how to define "primary house“？

No, it now is her rental. If she is renting a new home, that is her residence. If she took a loan in last few years, the lender requires that you live or occupy the residence for a set amount of time. Certain lenders will check on occupancy. If she moves back to the house, becomes her primary again.

thanks for your reply, i really appreciate it!
she is considering to refinance her mortgage as her rate is adjustble right now. the house value is about 200,000 and the loan balace is ~118,000. she doesn't need cash out and just want to fix the rate. 15 year or 5/1 both are fine. do you have any sugestions on rate and closing cost estimation?

thanks in advance!

It depends on your state. Also, since she actually does not live at the property it would be a Non-Owner Occupied loan. Which just has a slightly higher rate than a owner occupied loan. In california, for a loan size of 120k, the third party fees would be: Title ~800, escrow ~1000, appraisal ~400, and prepaid interest, which is basically part of a mortgage payment that gets paid off during the closing. Finding the right title and escrow company can get your costs lower. Then if you go to a broker or loan company, they will have some fees as well. All our fees total 1040, which is underwriting, processing, documents and flood cert - for FHA loans. Rate, if she has 720-740+ credit, with verifiable income, She could get pre-approved for a non owner occupied in CA on a 120k loan is in the 4% range for 15yr and in the mid 3% range for 5yr arm.

Thanks again! It sounds good. Can I call you to get details?

Of course 714-367-5125 ext 2267

Chris Gummerson