Of all the issues having to do with a mortgage, the appraisal generates more overblown problems than any other part of the process. It’s also one of the most critical areas to handle correctly. There are reasons for this: It (along with perhaps the relatively cheap credit report) is the only thing a consumer has …
Category Archives: Mortgages
Payments and Interest Rates
Most people tend to shop for a mortgage based upon the payment. They figure the lowest payment will be the cheapest loan. This is the way most people make banks rich. Because they are looking for the loan with the lowest rate and the lowest payment, they choose the loan with two or three points …
A List of Mortgage Provider Red Flags
This is going to be one of those occasional posts that gets expanded and reposted from time to time. This list is not exhaustive, although over time it is intended to become closer. If you have one, send it to me (dm at) Any of these is sufficient reason, all by itself, not to do …
California Mortgage Loan Disclosure Statement
California replaced the one page federal Good Faith Estimate with a two page Mortgage Loan Disclosure Statement. I haven’t seen a lot of abuses of this yet, mostly no doubt because it is so new. I don’t even know if there are solid regulations and implementation policies and standards on it yet. I haven’t seen …
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An Apparent Red Flag That Isn’t
For all of the rants I post about bad business practices, there are a lot of things the mortgage industry gets right. One of these looks like a red flag not to do business with them, and may seem like a cruel trick, but it is neither. With every single loan that is done, you, …
Types and Levels of Mortgage Documentation
No matter which provider, no matter what type of loan you get, nobody is going to loan you money without the appropriate documentation. The more documentation you have that you are a good risk, the better the rate you are going to get, and the lower your costs are going to be. Everybody hates filling …
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Questions to Ask a Prospective Loan Provider
Mortgage – Questions you must ask every provider on every loan. (This list is trying to be as exhaustive as possible, but is likely missing some important questions. If I missed one, send it to me: dm at ) What is the rate? What is the amortization period? Is there a possibility that the note …
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Mortgage Rate and Points
Everybody knows that you want the lowest rate, and everybody knows that you don’t want to pay any money you don’t have to, in order to get it. However, not everybody makes the connection that it is always a tradeoff between the two. At any given point in time, each home lender has it’s own …
Mortgage Markets and Providers
There are actually several distinct marketplaces consumers can obtain their funds from, and several types of providers. John the wealthy highly salaried person with great credit and a substantial down payment should not and usually does not obtain his mortgage from the same funds providers as his twin brother Jim, the self-employed, always-broke person with …
The Best Suggestion About Applying For A Mortgage
This is unfortunately, an obsolete article. Nobody can accommodate doing backup loans any longer. Any loan quote is worthless unless locked, and the penalties to mortgage personnel for failing to deliver pretty much every loan you lock have become too large. It’s here for historical purposes. Back when originally written (June 2005), it was a …
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