Rates are down… at 5.5% they seem way down… and in a way this is a fantastic time to refinance your Florida mortgage loan.  You have a job.  Your credit is good.  You have positive equity in your property (or so you think).  Seems like this should all be a no brainer (especially if you’re in an ARM).  Unfortunately, it’s that last bit that’s the sticking point.  A lot of people who think that they have positive equity in their homes, really don’t.  People are calling to refinance their Florida mortgages but we’re finding it harder and harder to get the values we need to do the deal.  Appraisers are coming back to us with values that fall far short of what is necessary to get a great many refinances done.  When we have to go back to a client and tell them that their house is appraising $100K less than it was when they bought it, it’s a shock to most.  Sadly, the situation does not seem to be getting better.

We cannot encourage you enough to be proactive.  If you have a mortgage that is in the 6.5% range, you have an ARM, or you’re looking to take some cash out, you might want to move sooner rather than later.  As property values decrease, your ability to get a mortgage of a substantial enough amount to pay off your existing mortgage is ALSO DECREASING.  Many people in the state are upside down where it concerns their Florida mortgage loans.  They couldn’t refinance if they wanted to.  Curious about what your home might be worth?  Want to see how close you’re cutting it?  You can get a fair assessment of your home’s value by checking out http://www.zillow.com there you can see what properties in your area are going for.  While the mentality of people that are not selling might be, “values will come back” the opportunity to lower your monthly payments, or to withdraw equity are DECREASING in this market.  If you’re thinking about refinancing your Florida mortgage loan, please contact us.  The sooner you do it the better, because we don’t want to have to give you the bad news that the deal cannot be done because the value isn’t there anymore.