Q. What is APR?
A. The Annual Percentage Rate is the rate reflecting the actual cost of a mortgage as a yearly rate. This rate is likely to be higher than the stated rate on the mortgage because it takes into account any points, mortgage insurance (if applicable) and other credit costs. The APR gives the customer what the actual lender find the true interest rate to be from their perspective. The APR allows homebuyers to compare different types of mortgages based on the annual cost of the loan. 
Q. What is a 1st time homebuyer?
A. A first time homebuyer is generally someone who has not owned a home within the past 3 years or claimed any real estate deductions for tax purposes.
Q. What are rates going to do tomorrow? 
A. Rates are subject to change at any point in time. If the financial market is volatile, rates could change up to three times a day.
Q. How quickly can I get approved? 
A. You can be approved in as little as 24 hours. 
Q. What are points?
A. Points are prepaid interest. By paying points, the lender collects interest upfront at closing and lower the rate of the mortgage. Each point is 1% of the mortgage amount.
Q. What does Prime Rate mean? 
A. The prime rate is the interest that a bank charges its “best” customers. There is no federal prime rate, but each commercial bank offers their own prime rate.
Q. Could switching jobs affect my mortgage application?
A. When someone switches to a new position, a lenders primary concern is whether or not the new position is permanent, not temporary and that the borrower has not been placed on any type of probationary period. Underwriters also look to see that you have a history of working in the same field.
Q. Deferred furniture payments?
A. Today many companies are trying to entice you to purchase their goods by offering special “buy now and make no payments for the next 6-12 months”. What they fail to tell you is that you must be credit approved for those types of financing options. Therefore, the inquiry and the debt will be reflected on your credit report. Even though you are not responsible for a payment for the next 12 months, it is still reflected as a loan on your report.
Q. Is day care an expense I have to claim in qualifying?
A. Day care expenses are only used in qualification for VA mortgages. Even though it may be an expense that you incur every month, it is not factored into your debt ratio on many of our programs.
Q. Deferred student loans?
A. If a student loan is in a deferment stage, there are some parameters that may allow us not to include that debt in your qualifying ratios. On a FHA mortgage, as long as the student loan is deferred for one year from the closing, it will not be counted. On VA mortgages it must be deferred for 3 years from closing. On conventional, as long as you are putting 10% down payment, if the loan is deferred for one year after closing, it will not be included. In any other case, the debt must be included.
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