Looking to refi a home that was recently remodeled and rented out. The last two refinances have been very slow. Two different lenders both having issues with increased volume. Has anyone recently completed a cash out that they felt went smoothly? Can we share that info here? National lenders please.

Thanks!

@Jeff M. most national lenders are somewhat counter-productive to "fast".  Now, what your definition of "slow" is on your last deals might be relative.  So if it took 5 weeks....that might be fast to most lenders anywhere.  We do try to work with smaller, local lenders...they tend to be more flexible...but if fast is the most important priority then focus on portfolio/commercial style loans.  The exchange will be the rate but the simpler/faster might be more of what you need. I would still encourage you to post in the local state forums that you are investing in to see if any locals can guide you to a good lender.  They may not be nationwide but it might be a good place to start.  Hope this helps in some way.

Where's the property?

@Jeff M.

I think around 60 days is pretty standard for refi these days. They prioritize purchases given escrow deadlines. It is a busy time.

You can still close fast. You need to do some homework and due diligence. May want to find a mortgage broker in your area, they will have optionality, and be able to go "ok so the slow lender wants $X for Y% rate. The faster lender wants $Z for that exact same Y% rate. Is it worth $X-$Z to close in 3 weeks rather than 2-3 months?" so you can exactly quantify what, if anything, you are paying, for that speed (that premium has been shrinking drastically as the market normalizes around COVID-19 as the "new norm").

I've got my partner realtors out there submitting offers with variants of "123 Main St, Oakland: CLOSE BY CHRISTMAS!!!" in the subject line, to give that listing agent an easy one-liner to relay to their sellers, and to stand apart, when presenting the multiple offers. :) In some cases, $700k by Christmas is going to be viewed by the seller as a better offer than $725k some time early next year. So far it looks like it's particularly effective this year.

Thanks to everyone that took the time to reply.