c/cash-out-refi

20

ericgonzalez•1h ago

That loan officer at Navy Federal told me to wait 6 months before refi

I was sitting in the branch on Main Street in Norfolk last Tuesday talking to a loan officer about pulling cash out on my townhouse. She flat out said my rate was too close to current market and I'd be eating closing costs with no real benefit. Has anyone else gotten advice from a lender that actually saved them money instead of pushing the deal through?

22

the_sam•6d ago

Refi'd my 3.5% rate for a new deck and now I'm underwater on paper

Tbh I saw a before-and-after in my home equity drop from $80k to -$12k over 6 months because I cashed out to build a redwood deck that cost $22k. The deck looks great but my Zestimate nosedived when rates jumped. Anyone else regret pulling cash out at the worst possible time?

0

mason847•9d ago

Chose a 15-year fixed over a 30-year for my cash out refi and saved $400 a month in interest

Had the option between pulling $50k out on a 30-year at 6.8% or a 15-year at 5.9%. Picked the 15-year because the payment was only $180 more but the interest savings over the life were huge. Been 6 months now and the cash let me fix up my rental property's foundation. Anyone else go shorter term on a refi and regret it or love it?

22

jamie_taylor•10d ago

Had to choose between a fixed rate and an ARM on my refi last month

I was staring at a 6.8% fixed 30 year or a 5.2% 5/1 ARM when I did my cash out refi in Austin. I went with the ARM cause I figured I'd sell or refi again before the adjustment hits in 5 years. Guy at the bank kept pushing the fixed rate saying rates might stay high for a while. First two months have been fine, payment is about $230 lower than the fixed would've been. But I keep checking mortgage news every week wondering if I made a dumb move. Anyone else gamble on an ARM lately and regret it or feel good about it?

22

aaron708•12d ago

Cash out refi vs HELOC after my rate changed from 3.5% to 7%

I locked in a cash out refi at 3.5% back in 2021, but now my bank is saying I'd get 7% if I wanted to do another one. My buddy says a HELOC is better because you keep the low rate on the original loan. Has anyone run the numbers and figured out which one wins in this market?

23

sarah229•12d ago

Rant: Did a cash out refi with my credit union vs a big online lender... night and day difference

I wanted to pull equity out of my house here in Portland to redo my driveway and add a retaining wall. I started with this big online company because they advertised lower rates, but their app process was a nightmare. They kept asking for the same documents over and over, and it took 8 weeks to get nowhere. I switched to my local credit union and had approval in 2 weeks with a better rate. Has anyone else noticed local places being easier to deal with for cash out refis, or was my experience just a fluke?

8

masonm85•13d ago

Rant: The "appraisal waiver" myth in cash out refis

I kept seeing people online claim you can skip the appraisal on a cash out refi if your loan amount is under a certain number. Spent two weeks shopping around and calling five different lenders. Every single one told me that's basically a myth for cash out loans. The only time they waive it is for a rate and term refi. So unless you have some special program through a credit union, plan on paying for that appraisal out of pocket. Did anyone here actually get a waiver on a cash out refi or was that just bad info floating around?

15

finleycooper•13d ago

Found a sneaky way to skip the PMI on a cash out refi

My lender tried to hit me with a $320 monthly PMI charge on a 90% LTV refi until I asked them to structure it as a 80/10 piggyback loan instead. Has anyone else pulled this off without the bank fighting you on it?

20

amy975•15d ago

Used to pull cash out every time my house went up in value, now I just leave it alone

Back in 2021 I took out $30k from my house in Phoenix to redo the kitchen and it felt like free money. Last year I thought about doing it again for a new roof but the rate was 7.5% and I just paid cash instead. Has anyone else stopped treating their home equity like a savings account?

15

karen_hart•16d ago

Warning: my cash out refi nearly fell through because of a forgotten LLC

I was working with a local credit union in Portland on a $85,000 cash out refi for my duplex. At the closing table, the underwriter noticed my rental property was titled under an LLC from 3 years ago, and they almost denied the whole thing on the spot. Turns out, some lenders won't touch LLC-held properties for cash out refis unless you have a specific commercial loan. Has anyone else hit this wall with their business entity on a refi?

17

perry.karen•16d ago

Ditched my broker after 3 years because I was paying double the points

I mean, I just assumed all cash out refi rates were kinda the same, you know? Last month I was talking to a friend at a BBQ in Austin and he mentioned his rate was way lower. I pulled my paperwork and realized my local broker had been charging me 2.5 points on every refi while national lenders were doing 1 point. Has anyone else gotten stuck with a broker like this?

24

andrew_miller90•16d ago

TIL my bank teller laughed at me for trying to cash out refi a coffee mug

Was at Chase in Nashville last Tuesday and asked about a cash out refi on my house, but somehow ended up holding my favorite mug up to the counter and the teller goes 'sir that's not how this works' before I even realized what I was doing.

26

wright.kevin•17d ago

Just realized I threw $800 down the drain on a refi that tanked my equity

Closed on a cash out refi back in March to consolidate some debt. Thought I was being smart. Rates were okay at 6.5% and I pulled out $40k. Now my house dropped in value by about $15k on the latest comps in my neighborhood. My LTV is shot and I can't even think about selling for years. Anyone else get burned by timing the market wrong on a refi?

