The Importance of Your Credit Report

Your credit report plays a key role when you are trying to get a mortgage to buy or refinance a home. Whether your time frame is within the next six months or the next few years, it’s time to look at your credit report and address any issues.

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Message for Wells Fargo Settlement Agents

Here is the complete communication that we received in an email from Wells Fargo dated December 10, 2014 for those of you who wish to read it in its entirety: TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure Rule In the September 24 issue of our settlement agent communication, Wells Fargo announced that we would control the generation and delivery…

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Understanding the Financial Process When Buying a New House

If you’re a first time homebuyer, you’ve probably realized that the process isn’t an easy one. To ensure that everything goes well, it’s important to prepare as much as possible beforehand. When it comes to the financial aspect of buying a house, you should know what will be expected of you before you can get…

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Don’t Make These Mortgage Mistakes

Buying a house is often more complicated than most people expect; it’s not a matter of simply finding a house you like and giving the seller money for it. There are a number of different steps you have to take in order to make it officially yours. One of the biggest, but extremely important, aspects…

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A Mortgage Prequalification Ain’t as Easy as it Used to Be

If you wanted to buy a house twenty-five years ago, you would have called your lender and asked for a prequalification letter. You would have told him/her your annual income and how much cash you had for a down payment “Those days are long gone,” says Dan Avanzato, President of Norstar Mortgage Services in North…

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Should You Take Out a Second Mortgage?

Years ago, second mortgages were all the rage; with the appeal of gaining access to extra cash, it’s obvious why that was the case. But then the recession hit, leaving millions of homeowners with an unfit match of high mortgage payments and reduced income. Not a fun time. However, now that the economy is slowly…

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You never know what you’ll read next on social media.

I stumbled upon this Facebook post today from a local real estate broker. The names have been changed to protect the greedy. “What a great office/business meeting today. We had 85 percent of all our agents in attendance.  Our title company XYZ Abstract released our quarterly profits. Our agents with one share got a check…

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Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARMs), They’re Not All Bad

As mortgage interest rates begin to rise, some homebuyers will be looking for an alternative to the thirty year fixed rate mortgage. The truth of the matter is… if used responsibly and for the right reasons, an adjustable rate mortgage could make a lot of sense when financing residential real estate. If your only reason…

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TD Bank Strikes Again

It isn’t all that uncommon for a purchase closing to be delayed due to an issue with the buyer’s mortgage company. Problems with the appraisal, an insurance issue or a buyer that is slow providing all of the required paperwork, just to name a few. Last Friday, we were scheduled to handle a closing in…

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The truth about real estate’s Controlled Business Relationships

We recently received an email from a potential customer who was trying to be an informed consumer and get a fair deal on a mortgage. Here’s the opening line: “I’m considering a refinance to shorten term and lower rate. Lenders are unable to provide any kind of transparency (or patience) with questions on fees.” Unfortunately,…

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TD Bank Responds

A quick update to last week’s TD Bank story.  TD saw our post about a client’s very frustrating experience when refinancing with their bank.  Within an hour or two of seeing the post, TD follows ALT Title on Twitter and reaches out to us: “@ALTTITLE Saw ur tweet. We appreciate your feedback & we’d like to connect…

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