Upfront Mortgage Broker (UMB)
A mortgage broker who sets a fee for services, in writing, at the outset of the transaction and acts as the borrower's agent in shopping for the best deal. Customers of UMBs pay the broker's fee plus wholesale loan prices, which are disclosed at the customer's request. In contrast, other mortgage brokers (MBs) add a markup to the wholesale prices and quote only the resulting 'retail prices' to customers. Most MBs reveal their markup only in required disclosures after an application has been submitted. UMBs credit customers with any rebates they receive from lenders or home sellers that would otherwise increase the broker's fee beyond what was agreed upon. Such rebates are often an added source of revenue to MBs. Once the UMB's fee has been established, the UMB's interests are largely aligned with those of customers. In contrast, MBs are in a conflict situation with customers.
Popular Mortgage Terms
The option to convert an ARM to an FRM at some point during its life. ...
Rolling short-term debt into a home mortgage loan, either at the time of home purchase or later. The Case for Consolidation: Borrowers consolidate in order to reduce their finance costs. ...
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 ...
Cost-of-Funds Index, one of many interest rate indexes used to determine interest rate adjustments on an adjustable rate mortgage. ...
Loan applications that are withdrawn by borrowers, because they have found a better deal or for other reasons. ...
The period used to calculate the monthly mortgage payment. The term is usually but not always the same as the maturity, which is the period over which the loan balance must be paid in ...
A lender commitment to make a mortgage loan to a specified borrower, prior to the identification of the property that will be mortgaged. On a pre-approval, unlike a pre-qualification, the ...
Trying to find the best deal on a mortgage. It isn't easy to do right, as a summary of the major steps involved will demonstrate. Step 1: Decide if you are a potential shopper. Step 2: ...
A charge imposed by the lender if the borrower pays off the loan early. The charge is usually expressed as a percent of the loan balance at the time of prepayment or a specified number of ...
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