Even if you can't modify your existing loan, many lenders now offer "streamlined"
refinancings. Among the bigger lenders that do: Norwest, Countrywide and Citicorp Mortgage.
A streamlined refinance can cut your application-to-approval time in half.
These deals may require just a loan application, a few documents (a pay stub and your last
W-2) and a limited credit check. And you can sometimes get away without a new appraisal. At
First Union Mortgage, for example, you can skip the appraisal on a refinancing if the
company is already servicing your loan. Ditto for Countrywide, as long as you owe no
more than 80% of the loan value.
Les Frahm went through a streamlined refinance with Norwest in February. Frahm cut the rate
on his Troy, Mich., home from just over 8% to 6.375% on a three-year adjustable-rate
mortgage. Not bad. But what Frahm really liked was how fast the process clipped along. "Doug
[from Norwest] had all my information from the previous loan," he says. "He stopped by with
updated papers, I signed four different pages, and he was on his way."
Unfortunately, the rules on streamlines can be pretty strict. You may be able to refinance
only up to the amount that's due on your current loan or be limited to fixed-rate loans
only. Streamlines generally require your credit history to be pristine, and if your
situation is a little unusual -- you've got bonus income, for example, or just relocated or
got a new job -- your streamline may run into snags. But the important thing is, do ask your
lender or your mortgage broker -- because you can't count on them to ask you. "I'm always
getting calls from the [mortgage] wholesaler saying, 'Half the customers you're sending me
are streamlines. You don't need all this documentation,'" says Peter Wairegi, president of
Nationwide Mortgage Services in Cleveland.