1– Click here for “The Flip Side of the Sub-Prime Story” by Ardell DellaLoggia:

No one was more surprised than I, when I got the mortgage and closed on my home. In the end, the lender wanted me to write my profile of “Who I Am” right before the loan funded. I was starting over again in a new city. No proven history of what I might be able to make long term, as an agent in a new place. Coming out of a 20 year marriage, too old to wait until I stablilized my income, arriving with only what could fit in the trunk of my car. Sleeping on the floor at my sister’s in Green Lake while I worked hard to re-establish myself after a debilitating and nasty divorce. Needing a home for my three daughters and grand daughter to come to, hoping I could woo them away from L.A. where they were not doing well, and couldn’t afford to live on their own and be safe.

2–Seventeen Reasons to have New Construction Homes Inspected

by Kelly Koehler: Click Here

3– Ten Commandments For Mortgage Applicants by Mark Flanders

The mortgage approval process is forgiving of many things, but these items will throw a serious wrench in the works. The following is a list of things that I see most often as a Loan Officer, that derail the process of getting approved for a mortgage loan.

4– Click Here: Real Estate Myths Home Buyers Fall in Love With by Steve Leung

But I’m going to challenge the reasoning behind some widely-held real estate notions because it’s paramount that you treat your personal requirements as the key to the real estate decision process. I believe that it’s important that you be able to make choices suited to your own needs and wants, not what the crowd thinks you should do.

5– Putting the Cart before the Horse: Making a Contingent Offer byRich Jacobsen o what’s the best strategy for buying your next home? Click Here

Is it better to put your house on the market first, get it under contract with a qualified Buyer, and then find your new home?

Or, should you go out and find just the perfect house first, THEN put your house on the market?

6– Picking your next mortgage by rate shopping? You might as well be playing Liar’s Poker. Click Here for the full article by Rhonda PorterRate shopping to select who will be assisting you with your next mortgage is similar to playing “liars poker”. The Loan Originator who is the most successful at bluffing wins. The fact is, unless you’re locking in the rate at the moment you’re shopping, you don’t have a rate, it’s a quote is all…..
7– Mortgage Interest Rate Locks 101 By Rhonda Porter
What level of guarantee can you offer me with these rates you have provided on the Good Faith Estimates? By Rhonda Porter

Until your loan is “locked” the interest rates on the Good Faith Estimate (GFE) is simply a reflection of what the rate is at the moment the Loan Originator prepared the GFE. In fact it’s possible that the rate may have changed just moments after the GFE was provided to the client. Mortgage interest rates can change throughout the day. The GFE is not a guarantee of the mortgage interest rate, costs or that one is qualified or approved for a loan program.