Steve and NellaTomczek

A good mortgage broker will give you your options. We have a heavy military community and so we do a lot of zero downpayments using their VA benifit. That is the key for our market. Nowadays mortgage lenders are turning away from zero down loans if not slamming the door. Next best is FHA which requires a 3% downpayment and requires PMI. If there is anything else out there I am not aware of it. - Wed Aug 20 2008, 08:09

As I am sure you know, a home loan will impact your life style for years. Selecting the "right" loan is based on a number of factors. There are three main type to look at. Conventional loans require the most in down payment. Lenders want 20% down payment and doing less will cost you in some way. FHA requires 3% down and will call for mortgage insurance (PMI) to save guard the lender from default. VA is the last type. Open to veterans, this loan does not come from the government, but is backed by the government. The advantage to this is that it is a 0% down loan. The fee for the veteran is about 2.7% of the loan amount. Of course all this is driven by your credit score. A good REALTOR will be able to refer good mortgage lenders to you. The mortgage broker will have the most current knowledge of loan programs. They are the experts, not the REALTOR. Don't be afraid to get second opinions or have one mortgage broker review his competitors offer. Most of all take your time. In closing I have had the smoothest transactions when my clients use a local mortgage broker. On line brokers offer the most problems. - Tue Aug 19 2008, 09:13

I have tried some of the leads services. The problem I found is that they offer the same lead to many agents. So you end up paying to compete. Their pitch is that one lead that you take to closing pays for their service. True enough. But you would have better response to just greeting and socializing in your community. - Tue Aug 19 2008, 09:37