I have a nosey question

[KayLaw]

My neighbor just painted his house. When I was walking by, he asked me what I thought of the color. After chatting for a few minutes, he told me they painted it because they were trying to refinance and he wanted it valued as highly as possible.

I'm thinking he wants to withdraw equity. Have ARMs dropped, or is there any scenerio other than mine that would explain his re-fi? I'm partly interested because he told me he would never vote for Democrats because we're not compassionate enough, and said after Bush's election, we'd all be sitting in high cotton. He also called John Kerrey a traitor to his country.

Just the same, I don't think he's an evil person in any way--just misguided--and, at some point, I'd like to befriend him and his family. Maybe the time is now?

[MissWaverly]

1. he probably wants to pay off credit card debt

many have it and are paranoid about the new law

[Ready4Change]

3. New law?

[KayLaw]

4. She means the new bankrupsty law

But, no, this was before that happened.

[Ready4Change]

6. Ah, thanks. n/t

[Ready4Change]

2. I suspect rates are poised to rise.

If someone's been waiting for rates to go lower, they may be seeing rates about to go up and deciding to pull the trigger now, and get a fixed rate rather than watch their ARMS go through the roof.

[unblock]

5. could be for any of a number of reasons

housing prices probably are up since he bought or last refinanced, so there is untapped equity that he could borrow against for a variety of purposes from paying off more expensive debt (e.g., credit cards or car loans, perhaps) or for making home improvements or to just plain spend frivolously.

alternatively, he could be changing the type of mortgage, from fixed rate to floating or vice versa or from a 10/1 to a 3/1 or whatever.


painting your house is a good thing to do if you're actually going to sell it, but it pretty much does nothing from an appraiser's point of view, unless the house is considered unsellable without it. if it's just a matter of color choice, or the current paint job could last another year or two, then he shouldn't bother, at least not simply for appraisal purposes.

appraisals for mortgages are very formulaic, so if he's not in the "must repaint" category, then now's not the right time for it.

[T Bone]

7. It's been said that YELLOW houses sell best, and fastest

I don't know how true that actually is, but I noticed a lot of people paint their house yellow right before they put it on the market, around here. What color did he paint it?

I am not sure what color is best for a high appraisal for a re-fi, though. :shrug:

[KayLaw]

8. Tha's funny

He painted it yellow but it turned out to be deeper yellow than he thought. No one in the neighborhood likes it because it's so bright, but I really think it's okay.

I guess there are a lot of reasons he could want to refinance. I just thought the craze was pretty much over.

I hope to talk him into voting Dem next election. He's a Gulf War vet and refuses to fly a flag over his house because he feels he was screwed by the government over some disability.