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Spent the last few weeks researching mortgage refinance in Texas for my own place and figured I'd share notes, since a lot of the advice online is written for other states and doesn't apply here.
Things that surprised me:
1. The 80% rule. If you do a cash out refinance in Texas, the new loan legally can't exceed 80% of your appraised value. It's in the state constitution (Section 50(a)(6)). Some national lenders quoted me numbers that wouldn't even be legal here — red flag.
2. The 12-day wait. Texas requires a minimum 12 days between application and closing on equity loans. Anyone promising a 1-week cash-out close in Texas either doesn't know the law or is quoting a different loan type.
3. One equity loan per year. You can't stack cash-out refis. Rate-and-term refis don't have this limit though.
4. The break-even math matters more than the rate. Closing costs ? monthly savings = months to break even. Mine came out to 21 months and I'm staying put, so it made sense. If you're moving in 2 years, probably skip it.
Also learned the hard way that lender choice matters a lot here — the out-of-state ones kept fumbling the Texas-specific paperwork. Ended up using a free refinance advisor tool that laid out my equity and rate options without a hard credit pull, which made comparing way easier: https://dreamhomemortgage.com/refinance-advisor/
Happy to answer questions if anyone's going through the same process. What rates are people seeing in DFW right now?
Things that surprised me:
1. The 80% rule. If you do a cash out refinance in Texas, the new loan legally can't exceed 80% of your appraised value. It's in the state constitution (Section 50(a)(6)). Some national lenders quoted me numbers that wouldn't even be legal here — red flag.
2. The 12-day wait. Texas requires a minimum 12 days between application and closing on equity loans. Anyone promising a 1-week cash-out close in Texas either doesn't know the law or is quoting a different loan type.
3. One equity loan per year. You can't stack cash-out refis. Rate-and-term refis don't have this limit though.
4. The break-even math matters more than the rate. Closing costs ? monthly savings = months to break even. Mine came out to 21 months and I'm staying put, so it made sense. If you're moving in 2 years, probably skip it.
Also learned the hard way that lender choice matters a lot here — the out-of-state ones kept fumbling the Texas-specific paperwork. Ended up using a free refinance advisor tool that laid out my equity and rate options without a hard credit pull, which made comparing way easier: https://dreamhomemortgage.com/refinance-advisor/
Happy to answer questions if anyone's going through the same process. What rates are people seeing in DFW right now?
