Q. My husband and I have had our house on the market since May with no offers. We want to know if we should refinance while we wait out this horrible buyers' market.
Unfortunately, since your home is listed for sale, you will probably be unable to refinance. Lenders don't want to refinance a property that is listed for sale because they expect the property to be producing income for anywhere from two to eight years, or longer. And, if it's listed for sale, they think it's quite likely to be sold shortly; thus, the loan will be repaid much sooner than they would like.
The problem for you is that even if you pull your home off the market, you probably won't be able to refinance it for six months. Lenders know that sellers will often try to refinance and say that the home is no longer for sale, even as they are actively marketing it. I think you'll have a tough time finding a lender through early next year.
I'm a bit concerned when you say that the property is "worth $450,000" but it's listed at $389,000 and you haven't had an offer. If the property were really worth $450,000 and you were offering it for $389,000, you'd have sold it almost immediately, with a line of buyers out the door.
The fact that you haven't had any offers tells me that your property is worth substantially less than $389,000 in the current market. If it the true market value were $370,000, for example, you'd have probably had at least one or two offers. By Ilyce Glink and Samuel J. Tamkin
The fact that you haven't had any offers tells me that your property is worth substantially less than $389,000 in the current market. If it the true market value were $370,000, for example, you'd have probably had at least one or two offers. By Ilyce Glink and Samuel J. Tamkin
