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Category Archives: Mortgage 101

Property Types

What’s The Difference Between A Primary Residence, Second Home and Investment Property?

When applying for a mortgage, a borrower’s “Occupancy Type” is a major factor in the amount of down payment required, loan program available and mortgage interest rate. Whether you are purchasing, doing a rate/term refinance or taking...

Mortgage Closing Cost

Saving for a house mortgage-home-loan-closing-costs-best-home-loans-south-bayIn addition to the basic mortgage underwriting, processing and origination fees that are charged by a lender, there are several other costs associated with purchasing a new property. Since every player on your real estate home buying team has a stake in...

Mortgage Rates

How Do I Know If I’m Getting The Best Interest Rate?
mortgage-home-loan-rates-best-home-loans-south-bayInterest rates are impacted by a borrower’s credit score, loan term, mortgage program and a series of market factors that are outside of our control. Unfortunately, many advertisers will tease a low interest rate in a marketing campaign...

Mortgage Basics

Simply put, a mortgage is a loan secured by real property and paid in installments over a set period of time. The mortgage secures your promise that the money borrowed for your home will be repaid.

mortgang-home-loan-basics-best-home-loans-south-bayAccording to Wikipedia:

A mortgage loan is a loan...

Mortgage Payments

mortgage-home-loan-payments-best-home-loans-south-bayYou’re probably curious why we’ve created an entire section about mortgage payments. However, since a mortgage payment is one of the major side affects of purchasing real estate with a home loan financing program, we thought it would be important to highlight a couple topics and related articles...

Learning Center

Since there are so many components to the mortgage process, we have taken special care to organize the most important qualifying steps, lending frequently asked questions, home buying and mortgage processes below. We realize that that the information contained in this site could literally take you weeks...

Closing Process

mortgage-home-loan-closing-process-best-home-loans-south-bayThe home buying process is full of paperwork, important dates, contracts, market movements and checklists that can even overwhelm seasoned real estate investors. One of the main reasons to make sure you’re working with a professional real estate buying team is the fact that you get...

Top 8 Questions To Ask

Top 8 Things To Ask Your Lender During The Application Process

Knowing what questions to ask your lender during or before the loan application process is essential for making your mortgage approval process as smooth as possible. Many borrowers fail to ask the right questions during the mortgage pre-qualification...

Appraisal Process

Real Estate Appraisals

mortgage-home-loan-real-estate-appraisals-best-home-loans-south-ba One of the most critical parts of getting a mortgage is the Appraisal. The purpose of an appraisal is to confirm the home value for the lender. An appraisal is a professional estimate of the value of the property that you are planning to...

The Fed & Rates

How Do Mortgage Rates Move When The Fed Lowers Rates?

Lower mortgage rates is a common misconception that is perpetuated by the mainstream media when the Fed makes an announcement of lowering rates. However, when the Fed cuts interest rates, mortgage rates can actually increase.

Fed 101:

According to Wikipedia:
The Federal Reserve System (also known...

Comparing Mortgage Rates

What’s The Difference Between Interest Rate and Annual Percentage Rate (APR)?

The difference between APR and actual note rate is very confusing, especially for First-Time Home Buyers who haven’t been through the entire closing process before. When shopping for a new mortgage loan, you may notice an Annual Percentage...

Mortgage Rate Questions

8 Questions Your Lender Should Answer About Mortgage Rates

Simply checking online for today’s posted rate may not lead to your expected outcome due to the many factors that can cause each individual rate and closing cost scenario to fluctuate. We can preach communication, service and education all day...

Rate/Market Indicators

Top Five Market Factors That Influence Mortgage Rates

Timing the market for the opportunity to lock a mortgage rate on a new loan is certainly a challenge, even for the professionals. While there are several generic interest rate trend indicators online, the difference between what’s advertised and actually attainable...

Secondary Markets

How Are Mortgage Rates Determined?

Many people believe that interest rates are simply set by lenders, but the reality is that mortgage rates are largely determined by what is known as the Secondary Market. The secondary market is comprised of investors who buy the loans made...