Why Co-signing a Loan Can Ruin Other People’s Credit; Along With Yours
Every loan officer has experienced the first time home owner come into the office excited about their first home. They may be buying because they are going to be married soon or are newly married or starting and growing a family. It’s not uncommon for them to think that they have done everything they should [...]
HUD for First Time Home Buyers
For years, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has been providing resources to help people find and stay in homes they can afford. From grants and programs, to simply providing information, HUD has a wealth of helpful resources that can prove especially helpful for first time home buyers. HUD offers help and advice [...]
Buying Your First Home – What you need to Know
The decision to buy a first home is a serious one, which needs to be considered from all angles. Once you choose to purchase your home, you are committed to making mortgage payments; failure to make mortgage payments can damage your credit irreparably. Before you purchase your home, there are a few things you must [...]
Protect Yourself with Insurance
We all know you need homeowners insurance to protect your home but what many people don’t think about is what could happen to your home if you pass away. I always warn new homeowners that they will receive a bunch of notices in regard to insuring their home in case of their death. I also [...]
The Latest News for 1st Time Homebuyers & More
If you have not heard by now, President Obama has signed legislation extending the first time homeowner tax credit. You must have a property under contract by April 30th and it must close by July 30th of 2010. The income restrictions have been raised to $125,00 if you are single and $250,000 if you are [...]
The Relationship between Credit Scores and Mortgages
In the good old days, you would go down and talk to your local banker who has known you and your family for forever and you would let him know where you were working and how much money you made. After he asks you a couple of questions he would tell you to go find [...]
New Disclosure Rules You Need to Know
This past month has brought with it more changes to the process from approval to closing that are designed to protect the consumer. Most of it has to do with the timeliness of presenting as accurate a Good Faith Estimate as possible before closing to prevent the buyer from those last minute heart attack moments [...]
Look at the GFE (Good Faith Estimate) & TIL (Truth in Lending) Documents
Traveling last week on vacation took me to a car rental office where I met a young woman who was very excited about buying her first home. When she found out that I was mortgage loan officer she asked me if I had any advise for her and I simply told her to make sure [...]
The Time it Takes to Close a Loan
There used to be a couple of things in times past that you would hear loan officers say. One was, “If you can fog a mirror, we can give you a loan!”, and we all know where that has taken us. The other is, “We can close a loan within a week.” which no longer [...]
Feds Cut Rate Again by .500
I have already been called this morning and asked if interest rates are going to fall again. My answer, I have no idea. Interest rates are not following normal historical indicators so no one that I know feels confident in predicting what might happen. It also takes anywhere from 6 to 12 months for a [...]
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