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
Housing expense plus current debt service payments. ...
A condominium project with features that lenders view as favorable in terms of their risk exposure on loans secured by individual condo units. The requirements of warrantability include ...
The sum of all interest payments to date or over the life of the loan. This is an incomplete measure of the cost of credit to the borrower because it does not include upfront cash ...
A particular computerized system for doing automated underwriting. Mortgage insurers and some large lenders have developed such systems, but the most widely used are Fannie Mae's 'Desktop ...
You’ve certainly heard a lot about Credit Score and might even have a general idea about its meaning, but if you came to this page you still have some doubts about what is a credit ...
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 ...
A credit report contains detailed information regarding the relationship history of an individual with several financial institutions. How do I get a Credit Report?You ask a credit bureau. ...
Fees assessed by lenders when payments are late. Late fees are usually 4% or 5% of the payment. A borrower with a 6% mortgage for 30 years who pays a 5% late charge every month raises his ...
The process of determining whether a prospective borrower has the ability to repay a loan. Qualification Versus Approval: To be approved for a loan, a prospective borrower must ...

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