We get that question a lot! While sometimes it’s hard to understand why a certain reader was denied a refinance based on just the information they left in a blog comment or an email, other times, the reason is rather black and white.

While I may be able to discern why a given homeowner doesn’t qualify for a refinance, the answers borrowers receive from their servicers are often vague and incomplete. But just knowing whether or not you have mortgage insurance alone could unlock the key to why you have been denied.

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Adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) were blamed by some financial commentators for the rise in foreclosures, so many homeowners are wary of them. Indeed, only 5 percent of mortgage applications at the end of 2010 were for ARMs. While it’s true that ARMs are a bit more complicated than fixed-rate loans, in an environment of rising mortgage rates, ARMs are especially worth a second look if you’re refinancing.

ARMs offer low initial mortgage rates

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Mortgage rates increased last week to “better than five-month highs,” with certain expressions cracking the five percent mark for the first time in what feels like ages.

The latest issue of HSH.com’s “Market Trends Newsletter” explains the reasons behind this recent upswing in mortgage rates: Read the rest of this entry »

When mortgage rates dropped below 5.5 percent, just about everyone who could refinance hopped on the bandwagon. But rates continued to drop, shattering record after record, and homeowners who refinanced just months ago are considering doing it again.

Is serial refinancing just silly?

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First Washington gave taxpayer dollars to banks, then Wall Street. Since then, Washington has pumped billions of dollars into Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, automakers and delinquent homeowners of all sorts. Billions more have been spent on stimulus. Our government has helped those who have been at the edge of bankruptcy, insolvency and foreclosure.

But where is the help for a homeowner who has done all the right things? Washington hasn’t directed any financial assistance at the homeowner who is current on all their payments, who wants to remain in their home over the long term yet can’t refinance because the value of their home has fallen significantly. Low mortgage rates are great, but if you can’t access them, they’re useless.

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It seems that now more than ever, the mortgage and housing markets are made up of the haves and have nots. While the opportunities to recast and pay down debt are plentiful for one audience (the haves), the options for the other audience (the have nots) are few and far between.

According to new data released from CoreLogic, the number of borrowers who are refinancing to shorter-term mortgages is increasing: Read the rest of this entry »

Record-low mortgage rates have been about the only stable slice of the economy we’ve seen for some time now. While stringent credit conditions have prevented many homebuyers from cashing in on cheap financing, the sheer persistence of these low rates has given refinance borrowers ample time to take advantage of them.

Every drop in rates opens up at least some refinance opportunity to a new group of borrowers to either get a lower rate, a different term or loan product, and ultimately, a lower monthly payment or a quicker payoff: Read the rest of this entry »

Any time there’s a wave of refinance or purchase activity — which usually occurs when mortgage rates are low — we warn borrowers of the “Dangers in playing the mortgage rate waiting game.” Low rates don’t trigger automatic activity for everyone. While some borrowers jump at the opportunity to lock in at a low rate, others like to wait and see just how low rates will far before they make a move. Like any gamble, there’s risk in doing so.

For weeks now, we’ve seen mortgage rates fall to all-time low after all-time low. Some of my recent headlines have shown just how uneventful, and frankly unproductive, this era of historically-low mortgage rates has been: “What good are (even) lower mortgage rates,” “Low mortgage rates, slow growth: same old story,” “It takes more than just low mortgage rates.”

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We’ve been receiving a lot of comments from readers who say that their lenders aren’t honoring the home affordable refinance program’s (HARP’s) expanded loan to value (LTV) ratio of 125%. (Another way to express “125% LTV” would be “borrowers who are 25% underwater.”) Based on some numbers that we found, there seems to be some real validity to their complaints.

While rooting around the web for some HARP numbers, we discovered a report from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) that clearly shows what readers have been so frustrated about. It appears as though the borrowers who are the most underwater — the audience HARP was designed to help — have gotten the fewest amount of refinances.

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Mortgage rates eased some more last week, and according to the latest issue of HSH’s Market Trends Newsletter, “there doesn’t seem to be an economic report [out this week] which might cause a measurable firming for rates.” At the moment, any pessimistic economic outlook should work to the advantage of potential homebuyers and refinancers:

Now that the holiday season is behind us, the resumption of more regular activity will again start to reveal how the market perceives prospects for growth and inflation. If the stock and bond markets movements [last] week were any indication, there has been some fading of optimism about growth and concerns about inflation.

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