I recently closed a refinance case for my client in less than two weeks regardless that the loan was submitted a few days before Chrismas.  On the other end, one of my clients came to me because the lender who was doing his refinance took over three months and yet still did not have his loan closed.  He lost patience with this lender and came to ask me for help. Again, I have his loan closed very quickly.

It’s important that you work with a loan agent who knows well each bank’s processing time and requirements so that he or she can give you instructions on how to prepare for that and advise you which lender to use based on comprehensive evaluation of your parcicular case and each lender’s way of work and their program strength.

Here are a few things you can do to speed up your refinance process:

1. Have all the documents ready according to the check list I provde you.

2. For bank statements, avoid giving lender the statements with large deposit. (Any deposit $1000 or more counts as a large deposit). If you cannot avoid it, provide paper trail for any deposit $1000 or more because lender will ask you for that.

3. If you have rental property, provide lease agreement, property tax bill, insurance evidence for each rental property you owns. Review your tax return you filed over the past two years and make sure that they are matching what’s reported on your Schedule E

4. When appraiser calls you to set up inspection time, get on the earliest one available. If appraiser can not come to your home for inspetion within a couple days,  call me (or whoever is your loan agent) to request another appraiser who can be available earlier.

With interest rate running at 3.875% level for 30 year fixed loan, many people are doing refinace over the past few months. Appraisal value has become a hot topic as it could impact the rate you get or even kill your refinance.

Appraisal is appraiser’s opinion of your home value.  The regulation prevents loan agent from talking to appraiser. All the communication needs to go through appraisal management company. However, there are still a few things home owner can do which could contribute positively to the appraisal value.  Here are the list:

1. Prepare comparables. Find out prices of  houses sold within six months which are comparable to your house in terms of size, condition, school and nearby your house. Compile them into one list and give it to appraiser the day your house is inspected. Nobody knows your neighborhood more than you are. Appraiser may not know those subtile difference in the neighbors that could impact the price. By doing so, you help appraiser to draw a more accurate opinion of your home value.

2. Give appraiser a list of upgrades you did and how much you paid for those upgrades.

3. Make the home clean and organized on the day of inspection. First impression is important.  This helps to put your home in a better condition status.

4. If there is any visible issue, get it fixed first. Leaking roof, visible water stain, broken window, these not only hurt your value, they could also slow down your loan approval as lenders will ask you to get them fixed first and have appraiser to come back to inspect it again. Appraiser’s second trip could cost you more appraisal fee.  If you are buying short sale or REOs, you want to make it clear with sellers who will take care of the repair before your loan gets approved in the offer negotiation phase.