Speeding Up the Close: Five Tips on How to Close Your Mortgage Loan Faster So You Can Start Moving In

September 17, 2014 by

Speeding Up the Close: Five Tips on How to Close Your Mortgage Loan Faster So You Can Start Moving InWhen a seller accepts an offer from a buyer, the process of obtaining the property has just begun. The buyer now has to conduct an inspection, get approval from an attorney and obtain a mortgage – all of which can be time consuming. Here are a few ways that you can speed up the mortgage process and close the deal sooner.

Make Sure That You Have Money For Closing Costs

Do you have the money needed for a down payment and to pay other closing and prepaid costs? If not, you won’t be able to close until you find the funds to pay those costs – and this could delay the closing on your home indefinitely. Before you arrange the mortgage, make sure you have enough cash on hand to pay closing costs.

Get Conditional Approval Before Making The Offer

If you have not been conditionally approved for a loan before making an offer, you can’t be sure that a lender will give you a loan for the amount of the purchase price. In addition, starting the process from scratch could push back the closing timeline. Having your mortgage conditionally approved means the mortgage process is already underway when you make your offer, which saves you time.

Have Your Documents Together

Get your bank statements, pay stubs and other documents together before the seller accepts your offer. Having everything that the lender needs right away decreases the time needed for a lender to assess your application before extending the loan.

Work With An Experienced Mortgage Lender

Your mortgage lender may be able to move everything along by staying on top of the loan approval process. By ensuring that documents are being processed in a timely manner, an experienced lender can reduce the closing time from months to weeks.

Create A Timeline For Repairs The Seller Is Obligated To Make

It is not uncommon for a seller to be obligated to fix certain issues with the house before the new owner takes possession. However, it is important to put these repairs the contract along with a mandatory completion date. Otherwise, the seller could drag his feet with no contractual obligation to finish any repairs before he sees fit to do so.

Closing on a home loan can take anywhere from 30 to 120 days depending on work that needs to be done on the home and how well prepared a buyer is. Contacting and working closely with your mortgage lender or broker can result in a speedy and painless close. Contact an experienced mortgage professional today for more information about closing a mortgage.

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Looking to Pay Back Your Mortgage Faster? Three Reasons to Consider Switching to Bi-weekly Payments

September 16, 2014 by

Looking to Pay Back Your Mortgage Faster? Three Reasons to Consider Switching to Bi-weekly PaymentsWhile there are differing schools of thought when it comes to whether or not a person should pay off a mortgage before the loan term ends, there may be some benefits to making payments on a bi-weekly basis as opposed to monthly basis. What are some of the reasons why it may be beneficial to make two payments a month instead of one? Here are three reasons why you should ditch the monthly fees and make payments once every two weeks.

You’ll Make An Extra Payment Per Year

If you’re looking to pay off your mortgage ahead of schedule, making bi-weekly payments means you’ll make an extra payment every year. Instead of making 12 large payments every year, you’ll make 26 small payments. These 26 small payments would be equal to about 13 large payments.

This is the equivalent of an extra payment per year and 10 extra payments over 10 years. If you have a 30-year mortgage, you could pay it off between two and three years early because you will make your last payment 30 months ahead of schedule.

You’ll Provide Yourself With Financial Flexibility

Making extra payments can provide you with financial flexibility that makes it easier to deal with unexpected expenses or a job loss. As you are making a half-payment every two week, you can make your payments in smaller, more manageable chunks.

It may be a good thing if you are self-employed and may not be sure when a client will pay for services rendered. Additionally, you may have your next payment reduced or advanced if you pay more than you owe in a given month.

You’ll Reduce the Amount of Interest Paid on the Loan

Paying off your mortgage faster reduces the amount of interest that you pay on the loan. Even if you only make one extra payment per year, you could still save thousands of dollars in interest by paying your loan several months or years early.

To determine exactly how much you will save, you can use an amortization table or calculator to see how much interest you pay over the full 30 years as opposed to taking only 27 or 28 years to pay for your home. It is also important to note that making extra payments adds to the equity that you have in the home.

Making two payments instead of one each month may help you achieve financial flexibility while building equity in your home. By paying off your mortgage as soon as possible, it may enable you to put more money into a savings or retirement account. Contact a mortgage professional for more information about whether bi-weekly payments are right for you.

