Advicemortgages

How to find the best lenders
All loan officers will tell you that theire company’s the best and provide you with a list of reasons to back up their claim. But if you run into the same loan officer years later, chances are good that he not only but works for a different kind of lender, he’ll tell you the new lender he works for is much better and offer another list of reasons why.

In the past, most people went to portfolio lenders because they excelled at closing deals. Over time, however, mortgage bankers and brokers have become more important, and agents have gone along with the changing trend. Usually a realtor will direct you to a loan officer who has a demonstrated track record of service and reliability, but sometimes a realtor will recommend a loan officer who works for a lender with whom the realtor is affiliated.

Sometimes it’s more important to choose a good loan officer than a loan company. A loan officer has two very important functions they serves as your advocate in getting the loan approved, handling all the negotiations for you. Their second function is to deliver quality loans, so you need an agent who’s dependable and ethical.

As for lending institutions, each type of lender has its own strengths and weaknesses. Quality varies within each branch office depending on the loan officer, the support staff and other factors.

Different types of Mortgage Lenders

Mortgage Bankers
A mortgage banker is a lender with enough assets to originate individual loans, as well as to create pools of loans that they sell to loan investors. Any company that does this, no matter how small or large the company, is considered a mortgage banker. Some service the loans they provide, but not all of them do.

Mortgage Brokers
Mortgage brokers are companies that originate loans for the purpose of re-selling them to other lending institutions. The broker establishes relationships with various companies. Many mortgage brokers that also act as correspondents, which is how they can be mortgage bankers as well as mortgage brokers. Mortgage brokers also deal with lending institutions that have wholesale loan departments.

Wholesale Lenders
Portfolio lenders and mortgage bankers act as wholesale lenders, serving mortgage brokers for loan origination. In fact, some wholesale lenders don’t even have their own retail branches, relying mainly on mortgage brokers for their loans.

Portfolio Lenders
A portfolio lender is an institution that lends its own money and originates loans for itself. They’re lending for their own portfolio of loans and aren’t concerned about re-selling them right away. Portfolio lenders are usually large banks or savings and loans.

Direct Lenders
Direct lenders fund their own loans and can be small or large lenders. Large banks and savings and loans, as well as smaller institutions, have warehouse lines of credit from which to draw money for funding the loans they give. Direct lenders are generally (but not always) portfolio lenders or mortgage bankers.

Banks and savings and loan have deposits with which to fund loans, but usually use warehouse lines of credit instead. Smaller institutions also have warehouse lines of credit for the purpose of funding loans. Direct lenders are usually, but not always, mortgage bankers or portfolio lenders.

Correspondents
Correspondent refers to a company that handles home loans in its own name; then they sell those loans individually to a larger lender, or sponsor. The sponsor serves as the mortgage banker, reselling the loan.

Bank and Savings & Loans
Both savings and loans and banks usually operate as mortgage bankers andor portfolio lenders.

Credit Unions
Credit unions are generally correspondents, although if a credit union were large enough, it could be a portfolio lender andor mortgage banker, too.

So, you’ve taken an application with a mortgage broker. He has told you your monthly payment and the total amount you will need at the time of closing. How do you know the charges on the loan are fair? How do you compare this loan to others you have been offered?

Check the GFE.

The Good Faith Estimate (GFE) can be your weapon to get the fairest price for your loan. If you dont take a good long look at this infinitely important legal-sized piece of paper, you may just be throwing your money away.

This single document will detail every specific charge on your loan. Not only does it list your charges, it also itemizes them to show whom these charges are being paid to. Dont just look at the pound figures on this form. You should pay close attention to the party that collects those pounds. While the big number on the bottom is often scary, seeing all the people that came together to make this happen for you may make it all seem worthwhile.

You can use this breakdown to make sure that each party that collects a fee is being reasonable. You can compare apples-to-apples because all Good Faith Estimates must contain the same information. Also, make sure that what you have is a “Good Faith Estimate” and not just a summary of costs that the mortgage broker put together. They may leave some things out but the GFE keeps them in line because they are required by the government to disclose all fees to you.

