Hi...Trying to decide whether or not to refinance

[sheehs1]

I look at a lot of bank loans and banks and I can tell you that all banks care about is that you can make the payments. They don't care if you can get ahead long term, meet your goals, etc. They don't morally judge, they just want the money. Ignore their views of your creditworthiness when setting your sight on your goals and figuring out how to meet them.

+10
Agree 100%.
Banks absolutely do not care. They are interested in getting you into debt up to your eyeballs. More money for them.
You are in a "competition with the banks and other lending entities....to get and keep getting your money. Guess who typically wins?
Be atypical.

 

[lostgator]

Hi all,

As a quick update, I sent in the listing agreement on the beach lot. It will be interesting to see if it sells quickly or if it will just languish. In the meantime, we are holding tight to the cash, as we may need it in the future for emergencies. I appreciate everyone providing me with your insight, I really do. Thank you.

I would have gotten back sooner (and addressed some of your more specific points) but we just got some bad health news on a member of our family and have been in a bit of a whirlwind since. I will come back and do so as soon as I can.

 

[JOHN CARRIGAN]

Hey Gator,

As nice as it would be to reduce your interest rates, I think using all of your savings (plus having to borrow more) might not be a good idea. While you have solid jobs, you never know when you may have some kind of financial emergency and you'd have nothing to fall back on. Maybe you could build that cushion back up again, but I get the sense that there isn't necessarily a lot left over each month based on all of your real estate... IMO, a comfortable amount of property for a $200,000 income is maybe $500,000, excluding rental property (assuming it cash flows). Although if you've got no kids and your retirement will largely be taken care of with DB plans, maybe more works okay. Am I wrong about the saving / spending? Anyway, not sure if there's a good answer for this but that's what first came to mind for me. There are lots of smart people here though that might have some other thoughts.

I too feel that they are over extended with the amount of real estate they have taken on. Although selling sounds like that is not an option for them at this time. Wow! Talk about being caught between a rock and a hard place! Would packaging a refi. be a possibility?

 

[mnopqr]

Whoa, that's a lot of real estate for your income level.

 

[HawkeyeNFO]

Don't worry about Nords, he's a harmless recovering submariner! But, he knows his stuff. Hell, he wrote the book on it!
IMO, the beach lot has to go. It was bought as a gamble, and didn't work out. Time to cut your losses. Property that produces income would be another story though.

 

[Surewhitey]

Ditto, too much property. "House poor" comes to mind.

I'd sell it all and start fresh. Just do the end calculation of interest on all your loans, prop taxes & insurance and tell me you feel good about the next 15 years...

I always hated making the bank rich on interest payments. Made us pay off my home in 4 years...

 

[Milton]

Like everyone else, Nords has his biases and prejudices. His guidance is not infallible nor is his word final, and you are free to disagree with him.

For whatever it may be worth, I concur with his view that you already have too much in real estate and that it would make no sense to build on the beach lot in the hope of increasing the proceeds of a sale.

I sent in the listing agreement on the beach lot. It will be interesting to see if it sells quickly or if it will just languish.

Absent toxic waste or similar unusual situations, all real property will sell at the right price. If the lot hasn't sold after a reasonable time has passed, I suggest cutting the asking price until it moves.

 

[ERD50]

Hi Everyone,

I tried to respond to my original thread but after I had written everything out I got a message that it was too old to reply to. My original post, outlining our situation back in 2011 is here: http://www.early-retirement.org/for...decide-whether-or-not-to-refinance-58295.html
....

How'd I do it then?

I always see this message:

Old Thread Warning

This Thread is more than 1145 days old. It is very likely that it does not need any further discussion and thus bumping it serves no purpose.
If you still feel it is necessary to make a new reply, you can still do so though.

[ ] I am aware that this Thread is rather old but I still want to make a reply.

I just check the box, and it allows me to post. Of course, you should heed the warning, but I think it makes sense to continue the original thread if it is relevant.

-ERD50

 

[Bestwifeever]

How'd I do it then?

I always see this message:

I just check the box, and it allows me to post. Of course, you should heed the warning, but I think it makes sense to continue the original thread if it is relevant.

-ERD50

To thwart potential scammers, there may be a minimum post threshhold that the OP has not reached (being at only 7 posts now) before the option of posting to an old thread is available as it is to the rest of us.

 

[ERD50]

To thwart potential scammers, there may be a minimum post threshhold that the OP has not reached (being at only 7 posts now) before the option of posting to an old thread is available as it is to the rest of us.

Ahhhh, thanks. I always wondered why people said they couldn't respond to an old thread.

-ERD50

 

[wolf]

Lots of "tough love" on this board, I see that as a good thing. It's not a "mainstream" board, you can get info and advice that isn't common in the finance world. That's why I've been lurking here for over 5 years.

The key here is for you to take a good look at your real estate bias...
You totally blew off the post that put your net worth at 70k. And the one that said you are over-heavy real estate. You also commented it's our only debt....we don't owe on other things...if you had any more debt, you net worth would go negative.

Also, I am wondering about the 140+ you have in 2nds, was this to avoid PMI and make a low down payment? Or was some of it used to "pay cash" for your empty lot? Another sign of being top heavy in real estate.

Also, your use of the terms "fire sale" and depressed markets and rental income, along with the idea of building on the empty lot, lead me to believe you are in denial about the true state of the real estate market. Fire sale is market price...

BTW, don't shoot the messengers because you aren't happy about what they are telling you. You won't hear any advice like this from bankers, or real estate people, or builders.

As to what you should do, your call of course, just be aware of the messages you are getting from people here, I don't think they answer posts to make fun of you or mock you. I have found this board to be a mix of pretty neat people

++1

Agree and agree with other posts. OP, listen and learn. This site has
quite a few posters with "real live" experience. Not pure academia.

 

[scrinch]

++1

Agree and agree with other posts. OP, listen and learn. This site has
quite a few posters with "real live" experience. Not pure academia.

And nothing to gain by leading you astray, like all the bankers, brokers, and realtors do.