My home is underwater can i refinance

It doesn't include interest or outstanding charges, like late fees or foreclosure-related charges, that you owe now or would owe in the future. For a statement of exactly how much you would need to pay off the loan, you can request a payoff statement from your mortgage servicer , which will include the unpaid principal balance plus interest and fees. How to request a payoff statement from your servicer.

You can request a payoff statement by calling your servicer or, in some cases, by making your request online. The payoff statement will include precisely how much you must pay by a specified date to satisfy the debt. It will include any interest you owe through a specifidate, and any other fees you have incurred and not paid. Don't forget to include your other mortgages in the total when determining whether you're underwater. If you have a second mortgage on your home, be sure to find out how much you owe on that mortgage as well.

Then, add the total amount you owe on the second mortgage to the first mortgage amount. Where to find out the sale prices of nearby, similar homes. You can find out the sale prices for similar homes in your area at www. Run a search for your area and select the "Recently Sold" option to view sale prices.

Look for homes that recently sold in your neighborhood and are similar to yours in terms of square footage, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and features to figure out an approximate value of your home. Zillow will also give you an estimate called a "Zestimate" of what it thinks the current market value of your home is based on the data it has in its system gathered from public records and information entered by users.

Be aware, however, that this number could be way off. Zillow uses an automated system and can't account for variations such as special features, location, maintenance needs, and market conditions.

Take your home's current market value and subtract your total mortgage debt. Use our mortgage payoff calculator to run the numbers for your specific situation. The more money you can pull together to pay down principal, the faster you build equity in your home. To qualify you must have made on-time mortgage payments over the past six months and no more than one late payment in the past 12 months. They can walk you through the process and make sure you meet the criteria for a HARP-backed mortgage.

But there are other scenarios—and one is to sell your home. Now, when you sell while your home value is down, you do lose money. In a short sale process, the lender has to agree to sell your home for less than what you owe on it. If they agree to consider a short sale offer, you need to partner with a real estate agent who has experience in short sales to get your home on the market. As the seller, you negotiate the terms with a potential buyer, but ultimately, your lender makes the final call on whether or not an offer gets approved.

In a foreclosure situation, the lender takes control of your home because you are unable to make your payments. Then the lender will sell the house as quickly as possible to try to recoup as much money as they can. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Part of. Deciding to Refinance. Getting the Loan. Special Circumstances. Table of Contents Expand. Table of Contents.

Refinancing Options. Other Options for Relief. Wait It Out? By Justin Pritchard. Justin Pritchard, CFP, is a fee-only advisor and an expert on personal finance. He covers banking, loans, investing, mortgages, and more for The Balance. He has an MBA from the University of Colorado, and has worked for credit unions and large financial firms, in addition to writing about personal finance for more than two decades.

Learn about our editorial policies. Reviewed by Khadija Khartit. It can be difficult, if not impossible, to earn a profit when trying to sell an underwater home. What can you do if you owe more on your mortgage loan than what your house is worth? You have several options, though not all of them are particularly pleasant. The best choice is to stay put.

This is a good choice if you like your home and your neighborhood. Unfortunately, life has a way of changing this plan. Maybe you or your spouse needs to move because of a job relocation.