"Each lender has his or her own guidelines," Butler says. "Some will let you do a mortgage refinance if the property has been off the market for one day. It varies from lender to lender."
Lepre says, "We have three investors we work with who will do Fannie Mae loans even on properties which have been off MLS for one day. One of the three will not allow you to do a cash-out refinance, but the other two will."
When should you do a mortgage refinance?
"Don't do it to go on vacation, buy shoes or go out to dinner. Do not mortgage your house for something like that," Glick says. "But if you're going to pay off your credit card and cut it up, or if you need to do it so you do not go into default on your loan, then absolutely you should refinance."
Glick believes you should never do a mortgage refinance just to get a tax deduction. "Don't refinance for tax purposes."
And finally, don't refinance to lower your payment but lengthen your loan -- unless you are facing possible foreclosure.
When you refinance, the goal should be to lower the amount of interest you're paying, either by lowering the interest rate or shortening your loan term, Glick adds.
Contact Ilyce Glink through her Web site, www.thinkglink.com, by mail at Real Estate Matters Syndicate, P.O. Box 366, Glencoe, Ill. 60022 or calling her radio show at 800-972-8255 from 11 a.m. to noon Sundays.
