When it’s time for a new Tucson home mortgage, whether it is for the purchase of a new home or to refi your existing home, many people think of the rate to be the most important factor in deciding with whom to get their mortgage loan. This article would like you to take a moment to consider that it is probably more important to focus your attention on the the point that you get your loan from a qualified professional than just the absolute lowest rate. Mortgage rates are pretty close to the same amongst all mortgage lenders (if anybody says they have massively better rates than the guy down the street, be on your toes). Loan Officers, however, vary greatly in their knowledge and ability to get you the best loan for your needs and to get it closed in the time frame promised and on budget. Here are 4 suggestions for what to look for in your lender.
Above all, be sure you are working with an experienced, professional Philadelphia home mortgage lender. The largest financial transaction of your life is waytoo crucial to place in the hands of someone who is not capable of advising you correctly and troubleshooting the issues that may arise along the way. How can you tellif that person is good enough? Here are 4 straightforward questions any lender definitely must be in a position to answer in the correct way. If they don’t know the answers, you just aren’t working with a professional!
1) What are mortgage rates based on? (the sole correct answer is Mortgage Backed Securities also referred to as Mortgage Bonds, NOT the ten year Treasury Note. While the 10-year Treasury Note which on occasion trends in the same direction as mortgage bonds, it isn’t at all uncommon to see them move in utterly opposite directions. DO NOT work with a loan officer who has their foocus on the wrong indicators.)
2) What’s the next Economic Report or event that could potentially cause interest rates to change? (A good loan officer will have your answer at their fingertips).
3) When Bernanke and the Fed “raise or lower rates”, what does this mean, and what likely impact mortgage rates? (The answer may surprise you. When the Fed makes a change, they change a rate known as the “Fed Funds Rate” or “Discount Rate”. Both of these are very short-term rates that impact things like credit cards, Home Equity lines of credit (HELOC’s), auto loans and the like. On the day the Fed moves, Mortgage interest rates most likely will actually move in the opposite direction as the Fed change. This is thanks to the dynamics within the monetary markets responding to inflation).
4) Does your loan officer have access to live, real time, mortgage bond quotes? (If a mortgage lender can’texplain how Mortgage Bonds are moving in real time and and be ready for potential expensive intra-day price changes, you are speaking with someone that is still reading yesterday?s newspaper, and likely not a professional with whom to entrust your mortgage financing. (Would you work with a stock broker who is only ready to grab yesterday?s paper to tell you how a stock traded yesterday, but had no idea what the movement looks like at the present time and what market conditions potentially may cause major changes in the near future?)