Sheila's Blog

If you are planning to attempt refinancing your mortgage loan and have your home on the market, you may be surprised that your lender will not be as willing to help as you think.  If you have had your home on the market less than six months ago, most lenders will not bother to help you refinance and will tell you to check back when six months has passed.  The frame of thought behind this is they will only help homeowners refinance their primary residence, not investment or second homes.  If you show that you have recently tried to sell it, they think you are not using the home as your primary residence any longer.  We all know that lenders are being very careful these days and going through the underwriting process of reviewing a loan application is costly.  Of course, not every lender will require that you wait six months so I would recommend shopping around so you don't miss out on a great interest rate that could save you hundreds in your monthly payment.

---

Tampa Real Estate | Tampa Foreclosures | Tampa Real Estate News | Tampa Real Estate Blog

For more information, please contact me at info@buytampafl.com

Looking for a new home? Search the Tampa Real Estate market for a list of all available homes in the Tampa/St. Petersburg area.

Almost every single person who purchased a home from 2000 to 2006 over-paid for their home.  I am one of the victims.  I purchased my home at the peak of high prices in 2006 and find my home is worth more than a $100,000 less than what I paid for it.  I know this for certain because I am a Realtor and the exact same house on the street behind me sold for $117,000 less than what I paid.  The bulk of my business is working with homeowners who are behind on their mortgage and in fear of foreclosure.  Foreclosure will wreck your credit so homeowners are opting to try to Short Sale their homes.  A short sale will hurt your credit, but no where near as bad as a foreclosure or a bankruptcy.  I received a call from a homeowner who stated they are considering falling behind on their mortgage because their home isn't worth what they paid for it.  They want to intentionally stop paying their mortgage solely to get out from under their home.  Our economy is already falling apart because of people who bought more house than they could afford and now people who can actually afford to pay their house payment who signed a 30 year mortgage, knowing they would be paying a certain amount for 30 years are now thinking about just quitting?  This is a dangerous mentality.  I do understand, however, that people are frustrated (like myself) that their largest investment is now in the negative and will stay that way for possibly 10+ years. 

I have absolutely no plans to default on my mortgage (as long as I am able...knock on wood), but where's my relief?  I believe our economy depends on people fulfilling their contractual obligations, but I feel I am being punished while others who bought more house than they can afford on one salary are now getting their loan principle lowered and given instant equity.  I won't see equity in my home for many, many, years........all for what?  Doing the right thing?

For more information, please contact me at info@buytampafl.com.

Looking for a new home? Go to www.buytampafl.com for a list of all available homes in the Tampa/St. Petersburg area.