6

keith264•17d ago

Fixed vs variable rate on my cash out refi was a no brainer once I ran the numbers

I was stuck between a 15 year fixed at 5.8% and a 5/1 ARM at 4.9% for my $120k cash out last month. Ran a spreadsheet and the ARM saved me $2,400 over the first 5 years even with a worst case max adjustment. Anyone else find the ARM worth the risk when you plan to move in under 7 years?

31

sean_walker45•21d ago

Was using the wrong rate assumption for my cash-out refi math until my loan officer casually mentioned ARMs reset after 5 years...

I spent six months crunching numbers with a fixed 7% rate when the 5/1 ARM I was actually looking at had a 5.5% teaser plus a 2% cap, so my whole breakeven analysis was off by like $8,000 has anyone else accidentally baked in the wrong rate type for their scenario?

9

blake_black47•22d ago

Appraisal came back $40k lower than I expected and killed my whole plan

I was all set to cash out refi on my house in Austin to consolidate some debt and maybe put in a new HVAC. The online estimators said I had around $110k in equity easy. Well the appraiser came out and valued my place at $40k less than Zillow showed. Turns out my neighborhood has a cap on comps because of some weird HOA resale restrictions I didn't even know about. That killed my entire plan and I wasted a month of my time and $550 on the appraisal fee. Has anyone else had an appraisal come in way under what you expected? What did you do next?

7

claire_butler1•22d ago

A banker once told me my rate lock was too long, and I should have listened

Back in 2022 I was refinancing my house in Tacoma and I locked in a rate for 90 days because I was worried rates would jump. The loan officer said "you're paying extra for that security, but it might not pay off." I thought I knew better since I had done a refi back in 2017 and it worked out fine. Well rates actually dipped a bit after my lock started, and I was stuck with a higher rate for the whole 60 extra days. Ended up costing me about $800 in extra fees for the longer lock period. Now I look at the trend over just the last 30 days instead of guessing a full quarter out. Has anyone else gotten burned by locking in too early during a volatile market?

9

joseph932•23d ago

Lost $2,100 on a cash out refi I should have walked away from

I went with a local lender in Phoenix who quoted me a 6.5% rate but after 45 days of delays they came back saying I now qualified for 7.8% due to market changes. They already had my $1,200 appraisal fee and $900 in other junk fees tied up with no refund policy. Anyone else get bait and switched on a rate after the lock expired?

0

cameron426•25d ago

Why I stopped worrying about rates and just locked in at 6.8%

I was sitting at a closing table in Phoenix last Tuesday, ready to bail on the whole deal because I kept thinking rates would drop next month. The loan officer just looked at me and said "you're gambling your roof over a half point." That hit different. My neighbor waited six months for a better rate and ended up paying 7.2% because his credit shifted. Has anyone else just pulled the trigger when the numbers made sense for your actual situation?

24

rileyl98•26d ago

My dad told me to skip the appraisal contingency and I almost lost the deal

He said nobody ever uses it on a cash out refi and it just slows things down. Well the appraisal came in 40k lower than I needed and the bank wouldn't budge. I had to scramble to bring cash to closing just to make the numbers work. Has anyone else been burned by bad advice from family on these loans?

10

clairer79•26d ago

That guy at the credit union pushed me into a cash out refi that just cost me $5,000

Six months ago I went to my local credit union in Columbus to ask about paying off some debt. The loan officer swore a cash out refi at 4.8% was smarter than a personal loan because of the lower rate. He didn't mention the closing costs would be $5,200 until I was already in the paperwork. Now I'm sitting here with a bigger mortgage and my debt is paid but I'm out five grand in fees. Has anyone else gotten burned by hidden costs on one of these deals?

3

olivia_carr7•27d ago

PSA: Don't ignore the appraisal gap when doing a cash out refi

I almost learned this the hard way last month on a house I bought in Raleigh 3 years ago. Thought I had 80k in equity easy, but the appraiser came back 15k lower than Zillow said. That messed up my LTV ratio and I had to bring cash to closing. Anyone else get burned by relying on online estimates instead of a real appraisal?

9

hugo_jones•29d ago

My banker told me to wait on a cash out refi and I ignored him

Last spring my loan officer at Wells Fargo said rates were about to dip but I rushed into a cash out refi at 6.8% anyway. Now I'm kicking myself seeing 5.9% rates around town, anyone else get burned by not listening to their lender?

15

mary_patel59•1mo ago

Finally figured out why my cash out refi kept getting denied

I wasted 3 months applying with two different lenders before I saw the problem. Both times they said my debt to income ratio was too high, but I knew my numbers were solid. Turns out they were counting my car loan twice because I had it on my credit report from a refinance last year. I called the credit bureau and got them to remove the duplicate entry. It dropped my DTI by 4% and I closed on a $45k cash out refi last week. Has anyone else had credit report errors mess up their refi approval?

16

hugo_nelson•1mo ago

Unpopular opinion: everybody says use a rate-and-term refi instead of cash out, but I did cash out on my rental in Cleveland last month and it worked better for me.

I needed 18k to fix up a duplex I bought in 2021. Everyone on forums told me to do a rate-and-term refi instead to keep the loan smaller. But I ran the numbers and my rate only went from 6.2 to 6.5, so for 0.3 points I pulled out the cash. The rent covers the new payment easy after the repairs boosted the value. Has anyone else found cash out actually made sense when everyone told you not to?