My estimates are accurate so it's not like they're looking at $15k to remodel a bathroom or anything ridiculous, but still......I get the feeling that it would look better if it were from a separate entity.I have a friend who would likely lend me his help/name since he would know that I wouldn't be actually contracting through his name, but just trying to help refine my system on these offers.

As AllCash has already mentioned (you have quite a memory there 8) ), the PMI drops off at 80 LTV (loan to value)---based upon the figures you provided, your current loan to value is 88...There is no benefit to a rate and term refinance at this point, if your intent is to eliminate PMI...There might have been a time when comparing a refi option with LPMI (lender paid PMI) might be feasible, but in the absense of more info (and prevailing market conditions), you might be better off leaving things alone.Regards,Scott Miller

My wife found this mortgage broker /real estate agent that is advising us to refinance our house to pull out 80 percent of our equity for a down payment on an investment property in Miami Beach.

Dave007I just had a client refinance a property that we had listed for a while.

As I bet you've already guessed, people would "buy" the big screen, then have Circuit City pick it back up after the games/parties and get their money back.Indeed, a money-back guarantee is most effective when the product/industry has a less than stellar reputation.

If he hasn't really messed up his credit with the late payments, and the values are correct and are the complete story, he may be able to refinance and get enough money to pay the taxes and legal fees.

In the case where someone takes out a loan and then decides to refinance at a lower interest rate later, I am trying to figure the break point where it makes since to do so.

If they had equity enough to offer seller financing, they had equity enough to refinance and avoid the foreclosure.

I bet you expect your agent(s) to be available at nights and on Sunday, while you wouldn't expect that from any other professional.Professional Agents are not investors and they're certainly not bird-dogs, they are workers; And If you use a worker's services, as a matter of decency you should do your best to see to it that they're compensated for that work.

MikeI'm not saying that is my strategy, but I bet the ROI for a property in WA purchased 10 years ago would be much better than that of a property in OH.