Mortgage Loan Information

Your Savings and Down Payment

When preparing to buy a home, the first thing many home buyers do is look at "homes for sale" ads in newspapers, magazines and listings on the Internet. Some potential buyers read "how-to" articles like this one. The next thing you should do - before you call on an ad, before you talk to a Realtor, before you shop for interest rates - is look at your savings. Read More

Documenting your Assets - Verifying Your Down Payment

When buying a home, it is not enough to just "come up" with the money. With the exception of "no asset verification" loans, lenders want to verify where the money comes from. If you can document the funds comes from your personal savings, the lender is more confident of your strength as a borrower. Read More

The Bi-Weekly Mortgage - Who Needs It?

Have you received an advertisement offering to save you thousands of dollars on your thirty-year mortgage and cut years off your payments? With email "spam" becoming more pervasive as everyone tries to "get rich quick" on the Internet, these ads are popping up with troublesome regularity. The ads promote the "Biweekly Mortgage" and for the most part, do not come from a mortgage lender. Read More

Closing Costs When Buying or Refinancing A Home

This is a detailed summary of costs you may have to pay when you buy or refinance your home. They are listed in the order that they should appear on a Good Faith Estimate you obtain from a mortgage lender. Read More

Which ARM is the Best Alternative

How would you like a mortgage loan where you did not have to make the whole payment if you did not want to? Or would you like a loan with an interest rate about one percent below a thirty-year fixed rate mortgage and pay zero points? Or a loan where you did not have to document your income, savings history, or source of down payment? How would you like a mortgage payment of only 2.95 percent? You can have all that with the 11th District Cost of Funds (COFI) Adjustable Rate Mortgage. Read More

What is a FICO Score?

FICO stands for Fair Isaac & Company and is the name for the most well known credit scoring system, used by Experian. The credit bureau's computer evaluates a complete credit profile and assigns a score, which is used to estimate credit worthiness. Read More

FICO Scores and Your Mortgage

Three years ago, credit scoring had little to do with mortgage lending. When reviewing the credit worthiness of a borrower, an underwriter would make a subjective decision based on past payment history. Then things changed. Read More

Items You Need When Applying for a Loan

It used to be that lenders mailed out verifications to employers, banks, mortgage companies, and so on, in order to verify the data supplied by borrowers. Nowadays, the interest is often in speed and getting answers quickly, so "alternate documentation" has become more widely used. Read More

Where Does the Money for Mortgage Loans Come From?

In the "olden" days, when someone wanted a home loan they walked downtown to the neighborhood bank or savings & loan. If the bank had extra funds laying around and considered you a good credit risk, they would lend you the money from their own funds. It doesn't generally work like that anymore. Read More

Types of Mortgage Lenders

There are several different types of mortgage lenders out there. It is a good idea to know the differences and consider the pros and cons of each one when determining who to approach about your mortgage. Read More

The Advantages of Different Types of Mortgage Lenders

Loan officers and Realtors may have differing opinions when it comes to the best types of mortgage lenders. The truth of the matter is that each type of lender has their own strengths and weaknesses, and quality can vary depending on a number of factors. Read More

The No-Cost Thirty Year Fixed Rate Mortgage

There really is no such thing as a "no-cost" mortgage loan. There are always costs, such as appraisal fees, escrow fees, title insurance fees, and so on, depending on whether the loan is a purchase or a refinance. The term "no-cost" actually means that your lender is paying the costs of the loan. All a "no cost" loan means is that there is no cost to you, the borrower. Except that you pay a higher interest rate. Read More

Land Contract

An alternative to a non-conforming loan is the use of a land contract, which is allowed in some states. A land contract is an agreement between a buyer and a seller, where the buyer agrees to make periodic payments to the seller. The title to the property only transfers to the land contract buyer on fulfillment of the land contract obligations. Read More