Mortgage & Refinancing Information


Where To Find The Best Rates For Your Mortgage?


As with all of my articles this will be based on a scenario in my home town. (Which may be similar to yours).

Loans and mortgages can be a tricky business, not to mention a costly business if you are unsure where to go and seek out help. The fact is that most local bankers and lenders will look over your present situation checking items such as your past payment history, your overall credit rating and most importantly your present income. Either yours or yours and your partners. This will in turn pretty much get you 2 or 3 options at best. So you shop around and you get the same offers almost eveywhere you go.

There is another way to help you find the best rate.

With technology advancing and with mortgages being such big business due to the lifespan of how long you will be paying the lender, your options are not nearly as limited as you may or may not be lead to believe. I was doing a seminar a few weeks ago with a room of about 20 people who were all looking at cost effective ways to get into a home and how to make sure they were getting the best option for their money. Now this is very important for several reasons :

1. It's your money, you want the best and most practical mortgage payment available.

2. This is a long term investment, so you do the math here. What makes more sense $700.00 a month or $900.00 a month? Yes, it is a trick question, because it depends on how long the terms are and how much you can afford. It may seem off but alot of times the $900.00 is worse, usually more is better but well read the fine print.

3. You want competition. Keep reading and I will explain.

Alright, the more competition you get the better it is for you in the long run because the lender wants your business. But...if you live in a small town, like I do, you may not have much competition at all. So if you don't like what they offer you what do you do? Do you necessarily take the best offer? Personally I wouldn't...I would do some digging, alot of people still don't realize that you can actually take 5 or 10 minutes at most and check out the internet for a whole slew of lenders and mortgage companies that will literally fight for your business. It's true and it's convenient for you. You don't have to make an appointment, get dressed up, take a "positive" pill and get all stressed out over the meeting. You simply go online, fill out a few forms (as many as you like) and wait for the replies. It's fast, its incredibly effective, and it will more than likely save you a lot of time and money in the long run.

That being said, you should still make sure you are comfortable wih the companies you fill the forms out with and here are a few must tips to doing this :

1. Give out as much personal information as you are comfortable with, don't fill out anything you suspect to be non-required information.

2. Make sure the companis are reputable, look for a B.B.B logo on the page. (Better Business Bureau)

3. This is not a must but a recommendation, when asked for your email give them one you check periodically, I never give out my personal email to any company unless I have been doing business with them for awhile, just to avoid alot of potential email I don't want.

4. Final option, go to www.alexa.com and see what their overall rating is online, take a look at the companies stats. Have they been around awhile? etc. and if you can view their testimonial pages. If they have alot of testimonials then chances are you have found a reputable company to go with.

Well, there it is. The internet can give you alot of options and alot of companies who will fight for your business and again, in the end you win. You will get the best mortgage available and you get to choose the company. Peace of mind.

Until next time.

Take care,

Garret Belisle is the author of a blog designed to help you on your way to home ownership, and some helpful tricks on down payments and credit repair.

You can view the site here at http://www.gbcmortgage.blogspot.com While you're there make sure to sign up for the weekly updates on the bottom left corner to keep up to date with all of the latest advice.


MORE RESOURCES:

USA TODAY

Pros and Cons of a Mortgage Refinance
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Many homeowners are jumping on the opportunity to save money with a mortgage refinance at the current low mortgage rates. With mortgage rates at historically low levels, some homeowners have refinanced more than once in the past several years which is ...
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By JOSH SALMAN - jsalman@bradenton.com MANATEE -- A new refinance program to help underwater homeowners will uplift the local economy by putting extra cash into the pockets of those who will spend it, area lenders predict. The deal struck with five of ...

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Mortgage-refinance bill a dangerous deal
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by Robert Robb, columnist - Feb. 10, 2012 12:00 AM State Sen. Michele Reagan wants to help out underwater homeowners in the worst way. And she has succeeded with SB 1451 -- it's hard to imagine a worse bill. Reagan proposes to establish a state agency ...

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Housing Wire

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WASHINGTON – President Obama is rallying support for his plan to expand government assistance to homeowners, pressuring Congress to help lower lending rates for millions of strapped homeowners. Obama, in his radio and Internet address Saturday, ...
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MonitorBankRates.com

Mortgage Refinance Rates: 15 Year Refinance Mortgage Rates at 3.29%
MonitorBankRates.com
Mortgage refinance rates on 30 year conforming home loans are averaging 3.98%, unchanged from yesterday's average 30 year mortgage refinance rate. Mortgage refinance rates today on 15 year home mortgage loans are averaging 3.29%, down from yesterday's ...

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Harney: Reviewing Obama's mortgage refinance plan
The Seattle Times
Though it was pronounced dead-before-arrival by opponents on Capitol Hill, President Obama's new mortgage-refinancing package contained... By Kenneth R. Harney Mortgage refinancing is an outstanding plan particularly as the home mortgage rates are.

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Fox News

Obama Proposes Mortgage-Refinance Plan
Wall Street Journal
By NICK TIMIRAOS President Barack Obama called on Congress during Tuesday's State of the Union address to approve new legislation that would give all homeowners who are current on their mortgages the opportunity to refinance at record low mortgage ...
Will Obama's Mortgage Refinance Plan Be D.O.A.?U.S. News & World Report
Obama proposes mortgage refinance programPolitico (blog)
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International Business Times

FOX 11 News Discussion: State of the Union
MyFox Los Angeles
And he aimed a pitch at homeowners, announcing a new mortgage refinance program with "historically low interest rates" that "gives every responsible homeowner the chance to save about $3000 a year on their mortgage." He added, "A small fee on the ...
Winning Words, But Not a WinnerU.S. News & World Report
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CBS Local

Six Questions on Obama's Mortgage Refinance Proposal
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By Nick Timiraos President Barack Obama said Tuesday night in his State of the Union address that he would send a plan to Congress to allow all homeowners who are current on their mortgages to refinance. Here's a quick look at the proposal: How is this ...
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Bloomberg

HARP Refi May Delay PMI Cancellation
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The federal HARP mortgage refinance program can be a huge boon for underwater homeowners. But if you have PMI, there's a little hitch you should know about. While refinancing a mortgage through HARP can cut your interest rate and save you money, ...
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