FHA Loans and FHA Mortgages

If you are a consumer looking to purchase or refinance, this is a must read. It could cost you thousands if you don’t pay attention. This is not a threat, but a warning from someone that has almost 16 years of experience in the mortgage industry.

When shopping for a mortgage, no matter if you plan on using the person that you first spoke to, or you have spoken to 3 different lenders, you want to get a good faith estimate from everyone that you speak to. You also

So, you need to understand how to read a Good Faith Estimates and not just what the loan officer tells you. There are many things to look at, but the two main things are the interest rate and the lender’s fees. Just don’t go to the bottom of the good faith estimate and compare the total costs. Why? I explain a lot of that in this post : Good Faith Estimates - FHA loans or conventional loans – A true understandingOne main reason not to compare total costs and use this as one of your major decisions is because the title insurance fees are just an estimate in which they vary. And another reason is because some loan officers don’t properly estimate your property taxes, which would be a part of your escrows.

So, here is my pet peeve.  This is a major red flag…..  if you speak to a loan officer and when you get off the phone with them or leave their office, and they didn’t offer you a good faith estimate…. Run Away !!!

Let me ask you this. If you are shopping for a car, don’t you want to see your payment, interest rate, and total costs?  I certainly do. Do you know how many people that I qualify on a weekly basis that never received a good faith estimate from the loan officer that they spoke to?  At least 1 out of 3. Sometimes two out of 3.  My clients never have to ask for one before we are done talking.

Overall, it doesn’t matter if you are applying for a FHA loan, a conventional loan, or any other type of mortgage.  And my biggest complaint?  If they pre-qualified you or pre-approved you, the numbers are already in their system then. Meaning, that it wouldn’t take more than 3 minutes to either print it out for you or to e-mail it to you.

Summary :  If you don’t get a Good Faith Estimate once the loan officer pre-qualifies you over the phone or in person within the first 24 hours, don’t go with that lender. In all honesty, it doesn’t take more than 10 to 15 minutes once I pre-qualify you. If the loan officer pulls your credit,asked income questions, and told you your monthly payment, the good faith estimate is already in the system.  There is NO EXCUSE then.  Any excuses other than the loan officer died in a plane crash is not acceptable. I am very serious about this. Unless you like games at the end of your closing, why trust this loan officer. The loan officer usually has a reason if they don’t share a good faith estimate with you. I am pre-warning you. Don’t be a shopper that shops themselves right out of the market.  I basically want my clients to be educated and not in the dark.  To alleviate this issue, make sure that you speak to a mortgage professional, not an order taker.   PS….. Make sure that you get these good faithe estimates on the same day. The market somestimes moves to much in one or in a few days, that you might pick the wrong lender because of it.  Knowledge in this area is King.