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FHA Home Loans: How to Pre-apply and Get Approved Before Making a Home Purchase Commitment

September 10, 2014 by

FHA Home Loans: How to Pre-apply and Get Approved Before Making a Home Purchase CommitmentIf you’re in the market for your first mortgage, the Federal Housing Administration may be able to help you. Thanks to the FHA home loan program, you can apply for loan approval before you’ve found a home that you want to buy – which means you know what you can afford before you start your house hunt. Here’s what you need to know about FHA home loans and how they can help you find the perfect house.

Pre-Approval: Assessment Includes Employment History and a Credit Check

The pre-approval process can be done over the phone or online in a matter of minutes. All you need to do is find a lender or mortgage broker in your area and start the application process. You’ll be asked a series of questions and you’ll need to meet several criteria, such as a history of steady employment and consistent income, a credit report in good standing, and a desired mortgage payment of 30 percent of total monthly gross income.

The Variables of the Loan May Change Depending on Your Needs

When the representative for the broker or lender contacts you, he or she may overestimate your property taxes and will assume that you are going to borrow the maximum amount for which you qualify. Therefore, the monthly payment that you are quoted may be higher than the amount that you would pay each month when you actually purchase your home. Based on the property taxes, your down payment and the purchase price of the home, your payment may be higher or lower at closing.

You Will Get a Letter Stating That You Have Conditional Approval

If all goes well, the lender or broker who assessed you will send a letter confirming that you are conditionally approved for an FHA home loan. You may wish to submit this letter with any offer that you make to purchase a house, as without conditional loan approval, a seller may not take your offer seriously. If you are in a bidding war for a home, it may not be possible to win unless you show that you have financing available to close on the property in a reasonable amount of time.

The first step to get a mortgage is to get conditional loan approval. By calling your lender or a broker, it may be possible to obtain pre-approval for the mortgage you need while also negotiating favorable terms. For more information about qualifying for FHA loans, contact your local mortgage professional today.

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Children Leaving the Nest? 3 Pieces of Sage Advice You Can Share About How to Manage a Mortgage

September 4, 2014 by

Children Leaving the Nest? 3 Pieces of Sage Advice You Can Share About How to Manage a MortgageWhen your children are about to step out into the world on their own, you want to help them on their way. This especially holds true when it comes to buying a house. As your sons or daughters prepare to take the plunge into home ownership, make sure they follow three crucial tips that will help them during the mortgage process.

Don’t Bite Off More Than You Can Chew

One of the biggest mistakes that homeowners make is choosing a home that is beyond their price range. Your children need to remember that they are going to be paying for their home for a long time. A crushing house payment could be difficult to manage.

In order to find a reasonable mortgage, you need to look at the numbers. The bank, or mortgage lender, will generally look at a client’s income, debt, and the current mortgage rate to determine an acceptable amount when purchasing a home. Your children can look at their own budget, lay out all of their costs, and determine how much spending room is left for a house payment.

Choose A Shorter Term For A Mortgage

When the time comes to sign the dotted line, the mortgage lender will offer various payment terms for your child’s home loan. Twenty-five to thirty years is the typical term for most mortgages, but the sooner the mortgage is paid, the better. Advise your children to choose the shortest possible term while still living within their means.

Make Extra Payments When Possible

Your children can pay their mortgage off sooner by making extra payments. While this may seem like a challenge, it can be accomplished with careful budgeting.

Making one extra payment a year will shorten the length of the loan and put more equity into the home. Whether your children plan on staying put or want to buy another home down the line, they’ll appreciate it when they have paid off a considerable chunk of their mortgage.

Getting a mortgage is a rite of passage and a milestone that thousands of Americans encounter every year. Make sure that your children get the best mortgage available by following these tips. For more helpful information, or to make sure your children are getting a good deal, contact a trusted mortgage professional today.

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Refi or Wait? How to Choose Between Refinancing Your Mortgage Now or Waiting Until You Need the Money

August 27, 2014 by

Refi or Wait? How to Choose Between Refinancing Your Mortgage Now or Waiting Until You Need the MoneyRefinancing your existing mortgage may provide you with the opportunity to lower your interest rate, reduce your mortgage payment and adjust your loan term. For those homeowners who have lived in their home for more than a few years, pulling equity out of the property for everything from a luxurious vacation to making home improvements is a tempting potential benefit.

