Can I get a mortgage if I was a victim of identity theft? Unfortunately, this is a tough question. So, we have to say “yes and no.” First of all, let’s talk about the different types of loans. There are government insured loans, like the FHA loan and the VA loan and then their are your standard Fannie Mae (a.k.a. conventional) loans. If your identity has been stolen, your best chance is with a government loan. With a conventional loan or a jumbo loan, the underwriter uses a desktop underwriting system, which basically means that a computer makes the decision about your mortgage...

People often ask, “What is the difference between a mortgage broker and a mortgage banker?” It’s pretty simple. A mortgage banker, also known as a “direct lender” is a company that is lending their own money. For example, Bank of America. When you go into Bank of America, you will talk to a Bank of America loan officer, using Bank of America rates, and lending Bank of America money. If you don’t like the Bank of America rate, you will need to shop around until you find a direct lender that has a rate you can easily digest. It’s a lot of work. Thus, the mortgage...

How much money can you save if you make bi-monthly mortgage payments? Quite a bit of money, actually. We are sorry for the inconvenience, but this article on bi-monthly mortgage payments is temporarily down. It will be back up by March 21st, 2011.

What is an ARM loan? How does an ARM work? There are many types of Adjustable Rate Mortgages, also known as an ARM loan. In fact, there are so many types of Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM) options available to the Arizona home loan consumer that it will be impossible to list them all here. So instead of trying to cover every conceivable notion, we will just provide the basics. If you have a question that we did not address here, just contact us or leave a comment and we will respond quickly. Oftentimes, when hearing about ARM loans, you will hear the phrases “3/1 ARM” (pronounced...

What is a mortgage rate lock? It’s pretty simple. When a mortgage bank or a mortgage broker tells you that they will “lock your interest rate,” what that means is that they will guarantee you a certain rate and certain closing costs, as long as your loan closes in the promised time frame. In other words, if you lock your loan for thirty days, your mortgage has to close within thirty days or your rate lock expires. It does not matter why your rate lock expired– there could be many reasons– but no matter what the reason, once a rate lock has expired, your rate lock has...