Ready to refinance- need guidance Please

[Ready2Refi]

New to the forum and new subscriber to My Fico,

I want to refinance my current mortage which is at 5.375%, with monthly payment of 1,400 with 20 yrs to go on the current morgage. My goal is to get the best rate possible, and if get rid of a portion of my CC debt that is choking me financialy, has well as hurting my CS. I wnat to at least pay-off the portion of my CC debt with high interest rates, Can someone comment on the best course of action for someone in my situation? I want to take advantage of the low interest rates, I just need some guidance from those of you who may have gone thru the same situation. I am providing the relevant information below,

FiCO EQ Score: 667

EXPERIAN :      706

Credit Karma:    669

Mortgage: $209,000

Salary: $82K 

Total Debt: about 23K broken down as follow:

      Credit Cards (3): $7,500 (at 13.5%) monthly payment $450

      HELOC:              $9,000 (at 3.22%) monthly payment $150

      CC (AMEX):        $6,000 at (0%)      monthly payment $80

No other debt, car loans, etc.

I think I have hit the ceiling raising my credit score due to the high balance to available credit I have (64% on my Fico CR). other than 2-30 day late payments from last year, and 3- 30 day payments older than 6 years, I have no derogatory information, public records, etc. In addition, on the income side, I was on unemployment benefits till May of 2011, when I started working as a consultant, and then as a full time employee at my current job, where I have been since Nov-2011.

Here are my questions,

Is a straigh refinance better than taking money out?

Will my lack of 2 full years of employment be a problem? (it will be 2 year this August)

What type of loan is available to me that would provide the best conditions?

what do you think would be the best rate I could get?

Is a 7 or 5 yr ARM loan an option? 

I appreciate all those that can help me by commenting on this post, thanks!

[wenbev]

When did you buy? If less than 3yrs, you may be able to qualify for a streamline refi.  I purchased May 2010 and closed on the streamline refi this Feb. Only thing WF required was a income verfication, no credit pulls. I was at 5.25 and went down to 3.65. Maybe talk to your bank/loan officer to see what you qualify for first...

[Ready2Refi]

Thanks for you reply wenbev,

I originally purchase in 2002, and had a 7/1 ARM that was due to change to adjustable.... that was 2 yrs ago. I took the deal they offered then (refinance to a 22 yr loan with fixed rate at 5.375% rater than go thru a regular refinance because at the time I was self employed and  income was not steady... Now my CU says I should qualify for a regular refi. my question though is what is best case scenario for me.....if wait to raise my score and have 2 full years of employment, or refi now, at whatever rate I qualify and stop paying the high interest rates on my CC's.

Thanks,

[JM-AM]

Not sure why you were unemployed? Contract expire? You being self employed business went bad and you closed? Anyway..

If same field of work and now salaried after being unemployed you have a fair chance of being approved.

As far as paying off some of the debt you would need a cash out refi and that just depends if you have any equity in the home after appraisal.

Depending on appraisal will also depend on if you could refi.

You also have to understand that HELOC will most likely have to be paid if you refinanced, so thats another 9K in value you need, but YMMV on whether it will or wont have to be paid.

Depending on type of loan you get will depend on the rate. Also depends on if you are trying to refi into a 15, 20, or 30 year loan.

[Ready2Refi]

I lost my job due to the economic crisis, at the end of 2008. I have work in the same career all my professional life (since '88), for two years I scraped by reelancing and with unemployment, tll I got hired in nov 08 at my current job still in the same industry.

House is worth about 345k low baling it, so LTV Is not an issue, even vith 10 or 20K cash out. Not sure that I want cash out to pay the HELOC since the interest I pay now is low (3.22%. Unless someone knows of another reason to pay. It off.

As far as the type of loan, I want to do 15 yr fix, .....