The process is the same loan you already know: application, appraisal, underwriting. What changes is the paperwork and the price. On documentation, an investment property refinance is heavier because the lender has to account for the rental income and expenses. Expect tax returns and the rental history so underwriting can verify what the property actually brings in and what it costs to carry. On pricing, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac apply investment-property loan-level price adjustments on top of their base pricing, so a rental prices higher than the same loan on your primary residence at the same credit score and loan-to-value. The exact size of those adjustments shifts whenever the pricing matrix updates, so treat the mechanism as permanent and the magnitude as a moving number. Second homes changed too. They used to price nearly as well as primaries, but since a 2022 pricing change they sit much closer to investment-property pricing, though investment adjustments are still the highest tier. So don't assume a vacation home refinance behaves like a primary either. The summary: more documentation and a higher rate, wrapped around an otherwise identical process. When you weigh whether a rental refinance pencils, use that higher rate in the break-even math, because it raises the bar the monthly savings have to clear. If you want the numbers run on your specific property, that's the free Roadmap conversation, about 20 minutes where we run your real numbers.