Mortgage & Refinancing Information

Luxury Real Estate Information


Rancho Palos Verdes, California Homes
Palos Verdes, California Homes
South Bay, California Homes
Luxury Mexican Beachfront Homes

Featured Properties


Oceanfront Estate Near Trump National

Related Information


Loan Information
Real Estate Information
Mortgage Refinance Information

A Simple Way to Save Thousands on Your Mortgage Charges


How many times do you check you restaurant bill? If not often, I would advise you to do it more, especially when dining on your overseas vacations. Still, much more Americans check their restaurants bill, than the number of homebuyers, who check the charges for their mortgages.

There are two popular misconceptions about the mortgage surcharges. First - the charges are all the same because of the competition. Second - there is nothing we can do about it, so why bother?

They are both wrong. The charges vary, sometimes within the same company depending on who their customer is. And yes, you can reduce those charges substantially just by asking about them.

There us an old story about a waiter, who presents unreasonably high bill at the end of a meal. His customer asks very politely to see the itemization of the charges. He goes over the items with the waiter one by one. Salad, yes, we had salad. Steak, yes, we had it. What is 'successful' for $95? I don't remember ordering it. Shrugging his shoulders the waiter crosses the item out from the bill: "Most of the time I am successful with that one, but sometimes I am not".

You will be surprised how often this old joke is played on the unsuspecting customers at the mortgage closings. You can say: "But I always check the charges myself. There was nothing like that on my list".

Yeah, you think they would be stupid enough to put the charges in the open where you can check them? No, the charges are buried in the computations of the interest and principal payments. Those computations formulas are among the most closely guarded secrets of the lenders.

The lenders even have a special abbreviation for such charges, P.O.C., which stands for Paid Outside of Closing. Those charges can be for anything, from a finder's fee to your broker (or whoever referred you to them) to different sorts of mortgage insurance, which you are required to pay for, but it benefits the lender.

They will fight you tooth and nail, if you ask them to disclose that. Their most common answer to you would be: "Oh, we don't know the details ourselves. Our computer does the computations. It is our company's private information."

The only way for you to know exactly what the lenders are charging you is to compute the monthly payments independently. They are trying to make this task as difficult as possible for you. They use complicated allocations, where they often change the amounts that go to the interest and to the principal. Why? Because they don't want you to know.

So you might be thinking that after a few years your monthly payments have reduced your mortgage principal, when in reality the principal changed little and all the money went to cover interest payments and a lot of other funny charges, about which you never have been told.

How can you get this information? It can be yours for the asking. Of course you can start getting answers like: "It is not in our computer. We need to order an additional report for that. I don't have this information."

You can continue to deal with this people, if you wish. Just know that they are lying. And if they are lying to you now, what will prevent them to do the same later, when you are at their mercy as their customer.

To learn more about investment advise and retirement planning visit Money Management Forum at Wise-consumer.net, also Surveyor


MORE RESOURCES:

CBC.ca

Pros and Cons of a Mortgage Refinance
FreeRateUpdate.com
Many homeowners are jumping on the opportunity to save money with a mortgage refinance at the current low mortgage rates. With mortgage rates at historically low levels, some homeowners have refinanced more than once in the past several years which is ...
Who Qualifies for the $26 Billion Foreclosure Settlement?TIME
What $25 billion mortgage settlement will and won't do for homeownersThe Seattle Times

all 3,598 news articles »


Lenders say mortgage refinance deal will bolster Manatee market
Bradenton Herald
By JOSH SALMAN - jsalman@bradenton.com MANATEE -- A new refinance program to help underwater homeowners will uplift the local economy by putting extra cash into the pockets of those who will spend it, area lenders predict. The deal struck with five of ...

and more »


Mortgage-refinance bill a dangerous deal
Arizona Republic
by Robert Robb, columnist - Feb. 10, 2012 12:00 AM State Sen. Michele Reagan wants to help out underwater homeowners in the worst way. And she has succeeded with SB 1451 -- it's hard to imagine a worse bill. Reagan proposes to establish a state agency ...

and more »


Housing Wire

Obama pressures Congress on mortgage refinance program
Fox News
WASHINGTON – President Obama is rallying support for his plan to expand government assistance to homeowners, pressuring Congress to help lower lending rates for millions of strapped homeowners. Obama, in his radio and Internet address Saturday, ...
President Obama's Mortgage Refinance Plan Just a Bid for VotesYahoo! Contributors Network
Obama Unveils Mortgage Refinance EndeavorsMortgageorb
New Obama mortgage refinance plan to near $10 billionHousing Wire
Go Banking Rates -CBS Moneywatch -MNI News
all 1,239 news articles »


MonitorBankRates.com

Mortgage Refinance Rates: 15 Year Refinance Mortgage Rates at 3.29%
MonitorBankRates.com
Mortgage refinance rates on 30 year conforming home loans are averaging 3.98%, unchanged from yesterday's average 30 year mortgage refinance rate. Mortgage refinance rates today on 15 year home mortgage loans are averaging 3.29%, down from yesterday's ...

and more »


Fox News

Obama Proposes Mortgage-Refinance Plan
Wall Street Journal
By NICK TIMIRAOS President Barack Obama called on Congress during Tuesday's State of the Union address to approve new legislation that would give all homeowners who are current on their mortgages the opportunity to refinance at record low mortgage ...
Will Obama's Mortgage Refinance Plan Be D.O.A.?U.S. News & World Report
Obama proposes mortgage refinance programPolitico (blog)
Obama proposes new mortgage refinance programHousing Wire
Daily Caller
all 314 news articles »


Harney: Reviewing Obama's mortgage refinance plan
The Seattle Times
Though it was pronounced dead-before-arrival by opponents on Capitol Hill, President Obama's new mortgage-refinancing package contained... By Kenneth R. Harney Mortgage refinancing is an outstanding plan particularly as the home mortgage rates are.

and more »


International Business Times

FOX 11 News Discussion: State of the Union
MyFox Los Angeles
And he aimed a pitch at homeowners, announcing a new mortgage refinance program with "historically low interest rates" that "gives every responsible homeowner the chance to save about $3000 a year on their mortgage." He added, "A small fee on the ...
Winning Words, But Not a WinnerU.S. News & World Report
Obama State of the Union 2012: Mortgage Refinance Changes Face ObstaclesInternational Business Times

all 12,250 news articles »


CBS Local

Six Questions on Obama's Mortgage Refinance Proposal
Wall Street Journal (blog)
By Nick Timiraos President Barack Obama said Tuesday night in his State of the Union address that he would send a plan to Congress to allow all homeowners who are current on their mortgages to refinance. Here's a quick look at the proposal: How is this ...
Obama plan could help refinance Bay Area mortgagesSan Francisco Chronicle

all 19 news articles »


Bloomberg

HARP Refi May Delay PMI Cancellation
NASDAQ
The federal HARP mortgage refinance program can be a huge boon for underwater homeowners. But if you have PMI, there's a little hitch you should know about. While refinancing a mortgage through HARP can cut your interest rate and save you money, ...
New HARP Could Help Up to 6.7 MillionMortgageLoan.com

all 56 news articles »

Google News

home | site map
© 2006 TIGER MEDIA