Florida Mortgage : Learning Center

Many Veterans can find great information online while utilizing their VA Entitlement and purchasing their new home.  Start by Googling terms like; Florida VA home loan, Florida VA mortgage, or Florida VA Jumbo loan.  But make sure you compare more than just the interest rate.

Always ask for an upfront Good Faith Estimate reflecting your VA home loan request.  This VA estimate should be very accurate and include all closing costs associated with your VA loan. 

One cost in particular, is the allowed VA origination fee.  This fee is usually illustrated as 1% of the loan amount and is used to cover lender related charges.  Since VA doesn’t allow any “junk” fees, lenders make up that difference by charging this origination fee.

Veterans must compare low fixed VA interest rates with and without this origination fee.  Florida VA mortgage estimates with an origination fee should have a reduced interest rate because the lender is earning more.  For immediate comparison of our current VA home loan fixed Florida mortgages please call one of our Florida Mortgage Professionals at 888.399.0520.

I expect the next President will provide great change to many areas that will affect all Americans and one in particular – the mortgage markets.  With over 13 year experience the Florida mortgage arena, I have recognized fundamental differences when seeking a new mortgage loan from either a Florida mortgage company, large bank (the ones still open) or a local credit union.

These mortgage businesses should employee professionals with the capability of sharing their valued mortgage experience in the Florida home loan market.  But many don’t want to share more information than you care to ask, or worse; many mortgage employees just don’t know.  

You want to  find a Florida Mortgage Professional who is on your side.  Keep the following in mind:

• Experience counts when you are looking to buy your first home or to simply reduce your monthly mortgage payments or long term interest by refinancing your old mortgage. 
• Should you consider a Florida FHA loan, Florida VA home loan, or stick with Conventional?  Ask for the differences in ALL and learn.  A Florida Mortgage Professional knows.
• Upfront fee disclosure is a necessity when trying to compare one Good Faith Estimate to another.  That’s the real difference with interest rate, cost and APR.
• Honest, transparent Florida mortgage advice from an experienced Florida Mortgage Professional will help you make informed, sound decisions regarding your biggest invesmtent, your home.
• Finding a Mortgage Professinal who will deliver what their upfront Good Faith Estimate states.
• Ask for recent referrals – not 6 year old testimonies from their web site.
• Look up license information and research BBB.org for complaints.

Many people I know in the Florida mortgage industry don’t agree to our upfront philosophy with respect to educating the consumerand disclosing all fees.  In fact, I’ve been accused of providing too much information for the Florida home buyer.  Imagine? - “Too much?”  What a compliment.  Want to learn more?  Call me anytime at 321-987-9876.

My thoughts on buying down a fixed interest rate have changed with respect to the current VA Home Loan.  Typically a 1% discount point or fee will buy-down a fixed rate by.025%.  Then when calculating recovery periods you find t takes about 60 to 72 months to recoup the cost.  VA mortgage loans currently have lower recovery periods.

To buy down your fixed VA mortgage loan interest rate; you can now pay 1% (that is, 1% of the loan amount) and reduce your interest rate by 0.50%!  The recovery periods run from 30 to 36 months.  If you are purchasing your new Florida home by using your VA Entitlement you need to consider a fixed rate VA mortgage amortized over 30, 25, 20 or 15 years and compare buying the rate down – in today’s market.

For an immediate VA Florida mortgage Good Faith Estimate please contact our office at 888.399.0520 or email info@beechtreemortgage.com.

Florida Mortgage Professionals provide a larger role to the Florida home buyer than simply providing consumer requested mortgage programs, interest rate quotes and Good Faith Estimates.  I beleive our responsibility includes educating home buyers with current mortgage program details which will enable better program selection specific to each buyer.  Disclose details upfront followed by written disclosures, of course.

Let’s talk about the easy stuff.  Providing low fixed interest rates and very competitive closing costs is simple.  One thing every bank and Florida Mortgage Professional knows is that your interest rate is directly proportional to their income or profit.  And of, course, closing costs may include specific fees that also contribute towards profit.  Ask your Florida Mortgage Professional or bank, how much their company will earn and you’ll find some companies muffle their answers, while others are completely upfront.

The problem from my prespective, with over 13 years experience, is some bank loan officers and Florida mortgage consultants don’t disclose enough information upfront, prior to closing.  Written disclosures at application or closing is required but should’nt home buyers already know what they will be signing – specific to the mortgage program?  Florida home buyers should know all mortgage program realted information upfront.

If you need upfront Florida mortgage advice, please feel free to contact one of our experienced Florida Mortgage Professionals at 888.399.0520.

One of the biggest changes in the Florida mortgage arena is the way credit scores have determined interest rates.  For years it really didn’t make a difference if your credit scores were in the 660 range or the 800 range.  Of course, the higher the credit score the easier it was to obtain a conventional Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac mortgage.

Today, due to the credit squeeze and mortgage meltdown of 2007 and well 2008, credit scores do matter.  Here is a great example with a previous Florida home buyer wishing to put 20% down on their new Florida home.  30 year fixed interest rates were available at 6.375% with no discount points and no origination fees.  Pretty typical, however, when we reviewed their qualifying credit scores we learned their score was only 687.  Fannie Mae, has established credit score based pricing for banks and lenders to follow.  This simply means our client will receive a fixed rate adjustment of.125% for having a credit score less than 720.

This makes quoting an interest rate and providing upfront Good Faith Estimates much more difficult.  Make sure you know your credit score prior to seeking Good Faith Estimates.  For more information on your credit scores, Florida mortgages, or simply speaking with a Florida mortgage professional, call our office at 888-399-0520.

The United States Department of Agriculture makes available to qualified Florida home buyers, a fixed rate mortgage with benefits that most other Florida mortgage programs can’t provide. 

This guaranteed rural housing allows home buyers to borrow 100% of the purchase amount and even finance part or all of the closing costs and prepaids.  Florida first time home buyers, or not, can enjoy all this without ever paying private mortgage insurance! 

There are more advantages to this wonderful program in the Florida mortgage markets.  Please feel free to contact one of our Florida mortgage professionals and find out if you and your home or area is eligible for this guaranteed rural housing program.  Call us now at 888-399-0520.