Growin' Up Gregory

If you've purchased, refinanced, or built a home in the past three years, odds are that you signed a slew of paperwork during your mortgage process. Hopefully, you had a lender who explained all of the details and answered any questions you had in order to make sure that you fully understood your mortgage terms and options. I can't count the number of people who have commented, "This is a lot more paperwork than the last time we did this." In late 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) introduced two new forms, the Loan Estimate (LE) and Closing Disclosure (CD), which went into effect at that time.  Like most new rules, regulations, and forms, there were some things they got right, some things they got wrong, and some things that have room for improvement. From both a borrower and lender's perspective, here is some background info as well as my thoughts on the current status and changes that should be considered. Purpose An explanation of ...

The housing market seems to be heating up nationally and even in our small town.  With that being the case, I would like to share a few tips and try to offer a better understanding of the home buying and mortgage process for both seasoned and 1st time home-buyers alike from someone's perspective who has sat on both sides of the desk as a loan officer and consumer.  Hopefully, these tips will help make your home buying process go as smooth as possible. 1.  Know YOUR budget.  Yes, the bank can tell you what you qualify for based on credit and debt ratios.  But only you know your spending habits.  Are you ready to commit to a house payment, insurance, taxes, improvements, and repairs?  Or do you want more freedom for season tickets to your favorite team?  Or extra cash to rush off on spontaneous getaways?  Begin to think about how much money you can do without each month, how much you're paying now in rent, or how much you're saving towards a ...