However, with property values and interest rates adjusting frequently, you may wonder if now is the best time to refinance your mortgage.

Using Equity From Your Refinance

One factor to consider when debating between refinancing now and waiting relates to pulling equity out of your home. If you need access to the cash now for home improvements or other purposes, refinancing now may be ideal. Even if you do not need access to your equity for several months or longer, you can lock in today’s rates and invest the money in other vehicles, such as CDs or bonds, until you need the cash.

Anticipating Market Changes

You may have heard that the interest rates for home mortgages have been slowly rising, and while they remain close to historic lows, they are projected to continue to rise. Nobody can predict with certainty how interest rates will adjust in the next few months and years, and locking in today’s rates may be beneficial. Keep in mind that if rates decline significantly in the near future, you can always look into refinancing again.

Reducing Your Principal

If you have a higher interest rate on your existing mortgage, your principal balance may be reduced at a slower rate than if you refinance to a lower interest rate. In addition, if you refinance from a 30-year term to a shorter term length, your principal balance will also be reduced more quickly in most cases. In many situations, refinancing your home mortgage today may establish a more efficient repayment schedule that allows you to accrue equity at a faster rate.

Each homeowner has unique factors to consider when refinancing based on property value, credit rating, existing loan terms and other factors. While many will benefit by refinancing an existing mortgage today, you can speak with a mortgage professional for specific advice and recommendations regarding your situation. Call your trusted mortgage representative today to inquire about the options and to begin working on your refinance loan application.

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Understanding the ‘Qualified Mortgage’ or QM and Why It’s Important to New Home Buyers

July 1, 2014 by

Understanding the 'Qualified Mortgage' or QM and Why It's Important to New Home BuyersAre you shopping for a home or a new mortgage? If you are interested in finding the best possible financial product, it is important to consider the benefits of selecting a Qualified Mortgage. With so many different types of loan products to choose from and financial terms to learn, schooling yourself on the mortgage market before you buy your first home or apply for your first refinance mortgage may seem like a daunting task.

Luckily, there are resources that are designed to help you learn the basics of products and terms so that all consumers have the power to inform themselves before securing a loan.

What is a Qualified Mortgage?

There are many different categories of home loans that individual loan products can fall into and one of these categories is simply referred to as a Qualified Mortgage. Qualified Mortgages, also referred to as the QM in the industry, is a product that has been approved as a qualified product because it has stable features that benefit you as a borrower.

All lenders who are interested in offering a Qualified Mortgage must make a good-faith effort to assess your income and your debt-to-income ratio to ensure that you are able to repay the loan before you take the loan out. All lenders must meet a long list of certain requirements that are free of harmful features that could affect a borrower’s ability to pay.

Common Requirements of Qualified Mortgages

The main purpose of a qualified mortgage is to protect borrowers from forms of predatory lending. The standards that the loan must meet are set by the Federal government. In addition to assessing the borrower’s ability to pay before approving an application, lenders must meet loan product requirements that are very specific in nature. Some of the harmful features that a QM product is not permitted to have include:

– Negative Amortization: This feature affects consumers by allowing principal to increase over time.

– Interest-only Periods: Where payments are only applied to interest on the money borrowed.

– Balloon payment requirement: A requirement where borrowers must pay a large payment at the end of the loan term.

– Long Terms: Loans cannot have terms longer than 30 years.

– A Large Debt-to-Income Ratio: There is a limit in how much income that can go to monthly debt payments. This limit is 43% for a QM.


How Can a QM Benefit a New Home Buyer?

As you can see, there are safeguards built into a Qualified Mortgage that are designed to protect you from entering into a long-term binding loan contract that puts you in an unfair position. There are also legal protections that are designed to protect lenders who are committed to designing qualified mortgage products. You can sign a loan that you can afford to repay, have payments applied to your principal as well as interest, and become a homeowner without unnecessary stress. If you are interested in learning more, contact your mortgage professional to review interest rates and loan terms.

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