FINANCE

Are you " Pre-Qualified"

Just looking can turn serious in an instant. I know because I was a realtor for over 10 years and found that to be the case more often then not. Financing a property can take anywhere from 4-6 weeks; an eternity for the anxious seller who has pulled his house off the market and now can only hope the buyers really will get approval. Not to mention the buyers who have perhaps had to give notice to thier landlord among other things and now just wait for the phone to ring. If your not a first time buyer you know all this and have already been to your lender of choice.

A "preliminary" pre-qualification is of only little value to the seller. It simply means basically that income/debt ratios have been run based on unverified information provided to them. A real pre-qualification involves pulling credit reports and gathering documentation and ideally results in a letter from the lender stating a certain level of qualification. But before all this pull your own credit report and most important your FICO score. The score will tell you how you look overall and reviewing your report first will inform you of any errors in it or derogatory history which may require a written letter of explanation to the lender and/or a consumer statement inserted into your credit report. So my best advice is to do all your homework first! If you are already qualified and as such can offer a faster closing, you will have the upper hand over any other possible competing offers.

And one last bit of advice - where you do your checking or car loans may be the worst place in town for mortgages. They are limited to only what thier in-house programs offer. A Mortgage Brokerage has access to many programs from various sources and can shop around for the best program that qualifies you. GOOD LUCK!

SOME FINANCE SCENARIOS

30 YEAR TERM @ 6.5 % - 0 POINTS *

• 3% D/PMT=($8085) = $261,415  AMT. FINANCED = $1652 per mo. - applied rents of $885 = $767 per mo.**  
• 5% D/PMT=($13,475) = $256,025 AMT. FINANCED = $1618 per mo. - applied rents of $885 = $733 per mo.**
• 10% D/PMT=($26,950) = $242,550 AMT. FINANCED = $1533 per mo. - applied rents of $885 = $648 per mo. **
• 15% D/PMT=($40,425) = $229,075 AMT. FINANCED = $1448 per mo. - applied rents of $885 = $563 per mo.**
• 20% D/PMT=(53,900) = $215,600 AMT. FINANCED =  $1363 per mo. - applied rents of $885 = $478 per mo.**

     * RATES CURRENT AS OF JANURY, 2007. CHECK FOR CURRENT RATES. OTHER PROGRAM RATES AVAILABLE FOR FIRST TIME BUYERS, ARMs, BUYDOWNS, PAYING POINTS, ETC.

     ** ABOVE FIGURES DO NOT INCLUDE TAXES & INSURANCE ESTIMATED AT & $385 PER MO. PLUS SERVICES LANDLORD MAY PROVIDE SUCH AS TRASH & SNOW REMOVAL AND ELECTRIC TO COMMON AREAS AS WELL AS THE UPSTAIRS UNIT UNTILL SUCH TIME AS OWNER CHOSES TO INSTALL SECOND METER. IN SOME CASES A MONTHLY OR ONE-TIME PMI PAYMENT MAY APPLY DEPENDING ON DOWNPAYMENT IN ADDITION TO CLOSING COST WHICH IN SOME CASES MAY BE INCLUDED IN THE MORTGAGE. CHECK WITH YOUR MORTGAGE BROKER FOR DETAILS.