Common Questions

Down Payment or Invest?

If you could pay for a home with cash without getting mortgage financing, would you? Should you? That decision is both an emotional one and a financial one. Let’s look at a recent example…
We received a call from a potential customer, referred to us by a real estate agent we work with, who was looking [...]

To Lock or Not to Lock Mortgage Rate

Anyone who was recently “floating” their rate in the hopes of another dip in rates can tell you the answer they would now have in hindsight. As they say, hindsight is 20/20. But if only we all had a crystal ball, would we trust it or still try to out guess the market?
When you are [...]

Good Faith Estimate Explained

The Good Faith Estimate, also known as a GFE, shows the interest rate, term, loan amount, and all settlement costs on a particular loan.
The Good Faith Estimate is divided up into several categories: The loan fees, the Title and closing fees, prepaid interest and fees and reserves for the borrower’s escrow account.
The 800 [...]

What is APR or Annual Percentage Rate?

One of the most common incorrectly explained and misunderstood topics within the mortgage business is the definition of APR. I will do my best to unravel the mystery and explain it in a way that is clear and understandable so that next time you ask your lender about APR, you can correct their explanation about [...]

Pre-Qualification versus Pre-Approval

Several years ago most people didn’t really care about the difference between a pre-qualification and a pre-approval because there were so many qualified buyers in the home buying market place that if you couldn’t buy a home, there was somebody else who could. With lender guidelines tightening and the pool of buyers shrinking, the importance [...]

Get Rid of My Mortgage Insurance

Nobody wants mortgage insurance. The only reason people get mortgage insurance is to provide the opportunity to buy a home without a 20% down payment. People went as far as doing 80/20 (80% 1st mortgage and a 20% second mortgage) financing to avoid paying mortgage insurance, even if the payment ended up a little higher. [...]

What is a Good Credit Score?

You just want to know what a good credit score is. Probably because you are looking into obtaining a mortgage, or maybe an auto loan. Did you know credit scores are used in other areas outside of obtaining financing? Cell phone companies, insurance companies, apartments and sometimes even employers will check your credit to determine [...]

Mortgage Refinance – Does it Make Sense?

Refinancing is a serious decision that will be based on emotion, money and both short and long term impacts. Deciding whether or not now is the right time can be a difficult process, especially when you know you can get a lower interest rate. So how do you go about determining if refinancing makes sense [...]

Mortgage Don’ts

I recently received an email from a Lending a Hand reader requesting information on what to avoid throughout the mortgage process to ensure a smooth approval and closing. Instead of just responding directly, I thought many of the readers could benefit from this question, so I decided to write a post on the Mortgage Don’ts. [...]

8 Questions to Ask Your Lender

I was planning to start this post telling you about how important a home purchase and mortgage financing transaction can be, but I think everyone already knows that. Before I jump right into the questions, I want to explain the questions I am suggesting you ask. Most sites on the Internet suggest asking specific questions [...]