I am facing SO many hurdles during the refinance process!

[Jobee Vincent Buenaventura]

Hey all,

I’m not sure if it’s because of COVID or the current housing market in general in NJ/NY, but I am having such a tough time getting this to work. I purchased my first property, a two-family back in September 2020.

First, my loan officer told me as of early April, Fannie Mae and such has been cutting back in adopting cash-out refinance loans from lenders by a large percentage, making refinancing second home/investment properties much harder. So I inquired about a personal refinance and live in the property for a year before buying another primary residence.

Second, I was told that I cannot get 80% LTV unless I go for an FHA loan on a 2-family property. So that PMI will definitely make an impact on my net profit. And if I go conventional, it'll max out at 75% LTV in which the cash-out isn't significant enough.

And third, I just learned this today: In order for me to be able to qualify for a FHA cash-out refi, I have to own the property for at least a year, meaning no longer the 6-month "seasoning period" if going FHA.

Is there any other options that I can do? I feel like I’ve got a brick wall..

[Andrew Postell]

@Jobee Vincent Buenaventura well, if most lenders are taking 60 days to write a cash out loan then you would only need 2 more months to start the refinance. I might not suggest taking a higher rate for 30 years if you can just want 2 more months to get the lower FHA rate. Was trying to explore other options here but the FHA route seems to be the best route to me given what was provided here.