Weichert Realtors Press Release
Weichert Financial Services Advises on Selecting the Right Mortgage
5/19/2008
MORRIS PLAINS, N.J. – News headlines of the past year have made one reality abundantly
clear: As a homebuyer, you need to give
as much serious thought to your mortgage options as to the location and
amenities of the home you purchase.
So what do
you need to know to secure a mortgage that’s financially right for you? According to Weichert Financial Services, an
affiliate of Weichert, Realtors®, following these few basic guidelines will
help you make a sound decision.
- Don’t judge a mortgage by interest
rate alone; instead, make sure its terms and conditions are in line with your
future plans and financial resources.
While major
lenders like Weichert Financial Services may literally offer hundreds of
mortgage products, most fall under one of two main categories: fixed-rate or
adjustable.
“Fixed-rate
mortgages offer tremendous peace-of-mind,” said Stephen Adamo, president of
Weichert Financial Services. “Even if interest rates soar down the road, your
monthly payment for principal and interest is unaffected. For buyers who intend to stay in their home
for the foreseeable future, these loans can be a logical choice.”
The
30-year, fixed-rate mortgage is the most popular by far, he said, although the
loan term can be stretched out even longer to lower your monthly payments – or
shortened, say to 20 or 15 years, to enable you to own your home outright that
much sooner and save tens of thousands of dollars in total interest paid.
Do you
expect to move or trade up in a relatively short period? Then an adjustable-rate mortgage, or ARM, can
make financial sense. Because ARMs offer
considerably lower interest rates at the start compared to fixed-rate loans, the
monthly payments are more affordable – and may allow you to qualify for a more
costly home.
ARMs come
with uncertainty, however. After the initial fixed-rate period – which might be
1, 3, or 5 years, for example – the loan rate will adjust at regular intervals
that may be as often as every six months.
“With an ARM, there is the potential for future savings if interest
rates go down, but if rates go up, your monthly budget will need to be able to
handle monthly payments that could be substantially higher,” Adamo said.
- Ask questions and more
questions. Make sure you understand all
the fine points of your mortgage options.
There is no
such thing as a “dumb” question when dealing with something as important as
selecting a mortgage. If a mortgage representative is throwing out terms like
“rate caps” that you don’t fully understand, ask him or her to slow down and
explain exactly what that term means and how it applies to loans you’re
considering. Responsible lenders like
Weichert Financial Services want you to be an informed borrower.
In fact,
Weichert feels so strongly about educating perspective homebuyers that it has
launched an intensive marketing campaign entitled “It Pays to Ask!” The
campaign encourages those thinking about buying a home to reach out to their
local Weichert professional and ask questions to become familiar with the
overall real estate process. In addition, Weichert regularly hosts free home
buyer seminars for customers that would like to learn about the mortgage
options available to help them purchase a home.
Adamo said,
“In every company-owned Weichert, Realtors office, you’ll find one of our
mortgage consultants, called Gold Services Managers, who will gladly provide
free mortgage counseling, give you a pre-purchase mortgage credit decision
within 24 hours, and help you knowledgeably weigh your financing options.
- Most importantly, work with a
reliable lender.
Be wary if
your questions are being brushed off or if you feel you’re being talked into a
particular loan. And keep in mind that a
dazzling Web site or plush office is no guarantee of sterling professional
credentials. One survey, conducted by Campbell Communications on behalf of
Inside Mortgage Finance Publications, found that a shocking 39 percent of
mortgage pre-approvals from Internet lenders fell through due to lack of proper
verification, as did 27 percent from mortgage brokers.
“Choosing a
responsible lender is your best assurance that the mortgage money you’ve been
promised will be there for you at closing – and that your mortgage is one you
can happily live with, today and tomorrow,” said Adamo.
Adamo added
that with mortgage guidelines changing every day, you’ll need a lender that is
on top of these changes and one that can offer a wide variety of options.
Weichert
Financial Services is one of the “Top 35” lenders in the U.S., according to the
industry newsletter “Inside Mortgage Finance,” based upon sales to Fannie Mae
and Freddie Mac in the fourth quarter of 2007.
In an August 2007 study assessing the credit standards of the nation’s
lenders, SMR Research Corp. ranked Weichert Financial Services among the least
risky and most reliable. The quality of
its products is in the top five percent, according to Radian, a leading
mortgage insurance lender.
Weichert
has nearly 18,000 sales associates in over 500 company-owned and franchised
sales offices in key markets throughout the U.S. A family of full-service real estate and
financial services companies, Weichert helps customers buy and sell both
residential and commercial real estate, and streamlines the delivery of
mortgages and home and title insurance.
For more information, call Weichert’s customer service center at
1-800-USA-SOLD or visit Weichert’s Web site, www.weichert.com. Each Weichert franchised office is
independently owned and operated.
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