Your realtor may also give you a fee summary. Do not trust this form. They do this to give you an idea about fees and costs but they don’t have the information from the lender necessary to give an accurate quote. You can only get a Good Faith Estimate from a mortgage company.

Since all fees are disclosed in black and white on the GFE, this makes it a great tool to compare mortgages. More importantly, it makes it impossible for a dishonest mortgage broker to sneak unexplainable charges into your loan. A mortgage broker or bank is obligated to give you a GFE very soon after application. Take advantage of this to make sure you are comfortable with the fees being presented.

My best suggestion to you as a homebuyer is to hold on to the original signed copy of your GFE. This document can be easily compared to the final papers that you will sign at closing. You will notice any changes between these forms because they are set up very similarly. Keep in mind that the numbers will change, thats the nature of an estimate, however your broker should be able to explain any noticeably large changes.

Ever wonder how lender’s come up with the rates they do? You can stop wondering, cause I’m going to tell you how. We all answer to a higher mortgage rate power, namely the secondary market. The secondary market is where Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and other mortgage lenders ply their trade. These government founded agencies purchase the loans that lenders make, then either hold them in their portfolios, or bundle them with other loans into mortgage-backed securities. Those securities are then sold to mutual funds, Wall Street firms, and other financial investors who trade them the same way they trade other securities and bonds.

As a result investors, rather than mortgage brokers and bankers, are in control of the rates. When economic news suggests the economy is heating up, investors demand higher yields from the lenders. This happens because they don’t want to buy low yield bonds now, in case the Fed raises rates to cool the economy, which would mean they will make higher yield bonds later. The only way that lenders can get their loans sold in this situation is to raise the yields they offer investors. In turn, this drives the rates higher for consumers.

The same thing happens in reverse when it looks like the economy is cooling. Investors start clamoring for bonds, because they figure the Fed will have to cut interest rates in the future in order to get the economy going moving along again. If the investors wait, they’ll end up with lower yielding bonds. Since investor demands are so strong, lenders who control loan supply can offer lower yields. The result is a lower rate for consumers.

To get the best rates out there, consumers really need to pay attention to financial news. Consulting with a mortgage lender or broker can also be very helpful. In most cases, the mortgage broker will be very knowledgeable and up to date on the economy.

Honey, I Eliminated The Mortgage Interest Deduction Plan 2

A bipartisan committee has made two recommendations to President Bush regarding tax reform. In this article, we take a look at the second option.

Tax Reform

A year ago or so, President Bush decided to spend his political capitol on tax reform and fixing social security. Social security reform went down in flames, so now it is time to see if tax reform is an option.

In an effort to eliminate the Alternative Minimum Tax, the committee was charged with coming up with alternative revenue sources. The biggest deduction on the books is the mortgage interest deduction and the committee has offered two plans. The first puts a cap on the deduction and would be a disaster. The second option, however, is very interesting.

The committee on tax reform has recommended a unique approach to eliminating the mortgage interest deduction entirely. Before you go ballistic, consider what they are replacing it with.

In this second option, a homeowner would be unable to deduct any mortgage interest. They would, however, be able to claim a tax credit equal to fifteen percent of the interest paid up to an undefined mortgage cap. While that is a lot of jargon, the key is the difference between a tax deduction and a tax credit.

A tax deduction is reduced from your overall income. If you earn 80,000 and pay 10,000 in interest, your taxable income will be reduced to 60,000. It looks good, but it doesnt make as big a difference in the actual tax you pay. A tax credit, however, is a different story.

A tax credit is an amount deducted from the actual amount of tax you have to pay each year. Assume you whip together your taxes and owe 10,000 to the IRS after claiming all your deductions and checking the tax owed chart. Under the tax reform plan, you would total the interest paid for the year and then reduce your tax owed by 15 percent. If you paid 10,000 in interest during the year, you would take a tax credit of 1,500 against the tax owed. In short, this would reduce the check you have to send in from 10,000 to 8,500.

The tax credit plan offered by the tax reform committee is very interesting. It could be windfall for some people. Apply the numbers to your 2004 taxes and see how you come out.