spending, I have made sacrifices, such as no longer owning a car.  I remember when I bought this house, the real estate agent thought I was crazy to be buying a house when I didn't own a car.  (I had equity from a condo in my previous hometown.)

Message 1 of 29
28 REPLIES 28
DallasLoanGuy
Super Contributor

Re: Hi! New here. I have 609 FICO and MUST refinance by August 1st.

Check with Wells Fargo or Bank of America.

They will do smaller balances like that.

 

With that equity, maybe even a credit union.... even though they usually are looking for better scores.

 

Retired Lender
Message 2 of 29
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Hi! New here. I have 609 FICO and MUST refinance by August 1st.

I suggest you try a  mortgage broker rather than a mortgage officer at a bank.  Brokers tend to be more creative in making things happen.  In the meantime, get the small unpaid collections and accounts paid and KEEP THE RECEIPTS so you can show that you paid the accounts.  There is a fair shot that HSBC will agree to refinance the balloon loan to keep from having to foreclose on the house if you can't refinance elsewhere.  Have you talked to them about it?
Message 3 of 29
DallasLoanGuy
Super Contributor

Re: Hi! New here. I have 609 FICO and MUST refinance by August 1st.


@Anonymous wrote:
I suggest you try a  mortgage broker rather than a mortgage officer at a bank.  Brokers tend to be more creative in making things happen.  In the meantime, get the small unpaid collections and accounts paid and KEEP THE RECEIPTS so you can show that you paid the accounts.  There is a fair shot that HSBC will agree to refinance the balloon loan to keep from having to foreclose on the house if you can't refinance elsewhere.  Have you talked to them about it?
you know any brokers who can do $25K loans?
I suggested a bank for a reason.
 

 

Retired Lender
Message 4 of 29
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Hi! New here. I have 609 FICO and MUST refinance by August 1st.

My broker does... I just called and asked her. 

 

Guess banks aren't the only option, contrary to what you believe.

Message 5 of 29
Donna1966
Regular Contributor

Re: Hi! New here. I have 609 FICO and MUST refinance by August 1st.


@Anonymous wrote:
I suggest you try a  mortgage broker rather than a mortgage officer at a bank.  Brokers tend to be more creative in making things happen.  In the meantime, get the small unpaid collections and accounts paid and KEEP THE RECEIPTS so you can show that you paid the accounts.  There is a fair shot that HSBC will agree to refinance the balloon loan to keep from having to foreclose on the house if you can't refinance elsewhere.  Have you talked to them about it?

 

I wouldn't necessarily pay the collections, I would DV/dispute and then do a PFD.  You could end up with them disappearing from your credit report and boosting your score.  Just MHO.
Message 6 of 29
DallasLoanGuy
Super Contributor

Re: Hi! New here. I have 609 FICO and MUST refinance by August 1st.


@Anonymous wrote:

My broker does... I just called and asked her. 

 

Guess banks aren't the only option, contrary to what you believe.


she must do stand alone seconds. i didnt think of that because they are a rare breed of loan.
and isnt very busy. so she should definately hook up with the op.
heavybaloon. let us know what you get 
 

 

Message Edited by DallasLoanGuy on 01-17-2009 09:31 AM
Retired Lender
Message 7 of 29
WannaHouse
Valued Contributor

Re: Hi! New here. I have 609 FICO and MUST refinance by August 1st.

 Welcome to the forums!

 

I do not recommend paying the collections off right now. It MAY actually make your scores drop. Find your lender first, and have them tell you EXACTLY what you can do to qualify for the Refi. They can also point out things on your CR that MAY help jump your score up a bit.

 

From this point forward, do not miss or be late on your payments, especially your mortgage.

The suggestion of sending "Pay for Delete" letters may help increase scores as well.

 

Good luck Smiley Happy


Kathy


We are finally homeowners!!

Closed May 5th-30 yr fixed at 5.25%.

Message 8 of 29
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Hi! New here. I have 609 FICO and MUST refinance by August 1st.


@Anonymous wrote:

My broker does... I just called and asked her. 

 

Guess banks aren't the only option, contrary to what you believe.




With all due respect to you and your broker, while I'm sure she told you that -- and probably means it -- she's probably not as much of an authority as Dallas is. In fact, I'd probably go so far as to say that, from what *I've* personally read online about such small mortgage amounts, that she's either hoping REALLY hard to be helpful or she pretty much just *thinks* she can do it. There's a BIG difference there.

But *MOST* of all, it's because when it comes right down to it, I think the best advice for others reading this will be that which flows from the "fingers" of someone who's advised and helped *thousands* of people obtain mortgage loans rather than hearsay advice. I've been here for a LONG time and I've never seen Dallas give advice that really wasn't, TBH, perfect.

Just my two cents.

And yep, I'm just *one* of those people that he's helped so selflessly and so kindly. Smiley Happy
Message 9 of 29
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Hi! New here. I have 609 FICO and MUST refinance by August 1st.

Yikes!  I lost my long post, so let me do some shorter ones.

 

I did visit Bank of America.   (Because I have 5K in my checking account there, I thought they might play nice.)  Their Home Equity loan of $25,000, no closing costs,  9.99% fixed sound like just exactly what I want. 

 

But then she balked, and said no, you need a first.  She ran some numbers for a first, ( I haven't run amorttization schedules for myself. )  She was happy to show me how much I would save by paying $150 a month for 30 years, versus the higher payments on the Home equity loan. (Silly me!  I thought the way to save money on interest was to not pay a loan for 30 years!)  And frankly, if I was in a situation where I couldn't make a $300 monthy payment, I doubt thay I could make a $150 payment.  So I will need to run those amortiization schedules, to see what makes sense.

 

But she may balk again.  I thought everything was going smoothly, but then she said, no we can't pay off a first with a second!  Because then there is no first!  I said fine, give the check to me, and I'll pay HSBC.  And she said no they wouldn't want to give the money to me. 

 

Exasperated, I said something like:

 

Okay, I am going to walk out that door, and we will forget all about this conversation.  I will come right back in and ask you for $25K for a world cruise.   Then if I change my mind about the cruise, would you stop me from paying the first mortgage? 

 

She settled down, but then again, maybe she thinks that the logic behind lowering my payment from $200 to $150 will sink into my thick skull.    (Oops, I had forgotten about that balloon!  No they will not give me cash out, with that looming.)

 

Why is it a problem for me to ask them to try to approve a second mortgage, and give them the benefit of being the only mortgage? 

 

I was all set to apply, but I thought I had better check that it not affect me, if I should chose to wait a little before doing more shopping.   (Elsewhere I have posted that the simulator persicts my score going up from 609 to 649-689 in one month of paying on time.)

 

Message 10 of 29
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