Photo courtesy of phatman’s photostream via Flickr

Schedule interviews with 3 mortgage providers

Think of it as shopping for the best deal. You already know how to shop for the best deal on a stereo or TV or even a car. Shopping for the best mortgage deal for your particular financial situation is even more important because it’s one of the largest purchases of your lifetime.

A major mistake many homebuyers make at this stage is assuming every mortgage lender has access to every type of loan out there. That’s one mistake you won’t be making since we covered it in part 1 of this series.

Important tip about FREE credit reports:

On December 4, 2003 President Bush signed into law the right of every person to receive one free credit report per year.

The catch: Your score is NOT included.

Here’s how you get started:

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Photo courtesy of phatman’s photostream via Flickr

Young 20 something newlyweds Kaye and David sprinted across the bank parking lot in the pouring rain. It had been coming down hard for almost 30 minutes and they couldn’t wait in the car for it to let up any longer. Their appointment was in 5 minutes and this was a very big day.

“Too bad we didn’t think to check the weather before heading to work this morning.” said David before they got out of the car. “Some sort of rain gear would have been nice.”

“Even just a umbrella.” replied Kaye as she shivered and looked outside apprehensively.

Just then a bright flash of lightning lit up the dark afternoon sky and she quickly snuggled closer to David in preparation for the thunder she knew to expect. Within seconds thunder clapped and rolled loudly, causing her to briefly consider pulling out her cell phone and canceling their appointment.

David was having the same thoughts, but neither of them spoke of it aloud because this was just way too important to let a thunderstorm and soaking wet clothes stop them.

“Let’s make a run for it now.” said David. “Before another one like that.”

They simultaneously jumped out into the storm, sprinting through puddles and past parked cars.

They paused under shelter at the front door to catch their breath and gather their courage. “Will we be approved for our first home loan?” When they made eye contact, both knew what the other was thinking. No words were necessary.

Not knowing what to expect inside and the pounding storm outside was almost too much for them. Then a bright bolt of lightning lit up the sky again and they quickly scooted inside.

First time home buyers instinctively know that a lack of knowledge puts them at a disadvantage, so they generally go into the home buying process with a submissive mindset.

Unfortunately, this creates a precarious situation because Read the rest of this entry

This is a true story about a young couple who barely avoided losing their dream home at the closing table. A story riddled with incompetence, greed and fear from the very professionals who should have been protecting this young couple’s best interests. Most new buyers don’t realize the level of impact their RE agent has on the entire process of buying a new home. Everyone hopes it’s a positive one, but the opposite is often true.

Photo courtesy of thousand.birds’ photostream via Flickr

I was a licensed Broker/Realtor® representing the seller in this story. The volume of closings I handled attracted a significant number of mortgage lenders to my office for the express purpose of getting a small piece of the pie. There’s a LOT of money to be made at every stage of buying and selling real estate which is why it’s such a deeply developed process – many professionals working together for the same end goal.

The problem is – sometimes those professionals lose sight of their integrity in favor of putting money in their own pockets.

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