Welcome to Mortgage Guide
Mortgage Article
. For a permanent link to this article, or to bookmark it for further reading, click here.
Solidifying That Mortgage Quote
from: Deb St. George - HomelessInKingCounty.comYou’re in the market for a home and it’s an exciting time. Your realtor may be pressuring you to go to a lender and get a mortgage quote so that you know in what range you can buy safely and prequalify too. You may even be tech savvy enough to hop online and find networking areas where you can get several mortgage quotes from various lenders, but then you’re left wondering which one is the best deal. How do you really know whether one mortgage quote is better than another? That’s where the good faith estimate comes in.
The Breakdown of a Good Mortgage Quote
If you really want to know how it all breaks down, you have to get a good faith estimate from a lender for your mortgage quote. You can get a good faith estimate from any number of lenders that you want and for different mortgage products too. Some people shop for the best deal this way and take the best offer and show it to other lenders to try to beat that one as well. Without a good faith estimate a mortgage quote may not be reliable. The Federal government insists that lenders provide a good faith estimate within three days of applying for a loan.
Some of the things you can expect a good faith estimate to show are the potential costs at closing of the following:
• Loan application fee
• Fees for pulling credit reports
• Title work
• Attorney fees
• Cost of appraisal
• Cost of inspection
• Survey work
• Document handling and processing fees
• Taxes
• Escrow accounts
• Your interest rate
• The terms of the loan
• The amortization schedule
Comparing Two or Three Mortgage Quotes
If you are trying to find a good deal, you will want to get the good faith estimates for the different mortgage quotes on the exact same product to fully compare them. If you get one that has a teaser interest rate that shifts after six months to a year, it may initially look favorable but in the long run will cost you more money. Make sure that they all have the same length of term because a 40-year loan will look like a better deal than a 30-year loan when it comes to the amount of the monthly payment you have to make. However, you pay significantly more money over the life of the mortgage with a longer term than you do with a shorter-term mortgage. So, always make sure that you are looking at very similar offers from different lenders and not two separate types of loan products.
Mortgage News
New Rules for Mortgage Lenders - Wall Street Journal
New Rules for Mortgage Lenders Wall Street Journal In some parts of the country, it doesn't take much to become a mortgage-loan officer. Not a license, not much training. ... New law targets mortgage brokers Federal agencies issue final rules implementing S.A.F.E. Act requirements for ... |
Citi's SEC Fine - You Should Be Perturbed by This - Seeking Alpha (blog)
 The Hindu | Citi's SEC Fine - You Should Be Perturbed by This Seeking Alpha (blog) Citigroup agreed on Thursday to pay $75 million to settle federal claims that it failed to disclose vast holdings of subprime mortgage investments that were ... Why Citigroup may matter more than Goldman Citigroup Pays $75 Million to Settle Subprime Claims Citigroup-SEC: Imagine If Citi Had Come Clean Earlier |
Despite mortgage fraud, woman gets her house back - Philadelphia Inquirer
Despite mortgage fraud, woman gets her house back Philadelphia Inquirer Yet early on in the history of Life's Good, Stinson's supposed investment vehicle, the STABL Mortgage Fund LLC, did make several small real estate loans, ... |
All-Time Low Mortgage Rates: Time To Refinance? - Forbes
 Kansas City Star | All-Time Low Mortgage Rates: Time To Refinance? Forbes On July 22 Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey, which provides a snapshot of national average mortgage rates, reported a national average rate of ... Fixed mortgage rates keep falling Later than expected, 4.5 percent fixed-rate mortgage arrives US mortgage rates set new lows a 6th straight week |
Sunday Buzz Meridian Mortgage founder has questions in his past - Seattle Times
Sunday Buzz Meridian Mortgage founder has questions in his past Seattle Times Darren Berg compiled an impressive record as an entrepreneur in recent years, raising an estimated $175 million for a series of mortgage. ... |
Paulson: Revamp Homeownership Policy, After Market Stabilizes - Wall Street Journal (blog)
 France24 | Paulson: Revamp Homeownership Policy, After Market Stabilizes Wall Street Journal (blog) Weighing in on the debate over housing-finance policy, Mr. Paulson sounds a note of caution in rushing to revamp mortgage-finance giants Fannie Mae and ... Mortgage-Bond Spreads Surpass Lows Reached During Fed Emergency Purchases Housing policy must be set on sustainable basis Fannie Mae says new loan book soundest in a decade |
Mortgage Insurer PMI Reports 12th Straight Loss - Wall Street Journal
 Town Hall | Mortgage Insurer PMI Reports 12th Straight Loss Wall Street Journal NEW YORK—Mortgage insurer PMI Group Inc. reported its 12th consecutive quarterly loss on Thursday, even as the number of defaulting homeowners ... PMI Plunges, Leading Drop in Mortgage-Insurance Shares, After Posting Loss PMI Group posts 12th straight quarterly loss; shrs fall PMI loss steeper than anticipated, shares nose-dive |