Mortgage question - can I refi without a job?
 

If I pay cash for a house and want to get a mortgage very soon after I buy it what should I expect? I don't have a normal job, not even very regular income. I don't want a shitty interest rate either. I thought I would be able to compensate for the extra risk by maintaining a very large amount of equity in the house but the 2 places I spoke to today said that would not help. Should I call more? I don't see why that would not be a huge help. If I only want a mortgage for 60%-70% of the home's value I think giving me the standard rate plus overlooking my irregular income should be easily achieved. Whats the fucking deal?

I forgot to mention I have a very high credit score and enough money where it is very obvious that making the house payment would not be an issue for me. I have no debt and twice as much money as the house costs in short term investments.

If you have good credit you can just do a stated loan. I bought my house and never gave them tax returns or bank statements.

The home is your collateral and if your credit is good enough, should be no problem. Or at least it wasnt a problem 6 years ago.

It will hurt a lot,

and probably cost more.

They don't like stated income. You gotta prove these days.

They don't do Stated loans anymore.

Thank all the poor idiots who knew they couldn't afford a house but wanted one anyway.

Oh... my bad. I havent needed a mortgage in over 6 years so I didnt know this.

then don't refi. Instead, go to a bank and put your house up for collateral. If you have lots of money in that bank and good credit, you should be able to get a decent rate on a 10 year loan.

When you're self employed the normal banks sometimes won't want to touch you... Contact a mortgage broker and they can put you in touch with specialized lenders who are more used to these kind of things.

We just refinanced our house after being in it for almost three years. Gotta love the rates you can get right now. Since we weren't pulling any money out, it was a very easy refinance which did not require another appraisal and verification of income etc. I thought it was weird but everything has went through just fine.

Correct.

My advise it to go to a credit union. Also to have your business records up to date, meaning up to that month. Including all your other docs.

I just started this process. I went with the HARP program (finally a stimulus plan I might qualify for!). I'll be getting about 2.5% taken off. I'm a happy camper :upsidedow

Try ing direct. They did a credit check and nothing else for me. They require 25% down.

Nice, we got just below 2% off and it lowered our montly bill by around $200-$250/month.

If it's not your primary residence you're going to have to jump through some insane hoops, compared to 4+ yrs ago, to get a mortgage. I paid cash for two properties in spring '08 and havent been able to aquire a mortgage for either. The loan to value is well under 60% and one is generating income now. It appears the income to debt ratios for approval have gone way up and I'm told if you don't have 12 months of cash reserves the banks wont lend to you. Might be better for you to look at private lenders or hold out until the market improves. I'm waiting for things to calm down before I start looking again. Unfortunately, I think the market's going to get way worse before it gets better.

Well Im trying to buy a home right now and they wont give me any type of mortgage unless I have worked in the same business or type for 2 years!!! Dont matter if I made 50,000 or more so far this year they dont care about your credit score, mine is pretty darn good too. They dont care about your debt to income ratio either, its all about being in the same work place or category for 2 or more years. It's fucking crazy, what the banks are doing, its all messed up now because they were giving anybody a mortage before.

Try a local bank and not a big name one.

Yeah it is so hard right now to purchase anything! When I got my condo it was easy! you like it here are the keys pretty much. I wanted to refi too but now no one wants to touch my mortgage because I haven't been in the same job/ industry for 2 years.

If you find something that works let me know :)