I'm looking to refinance for debt consolidation. Is it better to refi my first mortgage which is at 5.625% or obtain a second mortgage?
208645
Even though your first mortgage rate is at 5.625%, you would have to consider your blend rate if you opt for a second mortgage. Either way (HELOC or HELON), your interest rate will be much higher than your current rate, so if your blend rate matches or is better than the current interest rates now, then you might be better off just refinancing your property. You also have to consider how long you plan on staying that the current location know. This will allow you to know if your going to recover the cost of the refinancing. Obviously if you do a HELOC or HELON and there are costs associated with them, you will not recover the cost of those items, unless you factor in the interest of the debt consolidation and what your saving in doing that. If you need clarification, feel free to contact me directly.
358587
This isn't specific to Sallie Mae -- it's the result of Federal regulations.  The regulations for the refinancing of Federal student loans are very different from mortgage refinancing. Whereas you could refinance a mortgage as often as you want (well, sort of), reconsolidation isn't technically supposed to be possible for student loans. There a a few loopholes, though. The only way you might be able to "re-consolidate" would be:\n\n(1) if you borrow a *new* Federal student loan. If you have another loan that is unconsolidated, you can apply for a new consolidation loan that would combine this new loan with your old consolidation loan. However, this would only lower your rate a little bit since your new interest rate would be based on the weighted average of the rate for your new loan and the rate of your old loan. So, if you currently have a Federal Consolidation Loan of, say, $20,000 at 8% and you borrow a new $5,000 Stafford Loan at 4.7%, you'd have four times as much at 8% than you do at 4.7%, so your consolidated rate would become 7.375% -- not much lower, huh?\n\nThat said, you won't be able to obtain a new Federal student loan unless you are a student, so this may not even be a viable option for you.\n\n(2) if you "have been unable to obtain a Federal Consolidation Loan with income-sensitive repayment terms acceptable to [you]," you can obtain a Direct Consolidation Loan, which is the other type of student loan consolidation that the federal government offers. \n\nThis might be your best option. Check the Dept. of Ed's website to see if you are eligible: http://loanconsolidation.ed.gov/borrower/beligible.shtml . There's no credit check on these loans, so it can't hurt to try!\n\nThere are private companies out there that claim to be able to "reconsolidate" any federal consolidation loan. These companies are SO disreputable that I hesitate to even mention them. DON'T DO IT. They're in business only to make money off of you. Many of them don't even deal in Federal Consolidation Loans, so you could end up with a "reconsolidated" private loan with horrible terms and none of the benefits and security of the Federal student loan that you started with.
166951
There is no difference for you. if she is pressuring you to refinance and put her on the loan, explain to her that it costs money to refinance and typically you will be rolling the closing costs into the new loan thus eating up equity. and risking getting a higher interest rate which equals higher payments. If she wants to do it for credit reporting reasons, there are other ways to bring ones credit score up. Now you can go down to your title company or equivilant to, and have her put on the deed of trust, but if you are married and live in a community property state, then guess what half the house is hers anyways and problem solved. I think that is what people are telling you that by law she has to be on title, no the correct answer is by law half the home is already hers, and if you were to buy another home under your name her being your wife would have to sign at closing on the deed of trust because of community property state laws, but if you don't live in a community property state then no it is not required by law.
298809
You are paying approximately 12.5% interest.  I do not understand what type of loan this is (mortgage, auto, personal, etc.) but this is a pretty high interest rate.  I would discuss refinancing it with someone.
143924
What are you looking to accomplish with your refinance?  Do you want to lower your payment?  Consolidate debt?  Are you in an ARM and you want to refinance into a fixed rate?  Need a little more information about what you want to accomplish.
187734
This is a little known mortgage option, cause there's unknowns.  The index that the interest rate is following is hard to look up.  I would not take this mortgage.  A fixed 15 or 30 year is better.  If you need to take on an adjustible, try a hybrid 5/1 interest only.\n\nhttp://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/Drdon/20050916a1.asp
229088
How much cash you can get out depends what the property is presently worth.  There's nothing to stop you from refinancing any mortgage even the day after you take the loan, but some loans have pre-payment penalties that make it ineffective to do so.  If the goal is just to get cash out and the value supports it, a 2nd mortgage or Home Equity Line of Credit avoids a pre-pay penalty and has less costs than a full-fledged refinance.
