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
A mortgage on which the borrower gives up a share in future price appreciation in exchange for a lower interest rate and/or interest deferral. SAM's in the private market had a brief ...
A second mortgage on a property that is not paid off when the first mortgage is refinanced. The second mortgage lender must allow subordination of the second to the new first mortgage. ...
Fixed rate Mortgage is a type of loan that maintains a specified interest rate for the lifetime (or maturity) of the mortgage.According to the Federal National Mortgage Association, ...
Also called variable or flexible rate mortgage, an adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) is a mortgage where the interest rate is not constant, but changes over time by the mortgage lender. ...
Charging unwary borrowers interest rates and/or fees that are excessive relative to what the same borrowers could have found had they shopped the market. ...
The portion of the monthly payment that is used to reduce the loan balance. ...
A mortgage that does not meet the purchase requirements of the two federal agencies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, because it is too large or for other reasons, such as poor credit or ...
The process of raising cash periodically through successive cash-out refinancings. This is a scam initiated by mortgage brokers that victimizes wholesale lenders, with the connivance of ...
Mortgages delivered using the Internet as a major part of the communication process between the borrower and the lender. ...

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