Renovations in process? If the kitchen is gutted or there are exposed 2x4s in the bathroom, you'll need to button those up before an appraiser pays a visit. If you otherwise mean that you're working on upgrades one by one and everything is in place otherwise, there should be no problem.

Credit unions are a good place for home loans because they tend to be more honest and straightforward in their customer dealings. AND most have competitive rates. If you don't currently belong to one, there should be no problem finding one in your area that you are eligible to "join". What formerly was a credit union practice (whether required or not) of having restrictions on membership has pretty much been left in the past.

Local banks can also be a good choice. Not a local branch of a nationwide bank, but a truly local bank.

Remember that loan points and other costs are part of what you need to consider to assess whether a refi is beneficial. With a credit union, I don't doubt they would help you make that assessment. I'd advise you avoid loan brokers, the fees, costs and rates tend to be higher than other ways of getting a loan. They're middlemen who get paid (by you) for being so, it's usually cheaper to go directly to the lender on your own

Good luck

My credit union is the last place I would look for any loans as their rates are always higher. Go head and try for the new loan with BA. They probably will not care about what you are doing inside but the sales value of other condo's in your area if you are going for a larger loan.

My credit union (located on the opposite coast where I've never lived, just for reference) is currently 3.4% for a 15 year fixed. Other available rates (several credit unions listed) can be seen at bankrate.com.

Lenders care very much about in-process "remodeling" because the collateral for their loans comes from sale of the real estate after foreclosure, as many experienced some years back. If a house is torn apart, they're less inclined to originate a new loan for a refi, not knowing whether repairs will continue or are stopped as is.

Lenders these days act like former prostitutes who have become nuns. For many, their lending standards have gone from none to rigidly inflexible and they're rather intolerant of any risk or unusual situations.

I refinanced at the beginning of the year with my local credit union. They had the same great rates as all the big banks. But here's the kicker and best part - the credit union is funding the loan so I don't have to worry about my mortgage getting sold to several different companies over the next 20 years. Sure it's possible my credit union could sell out, go under, etc, but for now I know I'm only dealing with them. My last loan switched companies every 2 years and then I had a claim with State Farm. I had to jump thru hoops to get my mortgage company to sign off on the checks State Farm issued. With my local credit union, I just walk in there and they handle those sorts of issues right there! No waiting for months! That claim I went thru is what pushed me to refinance because I hated the mortgage company so bad after dealing with them.

I did a 20 year fixed at 3.75%

If Hilary gets in then the interest rates should go down hahahahaha

Good luck!

I doubt very seriously that your credit union is actually keeping the loan. They may continue servicing the loan but it is very doubtful that they are not selling the mortgage when rates are below 4%. Every responsible institution is selling the loans to Fannie May or Freddie Mac these days.

Forgetting the capital that is required for home mortgage loans and banks need to leverage the deposits for more loans, a rate this low for 30 years would cripple a bank's future ability to make loans. When interest rates go up significantly the money coming in from low interest mortgages are not enough to keep the institutions afloat. This is what got Savings and Loans in a lot of trouble during the rate hikes of the late 1970's and early 1980's.

No borrower need concern themselves about their loan changing hands.

bry, you and I have very different views, and apparently very different recollections of what happened in 1979 and why, concerning interest rates and S&Ls.

Suffice it to say that lending at today's market rates isn't going to cause any institution a problem. And a return to interest rates at the level common in the cited period is most unlikely to happen.

While there is nothing you can do about your loan changing hands, there is an overwhelming amount of evidence that non local loan ownership can be detrimental to consumers during times of crisis. Basically, so long as your loan is on good terms then there is no difference to you. But it also limits the power for banks to write down loans. So if your house loses 40% of its value and you find yourself upside down on your home, the bank has almost no power to renegotiate the loan. In non recourse states like California thousands of homeowners walked away from houses that they would have continued making payments on if they could have adjusted the loans. This became a self propagating problem and was a significant factor in the U.S. government's development of HARP.

I did the 2 minutes of excel work to get the numbers (even though thousands of people have done it before me, it was quicker for me to do it in excel than it was to search.) A bank that starts with $50 million in deposits and increases by 10% each year, sells no loans and does only mortgages with stable 4% interest rates for 29 years with one 3.5% jump in year 30 would see gross profit go from $24 million in year 29 to $4.3 million in year 30 (from 3.1% of deposits to .55%). Changing to a gradual .5% annual increase - gross profit still drops to $6 million (from 3.1% to .76%). These loans jumps may be drastic but so was the effect. A rate hike as low as 1.5% can devastate a bank. Every banker on the planet can see the problem with low rate long term mortgages - they are going to sell a vast majority of them.

bry911 since no borrower can prevent their loan from being sold I wonder why would you worry? If it is sold to a company that you do not like the only thing you can do is find a new lender. Please explain why you should worry about something you can not prevent.

Most banks make their money from fees and not loans which is the reverse from many years ago.

I didn't mean that you need to worry about it, but it is a concern, an unintended consequence of the secondary and mortgage backed securities market. The problem was specifically addressed with HARP but those funds are running out, and the banking industry, driven by consumer demand, should be looking for a market side solution. The servicer of a mortgage, should retain some power to mark a loan down when doing so is good for both bank and consumer.

Very few banks make their money from fees. I just pulled up the financial statements of twenty banks and not a single one of them made even half their money from fees. I can't ever remember seeing one, and I teach a class on regulated entities. I am teaching the class next semester and I assign an analysis of banking financial statements, I will pay special attention to revenue structures to see if any student finds one.

I agree completely. What-ifs can be interesting to think and talk about. Too many people have trouble doing realistic risk assessments. Just because something is different or possible doesn't mean it warrants any attention or concern.

I personally don't have any anxiety about whether or not I have enough coffee, or other easily solvable mundane problems. I tend to focus my concerns on problems that I can't solve with a trip to the grocery store (and yes, it includes an interest in avoiding a repeat of the mortgage market collapse that passed on trillions of dollars of debt to my kids...not our proudest moment I think.) I am in no way saying you are wrong for being worried about your coffee nor am I trying to judge you.