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 derogatory term for lender fees that are expressed in dollars rather than as a percent of the loan amount. ...
A reduction in the mortgage payment made by a homebuyer in the early years of the loan in exchange for an upfront cash deposit provided by the buyer, the seller, or both. How Temporary ...
Refinancing that omits some of the standard risk control measures and is therefore quicker and less costly. The rationale for streamlined refinancing is that, while it is an entirely new ...
Standards imposed by lenders as conditions for granting loans, including maximum ratios of housing expense and total expense to income, maximum loan amounts, maximum loan-to-value ...
Adjustable rate mortgages on which the interest rate is mechanically determined based on the value of an interest rate index. Indexed ARMs are distinguished from Discretionary ARMs, in that ...
The period until the last payment is due. The maturity is usually but not always the same as the period used to calculate the mortgage payment. ...
The month in which a zero loan balance is reached. The payoff month may or may not be the loan term. ...
The amount invested in a house, equal to the sale price less the loan amount. The House Investment Decision: Lenders impose the upper limit on how much a household can spend for a house. ...
The definition of interest is extremely important in today’s business environment where lending and borrowing money are the power stations of our economy. A widespread definition of ...

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