Washington State Mortgages, Made Clear. Buying or Refinancing? Let's find the right loan together.
When you apply for a mortgage, two documents do most of the heavy lifting when it comes to understanding your loan: the Loan Estimate and the Closing Disclosure. Both were introduced in 2015 under federal rules designed to make mortgage costs easier to understand and compare — and they replaced the old Good Faith Estimate and HUD-1 Settlement Statement.
Here’s what each one is, when you’ll receive it, and what to pay attention to. [Read more…]
A “soft” credit check is just prior to closing on your mortgage. This is to ensure that no new debt was obtained during the mortgage process and that the information on your final application that you sign at closing still represents your financial scenario. [Read more…]
I am often asked this question during a refinance from homeowners.
Your mortgage payment is paid in arrears. For example, your February payment is paying January’s interest. Remember when you bought or refinanced your home and the loan originator stated, “you’re going to skip one month’s payment” or “you won’t have another payment due until the following month after closing”? Well, this is where that payment essentially catches up with you. (Technically, it’s not “that” payment, you’re just always paying the previous month’s interest).
