The Good Faith Estimate (GFE) is one of the worst ways to compare lenders. I must get asked for a GFE 10 times a week, and 10 times a week I try and explain that using a GFE is the wrong way to compare lenders. Below are a few reasons why: Read the rest of this entry »
GetLoans.com Blog
Lenders May Be Less Than Honest On Their Good Faith Estimates?
January 23rd, 2012FHA Loan Limit Increase Is Temporary?
December 5th, 2011Some things are permanent, and some are temporary. The cardboard house in this picture, I'd speculate that it is temporary, very temporary. The recent FHA loan limit increase, the one that the NAR (National Association of Realtors) was busy patting itself on the back for having lobbied for it, and helping to get it passed; it seems to be temporary. So what is all of the fuss over. For now, we have one extra month of getting loans done at the higher loan limit, that is a big deal? The NAR, however, said the loan limit increase is good for two years. Here is their announcement: Read the rest of this entry »
Interest Only Loans
October 18th, 2011Anyone that reads my blog knows that in general I am not a fan of Interest Only (IO) loans. I have said before that an IO loan is like putting your mortgage on a credit card. But on a refinance it may make sense if you have already built a lot of equity, are more interested in savings than equity building, and know you are not going to live in the property forever so have no interest in getting the mortgage paid off.
I had a client tell me recently Read the rest of this entry »
Fees Can Drop?
September 20th, 2011For VA loans closed on or after October 1, 2011, the VA Funding Fee (which is the VA equivalent of mortgage insurance) is dropping. This change is due to passage of Public Law 112-26, Restoring GI Bill Fairness Act of 2011. It is surprising to see fees actually drop! Read the rest of this entry »
Government Says Your House Needs A Band-Aid.
June 10th, 2011In 2008 Congress decided the mortgage world and the economy in general were imploding, and one of the hundreds of ways they decided that they knew better than anyone else and that they would help (i.e. interfere), was to raise the maximum conforming loan limit that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac offered for loans. They created a class of loan called "conforming-jumbo", also known as “conforming high balance." It used to be Read the rest of this entry »
Presidential Candidate Has Trouble Getting A Mortgage.
May 8th, 2011Don't Worry, It's Easy To Get A Loan!
May 5th, 2011Each mortgage lender has dozens of loan programs, and there must be hundreds of lenders. We work with 50 lenders or so, and each lender may have a different interpretation or guideline for each facet of the loan; related to credit, income, appraisal, assets and debt ratios. Imagine the hundreds or even thousands of permutations, Read the rest of this entry »
When ARMs attack!
April 25th, 2011I am guessing that if rates climb, as many people expect has to happen at some point (although the way things have been going, who knows!), that Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM) loans will become more and more popular. Hence, Read the rest of this entry »
Watch Out For The Asterisk.
March 16th, 2011If you are negotiating with a builder to buy a new construction home and are being offered an incentive to use the builder's preferred lender or title company, watch out for the asterisk! Or sometimes if you are being asked to consider using an "affiliated service provider" by a Realtor, just remember, you can always say "no thank you." Read the rest of this entry »







