I see I am months late to this thread but this info is exactly what I have been searching for endlessly for MONTHS!
Sorry for the long post but I am desperate. I have been trying to refi or get a Home Equity Loan/HELOC for a year. I have a lot of credit card/PL debt (past bad choices that I have learned from) that costs me $1500 a month. I could be saving close to $1200 if this was consolidated. I can make the min payments but balances do not decrease with the terrible APR and high fees.
In Nov 2017 I attempted a FHA cash out refi - I work for a lender but we dont do any Home Equity products. That FHA appraisal came in at $282,000 as there were limited sales. I owed $239,000 and needed $32,000 to pay all off so that didnt work.
In May 2018 I contacted my CU and tried for a Home Equity and they said they would limit me to 90%, that would be plenty so I paid for their appraisal. The appraisal was the worst I have ever seen using comps 14 months old when new ones were available (my dad was a local appraiser for 35 years in my area before retiring and he agreed it was bad). They came in at $272,000 - my area did not decrease in value. I sent better comps and he increased it to $282,000. Then I was told the loan anaylst was limiting me to 85% and they denied me.
I held off on everything as homes were put up for sale on my street (less then 1/2 mile from me) so I was waiting for them to sell to give better comps (365k, 375k, 360k). They all sold between June and Sept so I went back to my company in Oct 2018 and tried another FHA cash out. I know my home is not worth 360k as it is smaller than those homes but it is the same type, same area just a bit smaller. The appraiser for this one refused to use the comps on my street as they were 400 sq feet bigger. My home is 2008 sq feet they are 2400sq ft. The irritating part is the appraiser from 2017 used homes with 2450-2500 sq feet with no issues.
I have spent hours reseraching and talking with every lender I can find. My issue is my scores range from 623-653 and I need more than 85% IN CASE I get a crappy appraiser again. My local CU and most I have talked with say they can only do 85% LTV with my 623 score. I have paid for 3 appraisals now and although the comps support at least a $315k value it will all depend if I get a an appraiser like the one from 2017 who chooses the slightly larger comps which we know is not guaranteed.
As of this month, my TU is 644, EX 623 and EQ 653 but these vary based on who pulls them. I was hoping to find a HELOC who used only EQ as that looks the best and will allow 90-95% cash out....
I am sorry for the long rant but seeing this post gave me slight hope. I have not yet applied at Navy but I just opened an account yesterday. I was hoping you could give me more info on what you chose to do and any info on the 95% LTV you were offered.
If anyone else has any suggestions I would be greatful. (I have tried personal loans as well and cannot get approved and cannot find a co-signer).
Trying to figure out what best makes sense and will save me the most money. I want to at least consolidate my credit cards and get all those paid off. Which is about 20k. The 3k payment includes the 20k in CC payoffs. The FHA loan limit for my county is $294,505. So, I can't go with another FHA loan. First balance is 265k, second is 49k and the CC debt is 20k. So, my thought was if I move forward with it, get the CC's paid off, wait a couple of months for the scores to shoot up and the 2 mortgages shows paid off, then I could refi again with them and get a lower rate. Would that make sense to do?
