Mortgage Referrals
Advice on where to go to get a mortgage. A borrower can always select a loan provider by throwing a dart at the Yellow Pages. A referral is of value if it raises the probability of a good outcome above that from throwing the dart. The four major sources of referrals are real estate sales agents, other borrowers, Internet referral sites, and builders. Real Estate Sales Agents: Home purchasers accept more referrals from real estate sales agents than from all other sources combined. Sales agent referrals generally are to individual loan officers or brokers, as opposed to firms. An agent with great confidence in a loan officer will continue to refer clients even when the loan officer switches firms. Sales agents have the same interest as buyers in completing transactions. Hence, they refer clients to loan providers who can generally be depended upon to close on time. This is the agent's major concern, and it is a concern of borrowers as well. Sales agents have no comparable interest in the mortgage price or whether the borrower is placed in the right kind of mortgage. However, the agent doesn't want the price to be so far out of line or the service provided so abysmal that the borrower throws a fit and blames the agent. Other Borrowers: Referrals from other borrowers are usually based on a single transaction. Internet Referral Sites: These Web sites provide price information for a large number of lenders and mortgage brokers, usually listed by state. They also provide quick entree to the Web sites of each loan provider listed. Builder Referrals: Builder referrals are usually to a lender with whom the builder has a financial arrangement. Hence, they are suspect. In some cases, preferred lenders price loans above the market and kick back some of the excess to the builder. Self-Referrals: Responding to self-referrals (solicitations) usually is a bad idea. Not all lenders who solicit are predators, but all predators solicit.
Popular Mortgage Terms
The number of months for which the initial interest rate holds on an ARM. ...
The process of determining whether a prospective borrower has the ability to repay a loan. Qualification Versus Approval: To be approved for a loan, a prospective borrower must ...
Authorization by the lender for the borrower to pay taxes and insurance directly. This is in contrast to the standard procedure, where the lender adds a charge to the monthly mortgage ...
A mortgage on which all settlement costs except per diem interest and escrows are paid by the lender and/or the home seller. A no-cost mortgage should be distinguished from a ...
A transaction in which interest is not paid on interest there is no compounding. For example, if you deposit $1,000 in an account that pays 5% a year simple interest, you would receive ...
A payment made after the grace period stipulated in the note, usually 10-15 days. ...
A lender that holds the loans it originates in its portfolio rather than selling them. ...
One or more persons who hove signed the note and are equally responsible for repaying the loan. When One Co-Borrower Has Much Better Credit than the Other: A problem that arises frequently ...
Markets in which mortgages or mortgage-backed securities are bought and sold. 'Whole Loan' Markets Versus Securities Markets: Secondary mortgage markets are of two general types. 'Whole ...

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