This is from our webmaster Paul:

My wife and I recently started to refinance and went back to the company that our loan was with.  The new programs passed down from the government made the process smoother, if you can believe that.  So, with no documentation and nothing out of pocket, we started the process. 

We had completed major renovations to the home and were anxious to see what the appraisal would tell us.  We knew that the market in our area had lost between 10 and 20 percent in the last 20 months.  Our last appraisal 18 months ago came in at $435.  We renovated the bathroom completely and did some other work and just had it appraised a week ago.  It came back at $415 which is better than we thought it would be, because Zillow.com has us at $347.  (Another good point to digest - Online tools are not always accurate)

I bring all of this up because we didn't know and it was foolish to guess.  And - We were able to switch to another mortgage company with full documentation and were able to save almost $500 a month on our mortgage.  Now - Both lenders said it would be tough to write the loan, but both were wrong and passed on the good news quickly.  None of this could have been answered without making some sort of effort to find out. 

Do not let the media dictate what is best for you or your family.  If you are wanting a bigger home, now is a perfect time to make that call and find out the benefits of working in this market with experienced professionals.  Bottom Line - We never would have known anything for sure about our situation unless we did something to help oursleves.  All markets are different for sure, but all one has to do is ask how they can either make or save money in the current market. 

All it takes is a phone call or an email.....