I'd like to re-finance, but don't know where to begin

[Anonymous]

If you've recently refinanced (in DC), can you give me a basic outline of the process, and make a recommendation? I'm hearing lots of stories about requests for more and more information, rates expiring, agents not returning calls or losing paperwork. I'd love to avoid that, obviously.

One concern I have is that there are no comps in my neighborhood. No SFH in my immediate area has sold since 2011. The only sales have been rowhouses that were expanded and cut up into condos. What will an appraiser do without any true comps? And does the bank/ broker I choose make a difference in this case?

Thank you!

[Anonymous]

What is your current mortgage rate and how long do you plan to stay in your house? First figure out whether it's worth it to refinance-the rates have gone up quickly in the last couple of weeks.

[Anonymous]

6.25 on the big one, 8.25 on the smaller one. (400k and 80k respectively).

[Anonymous]

Good lord. Do you have 20% equity? And to answer one of your questions, a local bank or mortgage broker will likely have local appraisers who will deal better with the lack of comps.

We refinanced twice last year, from first at 5 5/8 and second at 6.5, now we are at 3.5 for all of it. We used Brad Katzen with Prosperity Mortgage in Bethesda and Deb Levy at Eagle Bank downtown. Great experiences both times, although the first refi appraisal was a little lower than we wanted.

[Anonymous]

You can start by calling up whoever is holding your current mortgage. Call the 1-800 number, or look for a contact name/number on your mortgage statement or coupon book. Say you would like to refinance and ask what the current rate will be. They may be able to tell you right then but chances are they will ask you a few questions and then call you back in a couple of hours. You can also try calling the bank that you already have a savings account with as well. We called 3 different banks to see what rate we got. When the bank with our current mortgage (and most convenient refi) had a higher rate than another bank, we asked them to match and they did.

If you refi with your current lender that makes things a bit easier since they will already have all of your paperwork and you may even be eligible for a streamlined refi with less paperwork.

After they give you a proposed rate they will ask you to send them some paperwork to give you a 60 day lock on the rate. Paperwork would include latest pay stub and stuff like that. We did everything by email. After we got the rate locked in we got a huge packet of documents to sign. We just did it at home and made copies and emailed it back. The bank person sent an appraiser to visit the house and take pictures. A few weeks later we got an email saying appraisal went fine. We are scheduled to close this week. Whole process was very painless and took just under 2 months.

I recommend you call NOW and try to get a rate lock ASAP as rates have been going up in the last month. Our rate is going down 2 points (from 5.5 to 3.5) and we will be saving $500 a month on our mortgage payment. We will recoup the $2000 or so refinance costs in a few months.

[Anonymous]

Dang those are some high rates. Get on it!

There were no true comps nearby for my house either. Appraiser went further out to find some.