Bank of America won't refinance our house although we have a first and second mortgage with them now.?

Our property is a unique home, made of steel with a metal roof, finished out normally inside with 2x4 walls, etc on 10 acres, but because there are no homes similar in the area that have sold in the last 6 months, they won't refinance. It appraised for $200,000. We're only asking for $116,000? What has changed ? They have our 1st and 2nd now. They say it has nothing to do with our credit rating, it's fine.Bank of America won't refinance our house although we have a first and second mortgage with them now.?
Welcome to recession! Sorry to say, but real estate has practically kicked the bucket, and barely anyone can re-finance anymore.





Welcome to the new America!Bank of America won't refinance our house although we have a first and second mortgage with them now.?
That was their appraiser that valued it at 200k within the last month? I am guessing not, but they will tell you why you are refused, you should ask them.
Lenders have become far more strict about their appraisals. Even though you have the current mortgages with BOA, they don't know what the actual value of the property is without current comps in the area. Comps are the primary factor in determining what a house is worth and if there aren't any in your area you are probably going to have trouble refinancing with any lender. Whereas a year or 2 when and where comps sold was more lenient now most lenders specify that these comparable sales took place with a certain time period, usually 6 months and within a certain # of miles from the home. If you've already had an appraisal done recently for this potential refi take it to some other lenders and brokers to see if they have programs that would accomodate you and your unique home.
All banks have tightened up their lending requirements as they had let them get too loose. I would request a meeting with them to find out why they won't lend to you. They have to tell you. You will find what you need to know, to go elsewhere, or may be able to get them to reconsider.





It has to be about your credit rating, the local housing market, the appraised value of your home.
like all mortgage lenders, they're scared of taking on more loans. and anything ';unusual'; (your construction qualifies) probably can't be sold in the aftermarket at all because so many buyers have taken huge losses.





so, refis and especially cash out refis just aren't being done.





try again in about two years.
I am just guessing but my bet is:





Bank of America is not the long term investor. They may collect payments and service your loans but they are looking at the new loan as a new investor (because they will likely sell the loan to someone). They are afraid they will have trouble packaging your loan and selling it. If it was more like dozens of other homes in your area they would not have a problem.
You're not saying WHY they won't. Is it because of low appraisal, credit/income issues, or what?
There is a morgage crisis going on right now with many rules and laws changes. That might be one factor.
I used to do home equity loans for a large bank.. Was that appraised value of $200,000 done by an appraiser contracted by the bank, or another entity like your insurance company or something? This is important to know. If it was done by them, it should be fine as long as you are financing the the 2nd lien and preferably the 1st. You typically do not want to borrow a total 80% (combined between 1st and 2nd lien) of the bank's appraised value or less for you best rate. Now if the appraisal was done by another entity, that probably will not do you any good. The idea that no homes similar to yours that have sold in your area is a big deal, this for appraisal purposes will drive you value down and unfortunately there really is nothing you can do about it.





You said that you home is made of steel with a metal roof; is you home a manufactured home? or something like that? If it is, this changes everything and the lending requirements are crazy strict because the bank says these homes are more risking to lend on. In most cases, banks will not do a 2nd lien/loan/line of credit on these homes. If this is the case and the bank has already done this 2nd lien for you, it is possible that the 1st and 2nd time the financed you (you may have done both liens at once) they had no idea that it was a manufactured home with land. This happens more than you would ever think, and the bank probably won't tell you they messed up, they just won't relend to you.





Also, the fact that you have more than 5 acres sometimes hurts your property value as far as the bank is concerned, it just gets more complicated. If you defaulted, it would be hard to resell (thats what they say.) Usually because you have a larger acreage, as soon as you inform them of the 5 plus acres, they usually require a URAR or a standard walkthru performed by a licensed appraiser. At that point, it they figured out that it is a manufactured home, thats probably when the bank decided not to refinance.





I would call the person you last dealt with and ask them if you could speak with the manager in the department that made the final decision to decline the refinance, and they will give you a detailed reason for the decline. If you applied in person at a bank branch, the person to talk to is not the branch manager, they usually have no power or involvement in the decision. You will usually speak to someone on the phone in the home equity department. They are usually called loan underwriters or loan closers.





I hope that this information is helpful and you can make that phone call and be prepared.
Find out why they won't give you the loan.


Try at other banks.


Go to BofA and theaten to take you business to the other bank.
Sorry, that is the breaks for buying a unique property.





Experienced Realtors steer clients away from those like the plague.