Finance Center
Financing a home is the biggest process involved in becoming a homeowner, outside of finding that perfect place (which is my job!) There are some agents who also work as mortgage brokers, but I find that to be a conflict of interest and when it comes down to it – I know that no one can be an expert in everything. So, I focus on working with buyers and sellers to facilitate transactions and I rely on the people I consider mortgage experts to handle the financial side of things.
When it comes down to lenders, I am always willing to give referrals and you should know that I don’t receive (and it’s against the law) any incentive, financial or otherwise to refer these people to you. I only make references based on personal experience, whether it was my own financial investment or one of my clients’. When you talk to lenders, after they have your credit score and have discussed several factors with you, they’ll provide you with a Good Faith Estimate that will break down the closing costs so we can compare them to each other, apples to apples, on a given purchase price as determined by what they estimate you can comfortably afford. Sometimes we can negotiate closing costs into a contract, but oftentimes you’ll need to come up with 3-5% of the sales price at closing (depending on the type of your loan and the amount). Many closing costs are standard (appraisals, recording fees, credit reports) but sometimes different places have other fees that you might want to know about, and the Good Faith Estimate is designed to provide those for you.
If you’ve heard all the hype about zero-down home loan programs, you should know that they are harder to get than they used to be, but a good credit score might be able to secure you one depending on your lender. Again, this is the area where I point you straight to a mortgage professional! Contact me if you’d like some referrals, and feel free to utilize my mortgage calculator to give you some basic ballpark figures on affordability for you!
Not been keeping up with the mortgage news? I'm trying to collaborate all the latest news in the mortgage world. Check it out on my blog at http://SeattleHouseKeys.blogspot.com and if you have a question, I'll find the answer!