How important is your Interest Rate?

Very Important!  But I am sure you knew that.  

Obviously this is what your monthly payment is based on so you want the best Interest Rate you can get.  But how do you make sure you are getting the Best Rate? 

Well,  First you need to have an accepted Offer to Purchase a Property before you can even consider "Locking in" an Interest Rate;

Next you would have to call all the people on your list within the same 30 minute time frame to be able to compare,  Interest Rates can change each hour depending on what is happening on Wall Street.

The Problem with that is you first need a Pre-Approval to make an Offer to Purchase a Home & your Realtor needs to state who you are using for your Financing which means you have to make a decision about who your mortgage banker is.  You should be able to sit down face to face with your mortgage banker so they know you & what program will best fit your needs.

The Banks vary a bit on the Rates that they receive, but all in all we purchase the rates at the same price, the key is, does the person you are dealing with have access to all the low rate investors?

A Mortgage Banker will be your best bet because they are able to take all that goes into determining a rate... your Credit Score, Debt vs your Income, how much money you are putting down on the property and shop around to all the Investors for the best rate!  They also have the ability to do this with little cost to you!  Yes there are minimal fees, they do have to pay the underwriting staff and pay fees to the investor but it is worth it for the lower Interest Rate.

Always remember that if a Rate looks too good to be true...it probably is.   That is why it's important to work with a Mortgage Banker you were referred too.  We all have different degrees of experience with getting your transaction done smoothly...or not.  So when being "referred" it does make that difference you need to make sure you not only receive the best Rate but also get the Best Service for a smooth & easy transaction! 

An Underwriter on site is one of the Best scenario's a Mortgage Banker can have.  This underwriter is the determining factor of you getting the Loan you are applying for or not.  If your representative works closely with one it will help tremendously.  

No surprises is key!   When you go to settlement you know what to expect at the table & a good Mortgage Banker will be with you along with the money & the Rate they promised you!

The First Time Home Buyer Credit is stating to be available to those New Home Buyers who never purchsed a home before OR have not purchased a home in the past 3 years....

"…The tax credit is a zero-interest loan that you will repay to the government over 15 years, starting 2 years after the credit is claimed, at $500 per year.

If you sell the house, you repay the entire amount if there was enough profit to do so. If not, the amount that you don't is forgiven.

The $7500 tax credit is available to 1^st Time Buyers (not having owned a home within the past 3 years) of a primary residence who close between 04/09/2008 and 07/01/2009.

Max credit of $7500 available to single tax payers with "modified" adjusted gross income up to $75,000 (married filing jointly up to $150,000).

If income exceeds limit, partial credit may be available.

You can buy in 2009 and claim it against 2008 or 2009, whichever is more advantageous.

Economist William Wheaton has said "The feature saves the buyer at most just a few hundred dollars a year – the annual value of the forgone interest."

Please copy & paste the link below where you can read more.

 http://www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com./

Overseeing the Details....

How important is it when choosing a Mortgage Advisor when it comes to processing your Mortgage?

There are over 100 items to pay attention too when a mortgage is in process.  So who is overseeing all this detail?  It should be someone you can trust to do it!

The first question you need to ask yourself is the person I have chosen to handle my mortgage going to pay attention to and oversee my Loan or will it be left to chance after the initial application is taken?

One scenario that has occurred recently where this comes into play went like this....

I received an application for the purchase of a home from a young women who was purchasing for the first time.  We processed her loan, obtained a mortgage commitment subject to a qualified appraisal.  

 We were all set to go to the settlement table except for one item.  The appraisal was completed & sent in to our department for final review.  There were some questions that required a few comments for the underwriter to sign off on.  I contacted the appraiser to let them know what we needed & they explained how they did not understand why we needed those items addressed but would get it done.

When we received the information it was sent to us in a "memo" fashion, not as requested, and with some disgruntled language to go along with it.  Well this triggered some serious questions about the overall appraisal.  

Now, to make sure we covered & protected Superior's interests, we needed another opinion,  this meant ordering another Appraisal!  The settlement is in 3 days! I only have 24 hours to get a brand new appraisal with a new Appraiser!

How am I going to get a new appraisal done....I contact the Real estate agent who goes to his broker who gets a favor done.  They stated they could do it!

We received the new Appraisal by 1:00 the next day; it is signed off on by 2:00 & the loan is in our closing department by 3:00. 

 Did I mention this a Friday afternoon & settlement is on Monday morning at 9:00 am and the money we provide for settlement is taking "extra" long to get there?

The Title company received the papers & money by the time settlement occurred & I now have a yet another Happy Client!!

The "details" are just as important if not More than the interest rate you receive on your mortgage.  This is just one sample of many things that can happen.  It pays to work with someone who "Can get the job done" even under seemingly impossible situations!

Call me to represent you in your next mortgage transaction!