Can anyone share the latest resources, approaches or solution-oriented stories for those who are upside-down on their homes with little to no equity and have ARMs and/or interest only mortages? Is shopping around for refinancing likely to turn up any takers to convert said mortgage to a fixed rate with reasonable interest?
I am hearing stories through my grapevine that some banks are becoming mighty flexible and others are milking (justifiably?) their ARMs and interest-only mortgages for every cent. A friend wrote me yesterday that another friend got a refinancing on a house that had declined from $350k to $150k. Not sure exactly what "refinancing" means here, but curiously, allegedly the bank staff said, "This is what the $700 billion bailout is for." Was this rhetoric?
I am querying for a friend.