Can't Refinance Mortgage? Here's What You Can Do

"The values are what the values are," Riemer says, but points out that "it's more a question of making sure the appraiser was comparing the home against comparable homes. For that you need a strong appraiser, someone who knows the area, knows the value, knows the nuances."

For Bitton, she deals with high-end properties in Manhattan and has seen wildly disparaging numbers come from appraisers.

It's a part of the process where she would rather not get involved, but if something jumps out she will act.

"If it has to do with loan-to-value, you can show perhaps that the appraiser was wrong. If you have documentation that will disprove an appraisal, I must say it's not rocket science," Bitton says. "We're not in the business of disputing appraisals when they don't work out, but if we have first-hand knowledge or we can show that an appraiser looked at a property and did a really poor appraisal ... that can easily be disputed."

Other factors, though, are beyond the control of borrowers.

Fannie, Freddie Try to Help

In the current lending climate, with foreclosure rates soaring and banks struggling to maintain stable balance sheets, it's extremely difficult to get a loan of any kind.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which buy mortgages on the secondary market that are backed by the government, have tried to help the higher-end market even though the two entities are usually restricted from high-end, or jumbo loans. Congress earlier this year raised the limits that Fannie can guarantee to $625,000, but only in certain markets where the median housing cost exceeds jumbo limits for Fannie and Freddie.

Diana Olick discusses whether Freddie Mac can stay afloat in video at left.

For the year, Fannie and Freddie will back about $10 billion of jumbo and super-jumbo loans--amounting to a sliver of the business the two government-sponsored entities do each year.

"It's fairly small," says Brad German, a Freddie spokesman. "How this has expanded the jumbo segment overall in these high-end markets, I don't have the data at that level. Most of it is going to be anecdotal at this point."

To be sure, the intervention of Fannie and Freddie in the jumbo markets has indeed lowered interest rates for the mortgage class, though a 30-year fixed mortgage is still at 7.42 percent, a full point above a conforming loan.

But until the other issues get worked out in the mortgage market, particularly the reluctance to lend at any rate and the slumping home prices, refinancing will be a tough go for borrowers in any class.

"I think it's a longer-term cycle because the tightening of credit has been driven by loan quality," says Greg McBride, senior analyst at Bankrate.com. "Regardless of how much capital lenders have at their disposal, they will remain squeamish about risk for some time to come."

Even if rates come down, McBride says prospective borrowers could "win the battle but lose the war" because property values will fall below refinancing guidelines.

"A year ago this looked like something that would clear up quickly," McBride says, "and at this point you can assume it won't clear up soon."