Hey y'all,
I bought a house last year using an 80/15/5 loan. The fixed (80) is a 30 year at 6.5%, but the 15 is crazy at 8.775%, and it's adjustable.
I'm hoping this isn't one of 'those' questions that comes up every two days, but from the beginning of ownership, I've been plotting on doing a refi to get rid of the second mortgage. The housing market in NE North Carolina is slow right now, but I anticipate seeing a bit of a rise in the next year or so as this area continues to develop. What I'm asking is this: When does it make sense to refi? I like the stability of the 30 year fixed, but the 15% scares the crap out of me. Should I make an effort to pay the smaller, second mortgage down quickly? Or consider a refi?
I may sound weird here, but I am not looking to 'flip' my house. I bought it for about 195K, and it appraised a month later at $198K, but I'm not looking to pull out cash or anything, and don't want to go from making payments on $185K to making payments on $210K (or whatever the case may be). I'd simply prefer to get rid of the second mortgage!
I have the VA available (we didn't use it the first go-round, the DTE was too tight because my wife wasn't working yet), and I have a neighbor who just got a 5% 30 year fixed through them...anyone know anything about that? Anyway. Thanks in advance for any help, the first go-round made me dizzy, and refi's seem worse!