Please add sections to this wiki with useful information about the process, so that people don't have to ask the same questions over and over, or scan the whole thread for answers!
Notary and closing
Here is what you can expect or ask for from my experience:
1. New pen for signing wiped thoroughly
2. Pen stays with you after signing
3. Only material they will touch would be your ID
4. ID would be wiped and returned back
5. Can expect gloves to be worn
6. Signing can happen in your front yard or in your garage
7. If you have a Costco table then you can sit on either sides to maintain distancing
8. Masks might be recommended given new guidelines
9. Plus discuss with the notary!!
expiredGreenworld123 posted Dec 08, 2019 02:27 PM
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expiredGreenworld123 posted Dec 08, 2019 02:27 PM
Amex offer: $2,500 statement credit for home refinance Better.com
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thanks,
The RESPA law states that a lender may (read may as will) keep a cushion of 2 months of escrow as the lowest point during the year.
So, what you need do is go through and look at when Homeowners, taxes, and any other escrow items (HOA/Mortgage insurance) come out, and figure that your $$ comes in on the first and budget when the money goes out. You should aggregate that by month, and then see what month is your lowest balance. That "lowest balance" needs to be the equivalent of two months of your escrow payments. Your initial deposit will need to ensure that the low point is 2-months balance.
Additionally, since it can take up to 45-60 days for the mortgage to be sold and settle at a servicer, the lender is going to protect themselves and require you to bring taxes to the closing table. Since your mortgage collateral is "in limbo" until it is recorded in your county's records, their official "lien" on the property cannot be enforced until that point. So, to protect themselves, they require you bring the taxes to the table to ensure that the taxing authorities cannot place a lien against your house before their lien is filed. Once the mortgage is filed, the "title insurance" that they have would be in alignment with what you agreed to in the course of underwriting, and thus any future tax liens would be subjected to the terms of the mortgage document filed with the county.
Does that help at all? Effectively, escrow prepaids/taxes/insurance should be the same amount of money whether you refinance at better.com or at any other lender, with the same closing date.
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I went through the whole process in 10 days without talking to anyone, all by email and the better webpage.
I don't understand what you are trying to say
1) I've read through this thread and notice many of you have significantly larger credits - is that part of the standard rate quote or discounts offered by your loan person (like my tiny $500)?
Shopping for Rate should be done on whats called a PAR rate or the rate that nets you the closest without paying Points or exuberant costs out of pocket. So for example a 3% rate nets you to pay $300 in fees before 3rd party then from there people (like me) sometimes elect to go up in the rate for more credit. In this example I'll go up to 3.25% and get $2900 in negative points (credit) to close the loan.
The above example depends on several factors such as your loan balance; your credit score etc....so if you only have a $100,000 balance you wont see as big a credit vs someone who has a $300,000 balance.
The rates are so low right now that the lenders are keeping the % high enough but are offering credits back to people is what I think.
2) When presenting the LE, is it customary for Better to beat or simply match the competition?
Better used to match/beat more often based on the responses in the past few months than now in the past 2-4 weeks. In my personal case they came close to the lenders match but are still off by $600+ and if you account for the other LE without the appraisal costs it would be almost $1200; all this not counting their $1000 guarantee which they are no longer doing in lieu of the Amex credit which they are putting in the response.
3) Owning.com: does anyone have any recent experiences to share? My whole office got the 2.99 with zero out-of-pocket costs, and now they're 2.75 but I'm waiting to for them to take loans under $300k
Many people are quoting them and are so far saying that their rates are very competitive but it looks like they are only in Cali so the responses are limited.
4) I've got an investment property as well, and Lenderfi's rates appear to be as low as owner-occupied rates: is it wise or do-able to have two applications happening at the same time? Ideally I would go with Better for my primary home and Lenderfi for the rental
My advice (please note that I am not a certified Mortgage broker so take this on your own accord) is that you line up 4, 6,8, 10 lenders that give you the rate quote before running credit so you have an idea who is worthy of a good rate. Then formally apply to all those that meet your criteria all withing days. Let them run credit as credit checks within the same window count almost as a single hard credit pull especially for mortgage checks and I believe its a 15 day period.
Then once you have gotten Lender Estimates (LE) see if anyone of those lenders are willing to beat your best offer and if the rate looks good your priority would be to lock that rate else it will not stick. Advantage is that you've got that quoted rate without changing and the Downside is that if the rate goes lower you wont be allowed by most lenders to move down or take a bigger credit and will in most cases have to wait another 6 months to reapply with them.
Shahhere
Can we take this comment (which is very helpful) and try to turn into a wiki? Not sure if there are any mods who can help in that regard
Can we take this comment (which is very helpful) and try to turn into a wiki? Not sure if there are any mods who can help in that regard
sure dude, go for it
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I get folks do not want to read 5000 posts, but maybe a few hundred to save thousands of dollars?
And maybe not ask the same questions that get asked multiple times each day.
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