A Refinance Built For Modest Incomes.
If your income is at or below the area median, RefiNow is designed to make refinancing worth doing.
Quick answer
Saxton Mortgage does. At least one RefiNow program we offer lists a 580 minimum credit score on a primary residence rate and term refinance. Your current loan must be owned or securitized by Fannie Mae, income must not exceed 100% of area median income, and the new loan needs a rate drop of at least half a percentage point plus a lower payment. That program also provides a $500 credit, passed on to you, when an appraisal was obtained.
A refinance that has to leave you better off, by rule
RefiNow only works if the new loan measurably lowers what you pay.
- Current mortgage owned by Fannie Mae, confirmed with Loan Lookup
- The loan you have now must be owned by Fannie Mae.
- Clean six months, with one 30-day late allowed in months 7 to 12
- It also has to reduce your monthly payment, counting principal, interest and mortgage insurance.
- New loan is fixed rate; ARMs and HomeReady loans are excluded
- $500 appraisal credit when no waiver is offered*
One program sets no minimum score
Income up to 100% of area median
Existing loan owned by Fannie Mae
RefiNow can be used once
One recent paystub for salaried pay
Single-family homes only
What is the Saxton RefiNow Refinance?
A Fannie Mae refinance aimed at homeowners who were not being served well by a standard refinance.
Refinancing is supposed to save you money, but the costs and qualifying hurdles can eat the benefit, especially for households on a modest income. RefiNow was created by Fannie Mae to address that. It is a conventional refinance with rules that force the new loan to actually be an improvement.
The eligibility rules are unusual in a good way. Rather than only asking whether you qualify, the program asks whether the refinance is worth doing. The new loan must cut your interest rate by at least half a percentage point, and it must reduce your monthly payment once principal, interest and mortgage insurance are counted. If it does not do both, it does not qualify.
There are boundaries. Your total income has to be at or below the area median income where you live, the mortgage you currently have must be owned by Fannie Mae, and the home has to be your primary residence. It is available for single-family attached and detached homes, but not for two- to four-unit properties.
Why choose the Saxton RefiNow Refinance?
For homeowners whose income has kept them out of a refinance that made sense.
The Benefit Is Required
Most refinances leave it to you to work out whether the numbers are worth it. Here the improvement is a condition of eligibility, not an outcome you hope for.
Written For Modest Incomes
The income limit is not a disadvantage here. It is the qualification. This program exists specifically for households at or below the area median.
Both Rate And Payment
It is not enough for the rate to move. The monthly payment has to come down too, with mortgage insurance included in that math.
A Straightforward Path
This is a conventional refinance backed by Fannie Mae, not an exotic product. The structure is familiar, the rules are simply tighter in your favor.
We Check Ownership First
Whether Fannie Mae owns your current loan is the first gate, and it takes us a moment to look up. No reason to go further until we know.
We Check Ownership First
Confirming that Fannie Mae owns your loan and that your income fits the limit takes very little time, and it decides everything after it.
Hear From Homeowners Like You
Frequently Asked Questions
Straight answers about refinancing through the RefiNow program.
Saxton Retail Mortgage arranges Fannie Mae RefiNow loans for homeowners whose current mortgage Fannie Mae owns. The new loan requires DU Approve/Eligible findings that indicate RefiNow, and it cannot be manually underwritten.
The Loan Lookup tool on Fannie Mae’s site shows whether Fannie Mae owns your mortgage, a RefiNow requirement. The loan must also be seasoned 12 months or more, from its original note date to the new note date, and it cannot be a past DU Refi Plus or Refi Plus loan.
For RefiNow, DU compares qualifying income from everyone on the note against 100% of AMI where the home is located, and it must not go over. Only income used to qualify counts toward that test.
RefiNow sets a minimum rate reduction of 50 basis points, so a smaller drop does not qualify. The combined monthly principal, interest and MI must also shrink, and RefiNow does not allow temporary buydowns.
Yes, RefiNow needs a lower monthly P&I payment, with mortgage insurance included when your loan carries it. The rate test and the payment test are separate, and the new loan has to pass both.
No, RefiNow refinances only a primary residence that you occupy. Borrowers who live elsewhere may stay on, but nobody new can be added, and someone can come off only after a death or when the remaining borrowers prove 12 months of payments from their own funds.
No, at one program RefiNow excludes 2-4 unit properties*, so a duplex calls for a different refinance. Approved condos, PUDs, single-unit homes and multi-wide manufactured homes qualify there, but single-wide homes do not*.
No, RefiNow is a limited cash-out loan that holds cash back to $250. A second mortgage has to stay in place behind the new loan, because RefiNow proceeds cannot pay it off. Learn more about cash-out refinance.
Find out what you qualify for
If your income is at or below the area median and Fannie Mae owns your loan, this is worth ten minutes of checking. Let us look it up with you.
Get Pre-Qualified*Loan amounts, rates, terms, and eligibility are subject to credit approval, income and asset verification, and program guidelines. RefiNow requires the existing loan to be owned by Fannie Mae, borrower income at or below the applicable area median income, and a resulting reduction in both interest rate and monthly payment. Primary residence only. Not all applicants will qualify. Saxton Mortgage, LLC is an Equal Housing Lender.