Do you know the difference between an Interest rate and an APR and why it’s important to know what an APR represents when you’re buying a home? The difference between APR and interest rate is this: the APR (annual percentage rate) is not an interest rate but rather is a marker that illustrates the total cost of
In today’s mortgage market, borrowers see ads about how rocket-fast it is to apply for a mortgage. They’re lulled into thinking a mortgage is as quick as pushing a few buttons on a computer or smartphone, or talking to a person many miles away on the telephone. In either of these scenarios, the online mortgage
When you’re preparing to purchase a home or apply for a new mortgage or refi, there are some things you really should not do. We call them “The 10 Commandments of Lending”. Here are some of the most important ones: Thou shalt not buy a car, truck or van or thou might be living in
Frequently, we hear potential borrowers who say they are shopping their mortgage around and would like a second offer. That’s great, that’s what we’ve advised since Indigo Mortgage opened in 2003. Most commonly, when they tell us they’d like to see our interest rate and fees on their home loan, the other lender is a
Here’s some great news for New Mexico homebuyers! Fannie Mae (the Federal National Mortgage Association) and Freddie Mac (Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation), the private corporations chartered by Congress to provide stability and affordability to the mortgage market, have raised the maximum loan limit from $548,000 to $625,000. This increase means that a borrower can
If you’re about to purchase a new home or refinance your mortgage loan, you are bombarded daily with ads for mortgage loans. They’re especially aggressive from the national lender whose name rhymes with “Pocket” and the big internet lenders who say they can manage your home’s purchase and mortgage. But do big internet lenders really
It’s early October in New Mexico, and we’re seeing more than hot air balloons rising. We are seeing mortgage rates rise from the historical low rates of the last year. Unfortunately, we are also seeing many online lenders still offering those low rates from several weeks ago. These mortgage lenders are not being truthful in
When we meet with potential home buyers, we always discuss not only what their down payment will be, but what their share of the closing costs will be. Often, these home buyers have already met with another lender yet the other lender didn’t say anything about closing costs that the buyer would pay. These buyers
Churning a loan – it’s an inside reference to a scam performed by some lenders across the country. It works like this: because mortgage rates are at rock bottom interest rates, these lenders offer borrowers a rate lower than a borrower’s current rate. BUT this rate is not the lowest interest rate available, so if
Every day, we get borrowers who are shopping their mortgage around and who say, “I don’t want my credit report pulled again.” They are worried that too many credit report pulls will drop their credit score. However the rules for credit reporting agencies state that if the same kind of entity (such as several mortgage