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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Avoid Home Loan Disasters: 5 Mistakes Home Buyers Make and How to Avoid Them

Boy covering Face
Life is full of mistakes — they are bound to happen. But when you can learn from the mistakes of others and avoid them yourself, that’s when you can get ahead and succeed where others have failed. From my nearly 15 years of being a home loan officer, dedicated to partnering with clients to secure
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Home Loan Success Requires Becoming a Flexible Buyer

Flexible woman doing a backbend
My husband and I were on one side of the desk, and the builder was on the other. We were buying our first house together. I said, “We need the payment to be $500 a month because we’re paying $400 now and I know we can afford $500. I don’t mean $520 or $550. I
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Home Loans and Teamwork—It Makes the Dream Work!

Trying to get pre-approved for a mortgage? Seeking to understand the mortgage pre-approval process? Looking to buy your first home? Whatever your home loan goals are, it will take a team to accomplish them. Think of your home loan process as a puzzle. There are many pieces, and they must all fit together in order
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The Mortgage Process 10 Commandments

10 Commandments Thumbnail
  A lot of problems arise because a consumer doesn’t understand what’s happening behind the scenes of getting a mortgage. My mission is to change that!  Understanding that process, the timelines, and the guidelines more accurately can help you with a smooth and on-time closing. Since less than 50% of mortgage applications get to closing,
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Should I Pay Mortgage Points?

If you are buying a home or refinancing, you have probably heard about “mortgage points.” This form of pre-paid interest can save you thousands of dollars over the course of your loan but in many circumstances is not worth the upfront cost. How do you know whether to pay points or not? Here’s a quick
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Why the New Construction Market is Gaining Strength

In the years following the local housing rush which followed Hurricane Katrina, many home builders have lived through a dramatic slowdown in St. Tammany new construction market. Some experts attribute this to the rapid influx of post-Katrina new residents, and others to the general slowdown in the housing market which has affected the rest of
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