News Shorts

Comparing Loan Offers

Once you are ready to move forward with your home purchase, it’s time to choose a mortgage loan and a lender. By getting loan estimates from multiple lenders, you can compare to see which lender is offering you the best deal. Contact the lenders you are considering and tell them you are ready to request a Loan Estimate. You don’t need to provide written documentation yet (though it’s always a good idea to share what you have). You just need to provide six key pieces of information to begin your loan application:

•Your name •Your income •Your social security number (so the lender can check your credit) •The address of the home you plan to purchase •An estimate of the home’s value (typically, the sale price) •The loan amount you want to borrow (the home price minus your down payment amount)

Ask each lender for the same kind of loan with the same features. You want to be comparing apples to apples when you get your Loan Estimates. At this point in the process, you should already have a pretty good idea of the kind of loan and features you want:

•Loan type •Loan term •Rate type (fixed or adjustable) •Down payment amount/loan amount •Points / credits •Rate lock period

If a loan officer suggests a different type of loan or features than what you asked for, ask questions. It’s possible the loan officer has found a better loan for you, but they may also be trying to sell you a particular type of loan for other reasons.

•Ask the loan officer to explain why they think the new loan is a better deal for you. •Ask the loan officer to give you Loan Estimates for both the original loan you asked for and the new loan they are suggesting, so you can see the differences in costs and risks. •Don’t make any decisions until you feel confident you understand the pros and cons of all of the options you are considering.

Lenders shouldn’t be asking you to pay any substantial upfront fees at this point

By law, the only fee that lenders are allowed to charge you before issuing a Loan Estimate is a small upfront fee to pay for pulling your credit report. The fee will usually be no more than $20. If a lender asks you to pay for anything other than a credit report fee in order to get a Loan Estimate, this is against the law. You might choose to work with another lender. You can also submit a complaint to the CFPB. Lenders must wait to charge you additional fees until you choose a loan offer and tell the lender that you are ready to move forward with your application. Once you tell a lender that you are ready to proceed, the lender you choose may charge you additional fees, such as an application or appraisal fee.

Never sign a form with blank spaces

When you sign a loan application, you are saying that what is on the form is true. Don’t let anyone persuade you to sign a blank form or a form with any blank spaces left to be filled in later. (consumerfinance.gov)

Why Home Inspections Are Now More Important Than Ever

With a competitive housing market favoring sellers it's becoming more necessary for buyers to forego contingencies, such as home inspections and related ancillary testing as part of their purchase contract. In addition, many agents may be encouraging their buyers to offer above the listing price when making their offer. To win the offer these tactics seem to be the new norm. But I ask you to stop for a moment and think about how this could affect a buyer's long-term financial well-being and even their health and safety.

Does it make a lot of sense to go further into debt offering thousands above listing price AND foregoing the home inspection? Homebuyers are further extending themselves financially without knowing anything about the condition of the house they are trying to buy.

Sure, costly updates like the kitchen and bathrooms take away the likelihood of having to do those things for a while, but how good is the rest of the house? How old is the roof, the heating system, water heater, the electrical, plumbing? Everything has a useful life, nothing lasts forever. How is the attic insulation and ventilation? What is the condition of the foundation, basement, and/or crawlspace like? What is the radon level in the home? How is the septic system, what repairs and maintenance have been done and when was it cleaned out last? What is the condition of the well, how much water will it supply and what is the quality of that water in the well?

These are all things a home inspection and ancillary testing addresses that are not usually apparent to most buyers during a 30 minute showing with their agent before signing on the dotted line. If you are going to forego these services with a contingency to buy, I urge you to consider getting them done as soon as possible regardless. A home inspection and/or ancillary services, regardless of when it's completed, will always aim to protect your health and safety living in the home.

Author: Patrick Rightmier, (NYS Lic #16000066870) Superior Quality Home Inspections. 315-794-1565

Tip of the Day: Prepare Your Lawn Equipment

Cutting the grass is right around the corner and will be here before you know it. Now is an ideal time to pull out all the lawn equipment out of the garage or shed and start getting them ready for the spring and summer months.

Simply unplugging the old spark plug, draining old gas and oil and removing the old air filter from the year before and then replacing it all with new – is an easy way to prep your lawn equipment. You may also consider taking the lawnmower blades to a local shop to have them sharpened or even replaced if needed.