Need to refinance my mortgage...where to start?

[Jeanne B]

Ex-DH and I divorced in December, I got the house and it was agreed that I would get the mortgage in my name only by this summer. I'm living in the first house we bought in our mid-20's and I'm now 41 so I'm very inexperienced when it comes to mortgages and I've never had a home equity loan. My mortgage balance is $33k, value is around $90-100k but I also need to do some work on the house. I paid cash to have my garage built but the remaining work I need done ($10-15k) I'd rather finance whether it's through a home equity loan or through the refinancing of my mortgage.

My mortgage is currently with Bank of America and I went on lendingtree.com and got my current credit score (771). Ideally I'd like to refinance and get the extra cash to do the remodeling at the same time but any advice anyone can offer about where to start would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

I would start by calling your current lender. If you have a good payment history, chances are they'll want to keep you as a customer. Ask if they have any no-point options for current customers. If you don't like their offer, you can try calling other lenders to see what kind of deal they would offer you. You can also try calling mortgage broker and see what kind of deal they can find for you.