Very often, homebuyers do not understand the difference between a mortgage broker and a loan officer. A loan officer works directly for a lender while a broker is an independent party that does not work for anyone. In this way a broker can seek out loans from many different parties.
Mortgage points are offered by lenders and are added into the closing costs of a loan. A mortgage point equals one percent of the total mortgage balance. Depending on the loan, you may have the option of buying a few mortgage points. While you can almost always buy them if you want to, it is not always in your best interest to do so.
With the emergence of many different loan products in the last few years, 80/20 loans have started to gain some popularity among buyers. An 80/20 loan is actually a combination of two loans. The buyer will get a regular mortgage for 80% of the cost of the property and then another smaller loan at 20% of the cost. There are advantages and disadvantages to this particular strategy. Here are a few ups and downs associated with 80/20 loans.
If you were hoping for a dramatic recovery of the U.S. housing market this year, you might be in for a disappointment, according to statements from a Federal Reserve official. “I don’t think we will see any further deterioration in 2010, but you probably won’t see a lot of rapid improvement either. You’ll just hang around...
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