Mortgage Terms: You have more options than 15 or 30 years!

Mortgage Terms 10, 15, 20, and beyond
Timing is everything when it comes to home loans, from knowing how long you have to close in order to secure your ideal rate to understanding the differences in mortgage terms. Loan terms are easy to identify. For example, a 30-year, fixed rate mortgage has a term of 30 years. However, determining what term is
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Monthly Mortgage Payments: What You Need to Know BEFORE Applying for a Loan

Monthly Mortgage Payment Image
When it comes to your monthly mortgage payment, the first question is: Where are you in your home buying journey? Are you refinancing your mortgage for the first time? Learning how to pay a mortgage off quickly? Seeking to find the essential steps to buying a house?  As an experienced home loan officer, I’ve seen
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Is Mortgage Insurance Required Regardless of Your Down Payment?

House, keys, and calculator on top of paperwork
Do you know what to expect when it comes to mortgage insurance as you work to become pre-approved for a home loan and eventually secure your home loan from a loan officer? In my last blog post, I touched on the basics of home loan insurance (read here!). In that post, I explained that you are
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Mortgage Insurance: Explore Your PMI/MIP Home Loan Insurance Options

mortgage insurance image
Trying to secure a home loan? Looking to get pre-approved as a first-time homebuyer?  Before selecting your lender and starting the home-buying process, it’s important to know what mortgage insurance is and how it works. Let’s get started!  What is Mortgage Insurance?   Private mortgage insurance (PMI), sometimes called mortgage insurance premium (MIP), is an
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Choosing the Right Lender: Questions to Expect from Your Mortgage Loan Office

Choosing the Right Lender by knowing what questions to ask image
Choosing the right lender can feel overwhelming! There is no shortage of mortgage lenders, and like home loans, no two mortgage lenders (loan officers) are the same. From training to expertise to experience, each lender brings something different to the table. However, every lender should ask the right questions to get vital information from you
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Mortgage Loan Options: What you need to know to get the RIGHT loan for YOU!

Home Loan Options
What do you know about home loans? Whether seeking to get pre-approved for a home loan as a first-time homebuyer or learn the process of how to buy a house, knowing what mortgage loan options you have available is an important part of the process.  As a home buyer looking to find a home loan,
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How Time Affects Your Mortgage Rates

Mortgage Rates and Time Image
Let me tell you a story about mortgage rates. Before I started my career as a home loan officer, I considered myself to be a very smart and educated buyer. When my husband and I were in the process of purchasing our second house in the 1990s, I called at least 10 different lenders. I
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Not Your Neighbor’s Mortgage: What Separates You from the Mortgage Rate You Want

Neighbors Talking
Put your imagination hat on for a second. Imagine that you and your neighbor are both buying a house. The price is identical, and you’re both putting 10 percent down. Your lives and home buying scenario are nearly identical, except for one little difference — your neighbor’s credit score is a 741. Your credit score
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Mortgage Pitfalls: Explaining Why Advertised Mortgage Rates aren’t Always What You Get

Ad for Mortgage Rates
When was the last time you encountered something that seemed too good to be true? Unless you got lucky, I’m going to go out on a limb and assume that it really was too good to be true. This is often the case with advertised mortgage rates.  The most common pitfall I encounter as a
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How to Protect Yourself When Securing A Home Loan: Two Inconsistencies to Prepare For

Image of hands protecting a house
Whether you’re practicing self-defense or trying to secure a home loan as a first-time homebuyer, you need to be prepared and knowledgeable to protect yourself. Without the right information or preparation, there’s no way to tell if a home loan or a loan officer is the right fit for you.  Mortgages vary. You could call
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