How to Get Pre-Approved for a Mortgage Loan

Found a house you love but need a pre-approval letter to show your realtor?  We can help you out with the process! To get pre-approved, you will need to CONTACT one of our loan officers, who can analyze your situation and tell you how much you can afford to spend on a house. How is this accomplished?  Well, long story short, lenders are going to look at a few specific things before they give you the green light to go shopping for your first house. This includes running your credit and seeing how much income you earn, and then comparing it to how much you want to spend each month.  They will also take into consideration things such as how much money you have on hand and how much you pay each month towards bills like credit cards. If you are ready to apply or are interested in getting pre-approved, just select the option below that is most convenient for you. Complete our Quick Loan Application Form.   This process usually takes less than five minutes. A loan officer will contact you once we receive your application. Give us ...

Should You Buy Mortgage (DISCOUNT) Points?

One of the most commonly referred to aspects of obtaining a mortgage is the all-important issue of "points." If you're in the market for a new home, or if you're looking to purchase for the first time, you've undoubtedly heard of them before, although you may have no idea what it means, or what "points" even refers to. Let's start at the beginning.  When you hear someone talking about mortgage points, they are speaking in reference to "discount points." In the most basic sense, one point is equal to one percent of the amount you are planning to borrow. So for example, if you were getting a loan for $150,000, then one point would be equal to $1,500. After that is when it gets tricky, so pay attention. When you purchase points, you are basically making the decision to prepay part of your mortgage interest.  If that doesn't make sense, look at it this way.  For every point you buy, your lender will offer you a lower interest rate. The actual amount your interest rate will drop can vary, but in most cases its is approximately 1/4 of a percentage point per every discount point you ...

Closing Costs Explained

When it comes to purchasing a house there is one thing that will shock a first-time home buyer more than anything, and that is the total cost associated with closing a loan. To be totally honest, closing costs can be quite earth-shaking to someone who isn't ready. If you are planning to buy a house anytime soon it is strongly recommended that you get your budget in order ahead of time.  If you would like us to review your situation and give you an estimate of what closing costs you may encounter, please feel free to contact us.  If not, feel free to read the rest of the article! Continued: Some of these closing costs are charged by the mortgage company itself, while others are payable to various parties. Here's a little breakdown on some of the fees you may be charged, and who's getting your money. One of the first fees you're going to run into is the Application Fee. This is charged when you fill out your initial application (the 1003) and is non-refundable. This covers the costs your lender pays in regard to paperwork, or maybe ...

Refinancing Your Mortgage

Refinancing your mortgage can help lower your monthly payment, pay off bills and manage your debt.  If interest rates have gone down from the rate you are currently paying on your mortgage, it might be a good idea to refinance.  For a free consultation to see if you might benefit from a refinance, feel free to CONTACT US and we will review your situation. The truth is, few thing in life can compare to the fun filled adventure that is refinancing your mortgage. Wait, what did I just say? That doesn't seem quite right. The truth is, dealing with a refinance can be quite the arduous process, and for the most part, it's not fun at all. This can be attributed to the abundance of paperwork to fill out, the random lender fees, and the sheer fact that most people don't like modifying their mortgage to begin with.  But there is a reason so many people subject themselves to these hardships, and there are times when refinancing your mortgage is an extremely smart decision that can save you thousands of dollars over the life of your loan. You may have heard ...

Qualifying For A Mortgage

Unless you find yourself in the rare situation of having a few hundred thousand dollars laying around (or stuffed under your mattress), you're going to have to take out a mortgage if you want to purchase a house. There just isn't a way around it. So here's some tips for getting the process started, or as we call it in the mortgage biz, "getting pre-qualified." The first thing you are going to need to do is make sure all of  your finances are in order. If managed early (and correctly), this can help so there won't be any inconvenient roadblocks at the last minute that might prevent you from buying your dream home. Long story short, lenders are going to look at a few specific things before they give you the green light to go shopping for your first mansion.  Here they are: 1. Your credit history. Pretty much the first thing the banks will do when they see your name is pull a copy of your credit report and check it very thoroughly.  Banks do this because ...

Topic o’ the Week: Biweekly Mortgage Payments

If you have the pleasure of owning your own home, your loan servicer probably contacts you all the time trying to get  you to change or update your mortgage in some way.  Some of these changes may include refinancing your current loan, taking out a home equity line of credit, or converting your loan into a biweekly mortgage. While the thought of changing your mortgage may seem as a major annoyance, it is definitely worth the time to see if any of these changes could benefit you. So let's get started. The folks at the bank claim that switching to a biweekly mortgage can cut the total length of your loan by 5 to 7 years, and at the same time save you thousands of dollars in interest.  Of course this sounds amazing, but is it TRUE?  Is it worth pursuing?  Will the Rangers slump after the all-star break?  Fortunately for you, the former questions are easier to answer. Overall, the process of converting your existing loan into a biweekly mortgage works quite simply.  In fact, by switching to a biweekly mortgage you aren't even really changing anything ...