 TITLE: What Can You Use a Cash-Out Refinance For? CONTENT: Will a Cash-Out Refinance Affect Your Credit Score?\n---------------------------------------------------\nA cash-out refinance can affect your credit score in several ways, though most of them minor. Some of them are:\n*   Submitting an application for a cash-out refinance will trigger what's known as a hard inquiry when the lender checks your credit report. This will lead to a slight, but temporary, drop in your credit score.\n*   Shopping around can cause a decline in your credit score. If you apply with several lenders in search of the lowest interest rate over a roughly 14- to 45-day period, the impact on your credit score could be minimal. That's because most credit-scoring models look at this as one inquiry rather than several inquiries. However, if you spread out the applications over a period of months, your credit score could suffer.\n*   Replacing your old mortgage with a new mortgage will lower the average age of your credit, possibly translating into a dip in your credit score. But if you established a solid payment history with the old mortgage, your credit score might see only a small, temporary decrease if any. END