Mortgage FAQs

Once you are preapproved and ready to start shopping for a home, it might be time to find out what the APR is.

Now that you have an idea of what interest rates would be for your particular circumstance, you should start looking at fees tied to your loan. A high APR isn’t always a bad thing so just make sure you are having the in-depth discussion with your lender to determine if it is better for your situation to pay discount points for a lower rate or if locking in on a little higher rate to offset some fees makes more sense.

This is going to vary for everyone and your own individual situations. I will always listen to your story and tell you the pros and cons of each loan product and allow you to make that decision. Going through loan terms, downpayment options, and fees tied to the loan will help you determine which loan product best fits your situation.

A “hard” credit check is oftentimes called a “hard inquiry” meaning this inquiry will show up on your credit report. For me to give you a decision on the loan approval or interest rate I do need to do the hard credit check.

If you are shopping around on Mortgage options with other lenders there is minimal impact on your credit score if these credit checks are done within a short period of time. There could, however, be other reasons your credit score could drop (or increase) for instance, using your credit cards, paying off a loan or taking out a new loan.

Most lenders do not charge to lock in an interest rate so once you have a property address or are ready to move forward on a refinance and have decided on a lender you will want to lock your interest rate. Locking in a rate ensures you that the rate won’t go up.

An origination fee provides additional profit to the lender so you will want to ask your lender what fees are being charged by them that are either built in to the rate or are detailed on the Loan Estimate. There are other third party charges such as title searches, an appraisal, collection of property taxes and State and Local tax and recording fees.

This of course will depend on the date decided amongst the buyer and seller of the property as well as how quickly you, the buyer, provides documentation to your lender which is needed to fully approve the loan. Other variables are timeframes for an Appraisal and Title Insurance. Signing disclosures timely also helps speed up the process and a faster process would be to ask your lender about electronically signing documents as opposed to paper signing.