A question for finance/numbers geeks, refi house to payoff car?

A question for finance/numbers geeks, refi house to payoff car?

Rental Property Investor · Phoenix, AZ · Member since 2016 · 94 posts · 13 votes

So looking for a second and third opinion on a situation.  My partner has amazing credit.  She also has a 2019 Honda Accord at 60 months at 1.9% that is a year old loan and owes about $22,000 on it.  She has a house worth $160k and owes $105k at a 4.9% rate THAT she only plans to stay in less than three years.  So here's the deal, I have mentioned to her to refi the house, pull the cash out and payoff the car, which would take an additional $3900 out of pocket.  The refi of the house would put her payment about the same as her current payment, possibly a little more at obviously a lower rate.  Paying off the car would save around $400 a month.  So on my end she recoups out of pocket in 10 months and pockets an extra $300-$400 per month till she sells the house.  

Her concerns are making sure this is a good thing to do and the what "ifs" down the road...if the market goes south, does it make sense, etc.

To note, she lives in a decent area of Kentucky that the town really wasn't affected by 2007 at all so I have mentioned to her if the housing market goes south, she has 20% equity built into the home to play with for selling it.  Two, she will have less tax when selling the house due to having a smaller profit...even due to the refi.  The cash out is tax free.  And of course one less debt to worry about with a depreciating asset that she will never have to worry about again.  The added interest will of course be tax deductible.  


Hopefully this all makes sense, again looking for thoughts on all of this or may be a better way to show/explain to her how it is beneficial in the end for a mother of three teenage girls looking to save up cash.  To be clear, this does NOT make sense if she stays in the house longer than five years due to technically paying more for the car.  Again, the immediate goal for the next couple years is cashflow. 


Appreciate the time and help.

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  • Financial Advisor · Salt Lake City, UT · Member since 2020 · 13 posts · 3 votes
    6y

    Hey, Christian! Hope I can be of help.

    I personally would not go through the refinancing process for the purposes of paying off her car myself for a few reasons.

    The interest rate on her Honda is astounding! 1.9% means that the car company wanted her money so much, they were financing her at a rate that barely keeps pace with inflation and that's it! If you were to pay off the car with some of the equity she has in the house, she would effectively be paying the houses new interest rate on her car (around that 4% mark) versus the great rate she already has.

    Secondly, refinancing takes some upfront capital that could likely be put to better use elsewhere. My personal opinion is that anything that costs around 4-5% a year and is for a GOOD REASON (car, house, student loans, etc.) is a great value and you could take all of that money that you might be using to pay off that balance in full and invest it in the stock market - which with EXTREMELY conservative estimates can yield about 6% each year if you ride out the waves.

    I am not a CPA, but the tax deductibility is always attractive to people. However, even if you could write off a portion of that tax, you will effectively be paying a higher rate overall to refinance the car into a home loan (unless the home rate it lower that 2.5%ish). 

    If you want anymore clarification on my personal reasoning, just let me know and I'd be happy to help. Best of luck, Christian!!!

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