You shouldn't bother refinancing your home unless you can shave at least 1% interest rate off your mortgage. Unless, of course, you are way upside down and ANY savings would make a difference. You will need to determine the fees attached to a re-fi and then determine if you will actually save money. I am not sure why you would re-fi when your house is on the market. What would you do if your house sold while you were in the middle of the deal?

No. Lender underwriting guidelines have NEVER allowed a homeowner to refinance while the home is listed on MLS. Many will require at least one day, if not a full month, off the market before it is sufficiently seasoned. Underwriting guidelines will vary by lender and even by lending program from the same lender. Having said that ... does that mean your agent can't still continue to market the property through other means? Of course not. The agent can use any other means possible that the loan underwriter cannot access (e.g., local newspapers, magazines, private websites, etc.). Ask your lender to be sure. I am a licensed Realtor and lender with 8 years experience, so I do know that of which I speak.

Like most of the other financial or economy questions that pop up on this site and others, it seems that our lawmakers try to put bandaids on cancer. Personally, I'm of "old school". If I can't pay for it, I don't put it on credit cards, if I can make it, or do it myself, I try to do so, if I want to learn about something I actually do some research. I really have to put a bit more responsibility on the consumer who over buys, over mortgages, and really, over reaches just because of perceived values (semantic freedom with that last sentence is encouraged). Please don't get me wrong, there ARE predatory business practices, and the ones that just KILL me are the smoke and mirror, you need this service, "products" that lending institutions, and underwriters try to sell everyday. Our society has been a throw away society for a number of decades and this has led to environmental problems and economic disasters. Very few things have any lasting value unless some 'expert' assigns them so. It is odd to me that we've come to this point in culture: that is OK to be debt laden, that it is encouraged to "shop" rather than "make". The thing that keeps coming back to me, that realization I had that things would never turn back around: Bush's advice to Americans after 911: "Just go shop." As if that will make everything all better again.