Going dark. All salespeople have experienced this, no matter how good. You educate a potential client, you spend hours and hours with them answering questions, you create a relationship, and you truly seek to help them to earn your commission. And then it happens, they go dark. No contact. No return calls. No email reply. No nothing. It is eerie. You start to wonder what you did wrong. Read the rest of this entry »
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 »
It seems we are doomed to repeat our mistakes. Mankind has been jumping over bushels of hundred dollar bills to reach the quarter in the corner, since the dawn of currency. I have a number of new stories every week, of consumers who look so very hard for the best deal, they overlook the fact that they may be dealing with a disreputable provider, or may not get what they expect, or may be getting a promise that won't be kept, or even worse; Read the rest of this entry »
When you buy a new home, or refinance, it can be a nervous and exciting time. And getting excited and nervous causes people to over analyze and sometimes make poor decisions. Sometimes a client will ask for a lower rate, by paying discount points. Each discount point is 1% of the loan amount, or $1,000 per $100,000 in mortgage. It sounds great to get a rate that is a half percent lower than what you hear about in the news or see online (and shopping for rates online is not accurate, see this story for more on that), but what about the costs? Read the rest of this entry »
Everyone wants to get the best deal reasonably possible when getting a mortgage. I say reasonable, because although some lending sources advertise what seem like unreal rates, most consumers are smart enough to discount what appears to be a free lunch. The reality is that even with hundreds of competitors, rates never vary by much more than 1/8% in rate. But hey, who does not want every 1/8% to be in their favor?! I do. So go for it. But here is the problem with shopping for that best 1/8% deal online: Read the rest of this entry »
Don't all of these alphabet groups and definitions confuse you? Interest Rate and APR are two of the most commonly confused terms in the mortgage business. Many people think APR (Annual Percentage Rate) is the rate of interest that you pay on the loan. If I had $1 for every client that called upset that I had quoted a certain rate, and that they were looking at some disclosure with an APR higher than the rate I promised them, and they'd like to know what the hell is going on, I could have Read the rest of this entry »
One motto of Lending Tree is, "when lenders compete, you win." Yes, I agree. But that should be expanded to be considered even somewhat accurate. If Lending Tree were my company I'd say, "when experienced, legitimate, local lenders compete, you win." But then Read the rest of this entry »
There seems to be an epidemic of greed amongst today's mortgage consumer. I am going to try and outline why it is not a birthright to get a lower interest rate if you have locked into an interest rate, and then rates drop a little during your transaction. Read the rest of this entry »
Are we really that gullible to believe the old saw that someone else can price a product or service cheaper than everyone else? Apparently so, it is a gimmick that has been working for centuries. But if you really take a hard look, the lowest price is not always the lowest price. Read the rest of this entry »