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 highest rate possible under an ARM contract; same as 'lifetime cap.' It is often expressed as a specified number of percentage points above the initial interest rate. ...
Mortgages typically amortize over time through fixed value installment payments. However, there's a type of mortgage that doesn't: the Balloon Mortgage. It's called this way because, with ...
The federal law that specifies the information that must be provided to borrowers on different types of loans. Also, the form used to disclose this information. Truth in Lending (TIL) is ...
The month in which a zero loan balance is reached. The payoff month may or may not be the loan term. ...
The period between payment changes on an ARM, which may or may not be the same as the interest rate adjustment period. ...
A clause in the note that allows the lender to demand repayment of the balance in full. A demand clause is even better (for the lender) than an acceleration clause. An acceleration clause ...
A mortgage Web site that shows mortgage prices posted by participating lenders, in some cases hundreds of them. ...
You’ve certainly heard a lot about Credit Score and might even have a general idea about its meaning, but if you came to this page you still have some doubts about what is a credit ...
Limit on the size of payment change on an adjustable rate mortgage. ...
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