Mortgage Tips for your clients

One of the things that many people ask me is, where can I get content for my newsletters and emails? Well here is smaple mortgage article that you can use and send to your customers. I have found this information from HUD and then edited it to make it better for buyers or sellers to read.

This mortage information is good to send for three reasons; it gives you credibility in the eyes of your customers as a public service and not just as a Realtor, this information is interesting info that can be passed on directly to other people by your customers, and finally it is a way to show that your customers need to use someone that they trust for their real estate transaction..this point directly to you.

What are dangerous mortgage practices?

There are a lot of good mortgage lenders across the country, both banks and small lending businesses. But, There are many dangerous lenders that will try to hurt you financially buy getting you a mortgage for terms and conditions that are very high and that can ruin you financially. Here are some things to watch out for and avoid when choosing a mortgage lender. Bad mortgage lenders will try to do the following:

1. Sell properties for much more than they are worth using false appraisals.
2. Encourage mortgage borrowers to lie about their income, expenses, or cash available for down payments in order to get a loan.
3. Knowingly lend more mortgage money than a borrower can afford to repay.
4. Charge high interest rates to borrowers based on their race or national origin and not on their credit history.
5. Charge fees for unnecessary or nonexistent products and services.
6. Pressure mortgage borrowers to accept higher-risk loans such as balloon loans, interest only payments, and steep pre-payment penalties.
7. Target vulnerable borrowers to cash-out refinances offers when they know borrowers are in need of cash due to medical, unemployment or debt problems.
8. “Strip” homeowners’ equity from their homes by convincing them to mortgage again and again when there is no benefit to the borrower.
9. Use high pressure sales tactics to sell home improvements and then finance them at high interest rates.

Watch out for these warning signs!

1. A lender or investor tells you that they are your only chance of getting a mortgage or owning a home. You should be able to take your time to shop around and compare prices and houses.
2. The house you are buying costs a lot more than other homes in the neighborhood, but isn’t any bigger or better.
3. You are asked to sign a sales contract or mortgage documents that are blank or that contain information which is not true.
4. You are told that the Federal Housing Administration insurance protects you against property defects or loan fraud – it does not!!!!
5. The cost or mortgage terms at closing are not what you agreed to.
6. You are told that getting a new mortgage or second mortgage can solve your credit or money problems.
7. You are told that you can only get a good deal on a home improvement if you finance it with a particular lender.

Armed with this information I hope that these lists of bad mortgage practices and ways to spot bad mortgage lenders will help you out and save you a lot of pain and heartache