Mortgage Refinancing Tips

If you are thinking about doing a mortgage refinance, you may have wondered how hard it will be with the new guidelines and extra documentation that are being required.  Rather than starting out being frustrated, following these tips will help you make it smoothly through the mortgage refinancing process.

First, you need to decide on the purpose for your mortgage refinance.  This will help to determine the length of time it will take to complete the process.  For instance, refinancing in order to lower your payment will take less time than if you want a cash-out refinance to remodel your kitchen.

Part of the reason for the extra time is that if you want cash out of the loan, you will need an appraisal of the house and it must come in at a certain amount above the value of your current loan.

Next, by gathering all of the necessary documentation in advance, you can help your mortgage refinancing go much more smoothly.  If your loan officer has to ask for one document after another and you can’t find all of the documentation, you may not only prolong the process, but may not be able to get the loan you want.

Some of this required paperwork includes income verification with current paycheck stubs, verification that you have worked at the same job or in the same field for at least the last 2 years, a current appraisal of the home, and recent income tax returns.  You can talk with your lender to find out exactly what they will need and gather it before you meet with a loan officer.

You will also need a copy of your credit report.  Your credit history is one of the biggest determining factors when it comes to mortgage refinancing.  There are a few options for bad credit mortgage loans, but you will have many more options if your credit is good.

The main thing is that you understand your own current credit standing so that you will be expecting the kind of documentation that is going to be required.  If your current mortgage payment is part of your credit problem, there are government loan modification options that may help a person looking for a bad credit mortgage refinance.

If you know why you want to refinance, prepare by gathering the paperwork, and understand what your credit situation will mean to the whole process, you will be able to make it through the mortgage refinancing process without having to be frustrated by how long it will take and the amount of documentation that is necessary.