My Mind on Mortgages

In order to make the pre-approval process as smooth as possible as well as to prevent last minute surprises from occurring it is important that we take a thorough application and collect the proper income and asset documents at the outset of the application process. MSN published this article this morning on how to WOW [...]

Fannie Mae released an announcement yesterday which indicated they are tightening some of their guidelines to qualify for a new mortgage. The reason this is important is because Fannie Mae dictates underwriting guidelines for virtually all mortgage lenders. There is one guideline change within this announcement that we feel will be impactful and thought we [...]

Closing costs can play an important role in deciding on a lender to work with.  Many consumers elect to “shop around” to be sure that they are obtain mortgage services with competitive terms.  I encourage consumers to educate themselves on their options and take pride in going over the costs of a mortgage/ home purchase [...]

Comparing two GFE’s from two separate lenders can often be a confusing and overwhelming task. It can be very difficult to differentiate between costs and fees that are connected to the lender and costs which are independent of the lender. Here are some common tips in evaluating a GFE that will help you best understand [...]

Has your home recently been listed for sale? If so, did you know that by having your home listed for sale your ability to refinance your mortgage is severely limited? 95% of banks will not lend on homes that have been recently listed for sale because they are concerned that the home might go back [...]

In evaluating a loan application to determine whether or not an applicant qualifies for a mortgage lenders look at four areas. These four areas are known as the “Four C’s” and stand for: 1) Credit 2) Capacity 3) Capital 4) Collateral Here is a summary of each “C” and how they impact the loan approval [...]

Our compensation typically ranges from 1-2% of the loan amount depending on the interest rate environment and type of loan we’re providing. With a 0% point loan structure the lender that we assign the servicing rights of your loan to will compensate us by paying us a fee for the right to collect the future [...]

What is a point? A point is equal to 1% of the loan amount and is a fee that can be paid at closing in exchange for a lower interest rate for the life of the loan (in most cases the discount for paying a point is .25%-.375%). A point is disclosed on the Good [...]

Wells Fargo announced today that after March 28, 2008 they would no longer accept “stated income” applications. “Stated Income” loans grew popular over the past few years especially for applicants who were self-employed and reported large deductions on their tax returns. The program allowed applicants such as this to “state” their income on their application [...]

For those of us familiar with the real estate sales process we know that it is very common for buyers to request that the seller pay all or a portion of their settlement charges. This reduces the amount of cash they have to bring to closing. Especially for first-time homebuyers who often do not have [...]