Mortgage question - what are my realistic options

Quote from Scampsters : A mortgage broker is alot more flexible in what they will give and your credit history than a bank or someplace like a Prudential. The bank will look at your debt to income ratio as a percentile and if you fall out of a certain range you wont get approved. A broker will look at other things like age , potential future income, the kinds of debt ecc and they have more flexibility in the decision process.

While we are limited by automated underwriting guidelines at times, a knowledgable broker has many resources not found at any one bank.

For example, while Fannie Mae has a cap of 45% for debt to income on most transactions (i.e. everything except HARP), Freddie Mac will often go up to 50%. A broker will be able to run your loan through a variety of conduits and they have wholesale relationships with many lenders, each of whom also have their own specific guidelines which then the broker knows where to best direct your loan.

An expereinced broker will also have established relationships with the individual actually Underwriting your loan. Many times I discuss a borrowers tricky scenario with a specific underwriter prior to even submitting the file; then when submitting the file make sure the file will go directly to that Underwriter I have already worked out the quirks with.

I am obviously biased, but a qualified mortgage broker is much better for the consumer than walking into a bank and waiting weeks to get an answer. The broker can get the answers instantaneously as they have direct access to Fannie and Freddie's automated systems and will process everything first hand (instead of sending your documents off to a processing center).

Plus as this is SlickDeals, the broker customarily can deliver better pricing than anything most of the national big banks can offer.

-Adam
Old Hippy & Mortgage Pro