Homeowners continue to prefer cash out refinance loans to other forms of borrowing. Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist, says,

"Mortgage borrowers continue to refinance their mortgages at a higher frequency than historically would have occurred given the rise in mortgage rates over this year. But the wide proliferation of adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) originated in the past few years that are nearing their first interest-rate adjustment provides borrowers an incentive to refinance into a lower-cost ARM or fixed-rate mortgage. In addition, borrowers who might have considered a prime rate home equity loan for a home improvement or other need are turning to cash out refinance options now that the prime rate is above 8 percent."

Beyond just converting an adjustable-rate loan to a fixed-rate loan, borrowers are also cashing out their equity. Almost 90 percent of Freddie Mac refinance loans are for amounts at least 5 percent higher than the original mortgage. The most recent Cash Out Refinance Report from the mortgage giant shows that homes refinanced during the third quarter of 2006 had experienced a median price appreciation of 33 percent since the original loan was made. The median age of the original loan was 3.4 years.

It is this accrued equity that homeowners are tapping into to pay off high-interest credit cards, to fund home improvement projects, or to finance their children’s college education. An added benefit is that interest paid on a mortgage is tax deductible (usually up to $100,000 for taxpayers filing jointly).

Since a cash out refinance loan results in a new mortgage, it incurs closing costs, filing and legal fees, and other expenses that can add up to thousands of dollars. This makes refinancing unwise for people planning to move in the next few years as they will not have time to recoup their refinancing costs.

Bad Credit Refinancing
For borrowers with less than perfect credit, a refinance loan is the smartest way to get needed cash. Bad credit usually means a FICO score below 620. This FICO number reflects credit-worthiness based on borrowing habits, payment history and other financial factors. Creditors use it when deciding whether to make a loan and what interest rate to charge. The lower the credit score, the higher the risk for the lender. But since a refinance loan is secured by real property, the risk is minimized and the interest rate is better.

According to Steven Frank, Senior Vice President at FlexPoint Funding,

"A ‘subprime’ borrower can expect to pay between 1.5 percent and 2 percent higher interest for a mortgage, but there is no shortage of money in the subprime loan market. Most subprime borrowers won’t qualify for a second mortgage or a home equity line of credit. They will have to refinance their first mortgage if they want to cash out some of their equity. Depending on their personal situation, a homeowner may be able to borrow up to 95 percent LTV (loan to value). More likely, it will be in the 80 percent range."

You can learn more about bad credit refinancing and get a free loan quote at sites like Simple Mortgage Refinancing and Bad Credit Mortgage Refinancing Now.

Well, the answer to that lies in subprime lenders. Most subprime lenders are willing to offer loans to people with bad credit history. However do note, it does vary from one lender to another and you may have to visit a few before finding one that does.

You can find subprime lenders on the internet, through your friends or the local business directory. Some lenders have acquaintances with other lenders and they can do a referral on your behalf.

Since subprime lenders are taking a high risk by refinancing your home mortgage, you may need to find a few before you find one that offers you the loan. Subprime lenders also have their own approval process not much different from banks and financial institutions. Your credit history, assets, gross income level, current debts etc are all taken into consideration when determining whether you qualified for the loan except that they have a higher threshold compared to banks and financial institutions.

They usually charge higher interest rates due to the higher risk they are taking, so even though you may pay more, in my opinion, the benefits of recovering from your bad credit outweighs the disadvantage of higher interest rates.

Do take note, this is a temporary solution as you still need your pay your monthly refinance on time. If not, you will be in a worse position. I recommend getting a refinance home mortgage loan more than what you currently owe so that you have some money to clear off your credit card debts, bills etc. That also helps in your credit repair efforts.

Ultimately, this method of credit repair still require you to manage your finances better. I would recommend to setup the refinance payments to automatically deduct from your salary every month. In this way, part of your salary goes towards repaying the refinance loan before you even have a chance to take out the money. Most banks can set it up for you free or you can use the internet banking system to do it.

Remember, the only way to repair your bad credit is to have good discipline with your finances.

Ricky Lim works in a finance company specialising in Home mortgage refinance loans. Visit his site to find the best home mortgage loan and mobile home mortgage loan.

What exactly happens when you refinance an existing loan or loans?

Many homeowners go into the process of refinancing thinking that they need only consider what the interest rate is going to be and how many points it will cost to obtain a new loan.

The interest rate and points are only two factors in the process.

When you are refinancing an existing loan you will want to make sure that you obtain a new loan in an amount necessary to payoff the existing loan or loans, the interest on those loans, prepayment penalties, if any, reconveyance fees and recording fees.

The new loan you will be getting must also include escrow fees, title insurance fees, a new appraisal of your home, credit report fee, plus interest on the new loan and possibly impounds for property taxes and homeowners insurance, and your new lender fees. (Each lender has their own fees and charges.)

This leads us to an example; say you are paying off a $200,000 loan, just to cover all of the refinance costs, the loan amount needs to be in the neighborhood of $210,000. When additional cash-out funds are involved, you will want to add that number to the new loan amount.

So, if you want to get $50,000 out in cash with the new loan, your new loan amount will be approximately $260,000.

If, when you purchased your home, you went with 100% financing and need to payoff an existing first and second trust deed, remember that you will be paying interest on both as part of the payoffs of the loans.

Another item to think about is that if you purchased your home with 100% financing and you are ready to refinance, has your property value gone up enough to justify the additional funds needed to cover the refinance? You probably don’t want to be putting cash out of your pocket into the refinance.

When a lender is working on a refinance for you, it is possible to refinance your home up to 100% of its value, if you have really great credit and very few debts. Your debts compared to your income and your credit score is a large factor in determining how much of a loan you will be granted based on the appraised value of the home.

Giving yourself a little breathing room and getting a loan between 80% and 90% of the value of your home is a better move. That way, you can keep your house payments lower and you have room to get an equity line of credit or 2nd trust deed, if you need to at a later date.

This in turn, brings us to refinancing into a new loan or first trust deed and at the same time getting an equity line of credit. This equity line of credit need not be touched at the time of your new first trust deed but held onto just in case you need it at a later date. Many lenders will refinance you into a new first trust deed and not charge any up-front fees for giving you an equity line of credit.

Once the equity line of credit is in place, it is used very much like a credit card. Example; $50,000 equity line of credit, you borrow $10,000, your payments are based on $10,000, which is what you pay back, unless, of course, you borrow more, and so on.

The final item is that if, during the time that you have been paying on your current mortgage and you have had a few problems, either with making your monthly payments on time, medical problems, over your head in debt and making payments late, you can still refinance, even get out of debt, but, your interest rate will be higher and you may be granted a loan that has a fixed rate of interest for 2 to 5 years and comes with a prepayment penalty.

If this kind of financing gets you out of the trouble you may be in, that is a good thing. Now you have given yourself a second chance. Work on keeping your credit good, try not to get in over your head again and give yourself another couple of years when you can try again, get the loan you would really prefer and achieve your financial goals.

Patti Schopper's passion has always been to help people with their real estate and mortgage needs. Her goal has been to help people achieve their financial success. Visit Patti at www.socal-inlandempire.com