I bought my townhome near Short Pump back in 2023 when rates were sky high. My current mortgage is at 7.5 percent and it is killing me every month. I have a 660 credit score now, which is better than when I bought, and I have about 20k in equity based on recent sales in my neighborhood.

I am wondering if refinancing makes sense for someone with my numbers. I do not have a ton of cash to bring to closing, but I really need to lower my payment. My job is stable and I have not missed a single payment in two years.

Has anyone in Henrico refinanced recently with a credit score in the 600s? Which lenders or brokers actually gave you a fair deal? How much did closing costs run you?

Also, I keep hearing that some lenders use old credit models that do not reflect my on time payment history very well. I read an article about something called VantageScore 4.0 that looks at your payment trends over 24 months instead of just a frozen snapshot. That sounds like it would help someone like me who has been consistent lately but has some older dings.

How do I find a lender who actually uses that newer model? And is there a way to get a real quote without them pulling my credit hard and possibly dropping my score further?

I am ready to make a move but I do not want to get ripped off or waste my time. Any local advice would be a huge help, thanks!

I'm so heartbroken, frustrated and angry. The only skilled nursing facility that I slightly trusted just had some serious allegations. The last thing I want is for my loved one to be abused. It's bad enough they have dementia. Does anyone have experience with any memory care units who take medicaid that are around the Richmond or Henrico County area. At this point, traveling to make sure they are safe is definitely on the table. I would prefer to be close but if close doesn't provide a safe, clean and supervised facility, I would not mind traveling.

Does anyone work out at the eastern Henrico Rec Center (on Laburnum)?
I live in Henrico so I could go there to work out and it would be much cheaper than my current gym, but I have had the worst luck trying to get over there to get a tour/look at the gym – I literally drove over there just now and there was an accident out in front of the rec center, and they wouldn’t let me turn into the parking lot. Like I said the worst luck (though more importantly, I hope everyone is OK).
I’m just wondering if they have some certain equipment and what the general vibe is like of the gym there?
What I would be looking for would be a stairmaster, pec deck, leg extension machine, leg curl machine, some version of a leg press whether it’s a rack or machine I don’t care, a wide variety of dumbbells and benches, including a appropriate bench for preachers, a weight bearing ab machine, and at least a few varieties of kettle bells.

lol I’m not expecting someone to be able to answer to all of those, but I just thought I would be specific in case this hits the eyes of someone who works out there who could answer easily. Thanks!

Missing 17 year old in Henrico

Hello, I just have a question. My dad is building a detached gazebo thing on our backyard patio. It is not attached to the house or anything, I think it’s just flushed to the wall. We are not native English speakers and have a hard time understanding the building laws for the county. We have some tricky neighbors next door, if they do call the county to check, would we get in trouble? I don’t think our patio is big or anything. He just wanted something to keep the sun out and be able to hang out in the patio for this summer. It’s pretty much as of right now, it looks like a 3d box that you would draw.

My family is missing a small orange cat. His name is rainbow. He meows a lot. He’s not neutered.