I recently made an inquiry to a lender about a refi loan and he asked if the property had been on the mls in the past 12 months. I had purchased the property via the mls but it is not listed on the mls now. The lender stated that would make it more difficult to get the loan. Why would a mls listing (past or present) make it more difficult to get a refi loan?
The MLS restriction doesnt apply if you purchased a property off the MLS and want to refi.
It is enforeced on situations where you as the owner of the property have it listed for sale and want to refinance.
The majority of lenders require the property to be off the MLS for 12 months, a handful allow for 3-6 months, a few just require it to be taken off before application.
Lenders have found that most times the refinance is completed and shortly after the property is sold. Wholesale lenders are not in business to make short term loans.
BOA and Homecomings are the only two lenders I know of that will allow a refinance on a property that has been listed in the last 12 months (by the current owner) recent purchases not withstanding.
To further add—one need not remove their property from the MLS in order to do a cash out refi—their are hard money lenders that will lend up to 70 LTV with the property actively on the MLS…
Another approach that could work (another hard money approach that will work regardless if it is on or off the MLS) is you can “bridge” (bridge off the property on/off the MLS to purchase the new property).
Regards,
Scott Miller