Refinance Free Credit

This is a Blown Mortgage Hall of Fame article.  Originally published in August 2007 it shows you how to read your adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) loan documents via a video overview of the documents.  I’m two days away from being home at this point.  We’ve almost made it.

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I’ve put together an audio/visual review of loan documents that are customarily associated with adjustable rate mortgages for our consumer friends who feel overwhelmed at the signing table with the sheer volume of paper requiring their John Hancock.

In this flagship video I look at a 2-year ARM disclosure, Note, Deed of Trust and ARM Rider documents. The purpose of this video is two-fold:

• Help homeowners about to sign loan documents identify the key pages and terms out of the mountain of paperwork to ensure that they are receiving the mortgage requested
• Help homeowners who refinanced over the last few years identify where in their loan documents they should look to determine if a) they have an adjustable rate mortgage and b) when and by how much their interest rate and payment will adjust

View the video here.

In future videos we’ll look at prepayment penalty documents, Truth-in-Lending and other important documents.

As always, I’d love your feedback. We try to push the envelope around here and are always trying to provide you with valuable information. Let us know how we’re doing (even if you hate it).

Make Life Happen!

One of the oldest sayings I know is "don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today". The original source of this profound advice is of course Benjamin Franklin. You would think that since this is the advice from one of the smartest people to ever walk the planet more people would act on it. Unfortunately for a host of reasons (aka excuses) the average person does not act when they should nor do most of us follow good advice when we seek it from our advisors and those that influence our lives.

I am expressing this concern today because over the last month we had a dozen or so of our clients that put off taking action with their mortgage refinance when we recommended it for one reason or another. Some were too busy to review the information, some didn't return calls for a week and some were nervous or unsure. But now as a result to the changes in the market and programs offered by lenders we are no longer able to accomplish the goals we had set out for these individuals to use their mortgage to create extra cash. In hindsight once we did speak with them again they all said next time they will act. However, now my deeper concern is will there be a next time because of changes in the mortgage and real estate markets.

By their own admissions, if these clients simply acted when the opportunity arose they would all be in a better financial position today. Now that the mortgage programs are changing drastically we are not sure if we can help them even if the market (interest rates) works in their favor. So if you are seeking mortgage advice from someone you trust please follow through with their recommendation before it is too late. Take Control^SM and make life happen!

First off I need to apologize, I have all this great stuff to post as well as progress but I have not be able to get it into order. I have been extremely sick. For the last 6-8 days and I am very weak and have not been able to blog. If I am not better by Tuesday I will have to go to the doctor. I do not look forward to that because when I go, a majority of the time the tests and procedures are not covered and I end up with a big bill.But I wanted to do a quick update as far as the whole mortgage thing. Since the refinancing is not working out my husband decided to call Ocwen and see if they could help us. As it turns out they have this loan modification program designed to help homeowners with adjustable rate mortgages. We explained our situation and Ocwen is in the progress of reviewing our account. If we are approved for this program, our interest rate will go up 1/2 percent and become fixed for the life of our mortgage. That is basically all we are looking for. Our payments will go up slightly but we will not have to incur the costs that come with refinancing. I am praying that we get approved. Hopefully we will know sometime next week. I noticed another house in my neighborhood going up for sale and I suspect it is because of this subprime mess. It really makes me sad to see others losing thier homes. I honestly do not like to see it.