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How to Get the Best Rates on Atlanta Home Mortgage Loans

Here's my advice in a nutshell. Shop on the Internet and then use a local lender you can trust who can also match those rates.

Here's a great widget to do your initial shopping on line.  After a little shopping, go down this page to a list of some of my recommended lenders here in Atlanta.

Don't trust any advertised rates.  There are always details they never mention.  Call them up and make sure they send you a Good Faith Estimate.  Then you can start making real comparisons.

So, who can you trust?

I've been a real estate agent for 10 years and have met a lot of loan officers.  Many are very good at what they do.  Others, I wouldn't trust for a minute.

My five best recommendations are as follows because all four:

• Offer very competitive rates.  They don't mess around

• Get the job done.  If they say you are approved, you are approved

• Will get you the HUD-1 statement 48 hours before closing

• Will attend the closing to make sure nothing goes wrong

• Will give you a Good Faith Estimate that you can trust

• Are really motivated.  If they screw up, they are off my list and no more referrals

Let all five give you a quote.  It's a crazy, competitive market with changes happening daily.  If shopping, make sure you get quotes at the same time and day.

 

	Craig Bland 770-279-0222 ext 364 cell  678-234-0545  fax 770-279-9141 3496 Club Drive Lawrenceville, GA 30044
	Go to Craig's website
Craig can perform miracles sometimes.  Read about how he was able to take an application at 5pm and have it ready to close by 10am the next day.

	Paul Cook 678-631-3217 fax 678-264-1552 1205 Lake Crest Terrace Roswell, GA 30075
	Go to Paul's website

 

	Cameron Stevens 770-423-2265 cell  404-966-2135 fax 770-428-1409 Bank of North Georgia 269 Roswell Rd. Marietta, GA 30060
	Go to Cameron's website

	Gary Rosenshein cell  678-471-2200 fax 770-234-6101 3535 Piedmont Road, NE Suite 1050 Atlanta, GA 30305
	Go to Gary's website

	Natashia Bush cell  6770-241-5029 fax 866-424-1595 4300 Paces Ferry Road #333 Atlanta, GA 30339
	Go to Natashia's website

Steps to Getting a Great Mortgage

1. Get a copy of your credit report. 

A federal law was passed in 2008 that required the credit agencies to supply you with a free credit report at least once per year.  

As you'll see on the federal website, there is an official site where you go to get your free credit report.  www.annualcreditreport.com

It's kind of a hassle going through and getting your report at all three credit agencies, Experian, Equifax, and Trans Union.  They also don't give you your credit score.  They give you information about all of your credit accounts but they make you pay to get their credit score.  It's about $6-$10 each.  The problem is that the scores they give you aren't the same scale that the lenders use and talk about.  These scores they give you are from 500 to 990.  So it's kind of a waste of money.

Usually it's just a lot easier having a lender do a free credit report for you.  Just have one lender run your report and supply you with a copy.  The lender will also be able to translate the data and tell you what it all means.  Lenders pull credit reports all the time and usually don't charge you upfront. 

2.  Check out rates at The Mortgage Professor.  This will give you a good foundation to make comparisons with.  Make sure you compare apples with apples. Make sure lock periods, credit score assumptions and impounds are all comparable.  Here is their daily mortgage price page

3.  Call a few local lenders who were recommended to you by someone you trust.  A good loan advisor is such a great value.  They can make sense out of all the various programs and advise you on what's best for you.  When they see that you have all of your financial documents in order and you have been shopping around, they will most likely give you their most competitive rates from the get go. 

4.  Make sure you compare "apples with apples".  The cost of the loan is not just the interest rate.  It's the combination of interest rate and the associated lender fees.    When comparing lenders, just compare the closing costs that are lender related.  Don't go messing around other closing costs that the lender has no control over.  We'll deal with those separately and make sure we get the best deals for each service.

• Pick an interest rate and get the total loan costs associated with that particular rate.  The higher the rate, the less the lender fees will be.  Below is an example how interest rates will change with the number of points you pay.

• Starting on January 1, 2010, All lenders will be using the same Good Faith Estimate (GSE) forms.  This hopefully will make it easier to compare proposals.  There are also new regulations which will require lenders to honor their estimated costs up to a certain limit.  This is supposed to keep the lenders from supplying customers with unrealistic "estimates".  

I don't get anything by recommending the above loan officers except the knowledge that I can trust them to give my clients great service. 

If you go with a random lender, you end up just being another number.  If they mess up your loan, you are just one of many other loans they have in process.  With my recommendations, if you mention my name, they know that if they don't perform, it just isn't your loan they're losing, but all of the future referrals I might send their way.  

I've seen many clients get suckered in with all of the claims of "no closing costs" or some really low ball rates.  I will admit, I'm always on the look out for the best deals and often get drawn in by some amazing offer.  But when I finally get someone on the phone or get a good faith estimate statement, it always seems like the seductive rates always seem to slip away.  All of those things are just hooks to get you in the door.  Then when you finally see all of the details, it's usually not any better than what a local lender with full service can provide.  

If you get a really low rate, make sure your "lock in" is in writing.  Some shady  loan officer might be speculating that by the time of your closing the rates will have gone down and he'll be able to honor those low rates.  If the rates go up before closing, the lender will find some sort of technical detail to deny you the loan, not a nice thing to have happen when you have everything all set up for the big move.  If the lender is out of town you'll never get them on the telephone.  They won't care.  You are just one of many loans.

Don't get fooled about someone offering no closing costs.  There is no such thing as a free lunch.  Banks have employees that must get paid.  There are definitely costs involved in originating a new loan.  They either can be itemized so you know exactly what you are being charged for or they can be hidden by being incorporated into the loan rate or points.  You might get "no closing costs" but you'll be paying a higher interest rate or more points.  

If you do happen to find a lender who really can offer some really low rates with really low closing costs, be prepared for really little service.  You'll place a call and will get a different person every time who really doesn't care if your loan closes on time or not.  They get paid by the hour, not by the sale.  That's if you're lucky enough to get someone at all.  Most likely you'll get a computerized answering system that will walk you through a series of confusing choices and leave you swearing at the phone.  You get what you pay for.

Everyone's risk tolerance is different.  If I were just refinancing my mortgage to get a better rate I might take a chance with an unknown lender with little service.  If it didn't close it wouldn't mess up my life. 

But if I were selling my home and moving to another home and had things packed and movers coming at a specific time, I sure wouldn't want to take a chance on my loan not closing.  No amount of savings would cover the stress and the hassle of a delayed closing.

Whatever lender you choose, it really helps to get the loan process going early on in your home search.  That way, when you find a great home, you'll be in a powerful negotiating position by being pre-approved.  

So get pre-approved and then call us when you're ready to go find the home of your dreams.

Sincerely,

Tim Maitski
Atlanta Communities Real Estate Brokerage

cell 404-216-0472