Refinancing primary or secondary mortgage

Anonymous · ‎02-06-2012

I have a 30yr fixed FHA mortgage, $1579/mon payment on a $176,000 house with 5.875% APR. My wife had a condo before we got married, which we now rent, 30yr fixed $890/mon payment on a $124,000 condo with 6.25% APR. Both have scores in the 715-720 range. Value of her condo has gone down to $86,000. Want to see if anyone can help with info. Is there a way to refinance the condo when its not our primary residence? Should we refinance our primary and if so is there an option to roll closing costs into mortgage?

Lel · ‎02-06-2012

@Anonymous wrote:
I have a 30yr fixed FHA mortgage, $1579/mon payment on a $176,000 house with 5.875% APR. My wife had a condo before we got married, which we now rent, 30yr fixed $890/mon payment on a $124,000 condo with 6.25% APR. Both have scores in the 715-720 range. Value of her condo has gone down to $86,000. Want to see if anyone can help with info. Is there a way to refinance the condo when its not our primary residence? Should we refinance our primary and if so is there an option to roll closing costs into mortgage?

You can refinance any mortgage that you hold, regardless of whether it is your primary residence or an income/investment property (which is how you'd describe your wife's former condo). The limiting factor, however, may be the LTV ratio on the condo, now that it has lost a significant amount of value.

For your primary residence, no-closing-cost loans do exist. Speak with a loan officer about the options available to you.

Anonymous · ‎02-06-2012

We went through Coldwell Banker for mortgage and I don't know if I want to stay with them. Any suggestions on mortgage companies?

Lel · ‎02-06-2012

@Anonymous wrote:
We went through Coldwell Banker for mortgage and I don't know if I want to stay with them. Any suggestions on mortgage companies?

I'm hesitant to make any specific recommendation, since I only have experience with a few lenders, one of which is no longer in business. I've had loans with US Bank and Bank of America, but I'm sure there are many people who would find both of the those options to be distasteful.

This is what I would recommend: either find an independent loan officer - one who works with many different lenders - and have him or her review your situation and perhaps start shopping around for loans. That way, you're not limiting yourself to a single lender. Alternatively, you could visit a handful of banks and credit unions in your area and discuss loan options with them individually.