294978
Yes if your payments and interest rate is loweredd and it doesn't it is not expensive.\n\nYou should look into refinancing only if the above is true.\n\nThe advantages is that you would make lower monthly payments, though it might be spread over a longer period of time. If you can keep the same time frame for paying the loan off with lower payments that would be better.\n\nThe disadvantage is if you don't refinance to a lower rate and lowere payment you will continue to pay the same monthly payment as you are now which might be higher unless you look into the possibility of refinancing the loan.\n \nYou might try this link and see if they can offer you a better deal.\n\nwww.nextstudent.com\n\nI hope this  has been of some use to you, good luck.\n\n"FIGHT ON"
136345
Depending on the type of loan you need for your new home, you need to have a DTI (debt-to-income ratio) between 45-50% opn average for a purchase. It makes sense to refi your home to ensure you are prequalified to purchase the new home. It is difficult for a mortgage broker to provide you with a preapproval letter (usually required by a Realtor to prove to a seller that you are a ready-willing-able buyer) unless you meet this DTI guideline.  However, ask what your DTI is and ask that to see it on the application. Worst-case-scenario (although unlikely) and if the mortgage broker is unscrupulous and your DTI is fine, they could be trying to get two deals out of one.  It is very common to recommend a refi prior to listing your home for other reasons as well - for example if you find your dream-home and you put in an offer, but your current home hasn't sold, your purchase offer will have to have a 'contingent upon current sale' clause. This could become a heart-breaking 'deal-breaker' if your home doesn't sell before the offer expires. A seller cannot be expected to hold the sale for you, while you are waiting to sell your home. Also, it is good to have the cash from your refi in the bank (or better yet, invested) as 'reserves'. This makes a lender feel more confident in lending you money for a hew home, because the extra cash removes risk by showing you could cover your new mortgage payment if for some reason you were to become unemployed. I hope these three reasons help you become more confident with your broker. I know it is scary for everyone, and the media only makes it more confusing for consumers. I commend your questions!  Keep asking, information is free!
660951
You should consolidate, since rates will be going up to 7% or higher.  The interest is deductible, but you're still paying more with higher interest rates.  Say you're in the 25% tax bracket, and have $10,000 in loans.  At 5%, you pay $500 in interest. The tax deduction on the interest comes out to $125, so you've paid $375.  At 7%, you pay $700 in interest, the tax deduction is $175, you've paid $525.  The worse the interest rate gets, the more (net) you'll have to pay.
410193
Me and hubby bought a condo two years ago, and we didn't put 20% down. Instead we took the 0 down option to get in with an adjustable rate. Of course 20% down will definitely be to your advantage, as with putting any down payment on a home. After our adjustable rate skyrocketed, we did refinance and locked in a good percentage rate saving us some money. \n\nIf you can put 20% down, do it. Your home purchase is one of the biggest purchases you'll ever make, and the most beneficial to your future.
163551
Depending on your credit score- I would say refinance now to take advantage of todays market as rates are moving up.  Certainly get out of your HELOC as I'm sure you have seen that rate go up dramatically in the last year and it is expected to go up about another 0.5% in the next 6 months.  If you have the room as far as equity goes in your home, it would seem you are in prime position for a refinance.
216718
actually I would recomend a known bank.  For me I made the mistake of going through a mortgage company and ended up refinancing less than a year later. Wachovia is a good bank, Chase I know a few people that have mortgages through them and there are other banks even small local banks that usually give you a great deal and the great service.
476488
You asked questions that should be answered by qualified mortgage broker. If you are working with one ask him/her all of these questions and if you are not, than find some one in your area.  You should also consider talking to a financial planer, he/she will explain to you the benefits and pitfalls of investing your down payment.\n\nI would suggest that if you can afford making the payments for your new home without any financial hardship, invest the money into less risky investments. You will not get 10% as mutual funds would pay, but you may still be able to get good return on your money and have less risk involved. \n\nOne of the great benefits of home-ownership is having income tax deduction, which in the case of 100% or 80% / 20% financing would be substantial. \n\nDo not be afraid of PMI, if it would be a better deal for you to pay it (must have more info if it would be a better deal), you can always refinance at the later date when the property value will go up and you have 20% equity.\n\nYou can refinance both 1st and 2nd mortgage into one loan if it would make sense at the time.
312653
if u live in california i can do the work for you. does your friend currently have a second on his house? if he does refinance depending on how much equity over the house you have u can join both loans into one and at the same time add in the $5-10 k you owe(u would get a check or cash if ud like at the signing). if he only has one loan on his house he can open up a second for the total equity you have available. im pretty sure they wont do a $5-10k loan but wat will happen is that u open a second for the total equity available to u and u just use what you need that come with really low interest rate
581332
join a local credit union and see what they can do for you.  i had a 18,000 loan on a van for 5 years and after 1 year of payments, they were willing to re-finance it for another 5 years at the original rate.  due to the 1 year of equity, my payment would have dropped to somewhere around the 200 area.  but, i chose to refinance for just 4 years so i could get a lower rate.  either way, join your local credit union.
299396
It would be better to pay off the HELOC first. The more you pay towards the principle, the lower your minimum payment becomes.  If you continue paying the same amount (+ the $500) you will knock that down real fast.\n\nIf you pay extra on your fixed rate mortgage, your payment stays the same, just the balance goes down.\n\nIf your income changes and you need the extra cash flow, the HELOC payment has already gone down and if you need to get the cash back, you should be able to pull it back out of the HELOC.  You can't take it back out of the 1st mortgage.\n\nAlso the HELOC is a higher rate and may continue going up, so the sooner you eliminate that the better.\n\nGood luck,\n\nGreg