Mortgage Referrals
Definition of "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 Web site of an individual lender offering loans to consumers. Most Internet shoppers want a list of lenders in whom they can have confidence, who will provide them with the information ...
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On an ARM, the assumption that the interest rate rises to the maximum extent permitted by the loan contract. ...
A particular combination of loan, borrower, property, and transaction characteristics that lenders use in setting prices and underwriting requirements. ...
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An option attached to a mortgage, which allows the borrower to pay only the interest for some period. A mortgage is 'interest only' if the monthly mortgage payment does not include any ...
The period over which the borrower is obliged to make payments. On most mortgages, the payment period is a month but on some it is biweekly. It is not necessarily the same as the Interest ...
Proliferation in the number of loan, borrower, property, and transaction characteristics used by lenders to set mortgage prices and underwriting requirements. Nichification is unique to ...
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