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.

In The News:


King of How To News

No Drop in Refinancing Expected
NASDAQ
Overall mortgage lending is expected to increase slightly this year, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) is predicting, thanks to declining rates that are supporting continued demand for refinancing. The MBA today upped its mortgage lending estimate ...
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eCreditDaily.com

Time to Refinance While Mortgage Rates are So Low
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After taking a look at these details, many borrowers are going to find that it is time to refinance while mortgage rates are so low even if they refinanced several years ago. For those with adjustable mortgage rates, it is the perfect time to switch to ...
Mortgage applications up on refi demand: MBAReuters
MBA Weekly Survey: Refinance Applications Increase Because of Record Low ...LoanSafe
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e-wisdom.com

Realtors(R) Offer Support for Bill to Help Responsible Homeowners Refinance
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WASHINGTON, DC, May 24, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- A proposed bill to streamline and align the refinance processes of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may soon make it easier for homeowners who are current on their mortgage payments but who have been ...
Mortgage Rates: Low Mortgage Rates Remain in Place as Consumer Sentiment SoarsFreeRateUpdate.com
Freddie Mac: 30-year mortgage rate down a tick at 3.78%Los Angeles Times
Refinancing homeowners overwhelmingly choose fixed loanse-wisdom.com
International Business Times -KETK -BusinessWeek
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The Mortgage Reports (blog)

The Truth About Mortgage Refinancing Revealed by Georgia Mortgage Expert
SBWire (press release)
Atlanta, Georgia based Mortgage Broker Brad Hartman reveals mortgage refinancing secrets, offers free reports, a home buying guide and free mortgage calculators on his website, brad-hartman.com. The site is designed to give Georgia residents all the ...
Real estate industry pushes Senate on refi billMarketWatch
Push intensifies to pass home-loan refinancing billThe Hill (blog)
Q & A : Why Won't My Bank Do HARP Mortgages With PMI Or LPMI?The Mortgage Reports (blog)
FreeRateUpdate.com -Cleveland Jewish News -Seeking Alpha
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Mortgage rules prove too strict for some retirees
Washington Post
Jim Eberle of McLean found this out the hard way when he applied to refinance his mortgage. After spending much of his career working for banking industry trade associations in Washington, Eberle, 68, decided to take advantage of this spring's ...

and more »

Mortgage Origination Forecast Increased by Nearly $200 Billion by TSA
LoanSafe
MBA now expects that mortgage originations will reach $1.28 trillion in 2012, up from $1.26 trillion in 2011. Refinance originations are now expected to total $870 billion in 2012, an almost identical amount to 2011. MBA is slightly lowering its ...
MBA Raises 2012 Origination Forecast Due to RefinancesAmerican Banker (subscription)
2012 Originations Now Expected to Exceed 2011Mortgage Daily

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Obama's Disclosure Shows Mortgage Refinance Not High on Agenda
San Francisco Chronicle
Rates for a 30-year fixed mortgage averaged 4.46 percent last year, according to Bankrate.com data, hitting a low at the end of the year of 3.92 percent. In 2011, 4.3 million homeowners refinanced, according to data from the US Department of Housing ...

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Politico

Obama to tout success of mortgage refinancing
Washington Post
In addition, he cited a program Obama announced in October 2011 designed to remove barriers to refinancing to homeowners with federally backed mortgages. Now, it is up to Congress, Donovan said, to expand such programs to homeowners with loans that are ...
Obama touts mortgage refinancing to help economic recoveryThe Hill (blog)
Obama Visits Reno, Urges Congress To Expand Mortgage Refinancing ProgramCarson Now
In Nevada, Obama touts his housing crisis effortsLos Angeles Times
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Chicago Tribune

Costco members can now shop for mortgages online
Chicago Tribune
Mortgages? Well, not exactly. The company is receiving a fair amount of publicity for the rollout on its website of a home purchase and refinancing mortgage product for members. But technically it's not Costco's program. It's an online mortgage ...


e-wisdom.com

Mortgage refinancing applications jump; rates fall: MBA
Chicago Tribune
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Applications for US home mortgages surged last week, driven by increased demand for refinancing as interest rates hit fresh lows, an industry group said on Wednesday. The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted ...
Mortgage refinancing surgesBizjournals.com
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