Randy Johnson, president of Independence Mortgage Co. in Newport Beach, author of “How to Save Thousands of Dollars on Your Home Mortgage” and a mortgage broker since 1983, answers questions… Q. I bought a condo in Corona in December 2005. I owe $290,000 on the first – 10-year interest-only – and $32,000 on the second – which is due in 15 years with a big balloon due at that time. We have made all payments on time and we have excellent FICO scores. We can afford our payments right now but will struggle when payments go up. Since recent comps in our condo community are about $150,000, I am looking at alternatives because we are so upside-down. I ran across an Internet site that proposes a short sale-refi, in which they would negotiate with the servicers to do a short sale on my condo. Then I would buy it right back, hence short sale-refi. Plus no upfront fees! All fees and costs would be rolled into new loan! After doing some Internet searches, this “short sale-refi” is only offered by one company.

Read more here – Suspicious of ’short sale-refi’