I've found there is a lot of confusion when using online mortgage calculators to try and estimate payments when buying a home. Most calculators just give principal & interest, and there is good reason, but it's nice to have the big picture when trying to estimate payments - as these days it is more common to have an escrow account where property taxes/homeowners insurance is paid along with the principal & interest portion of the mortgage payment. Plus even if you don't pay those items...

Since I am relatively close to the epicenter of the foreclosure crisis you might imagine how many homeowners in distress over their current mortgage situation I talk to. Since I am not a loan modification expert, nor do I do loan modifications for profit, I usually refer them over to www.loansafe.org so they can read up on successful loan modification stories from people with their same lender, or who are in similar situations. A good majority of them are usually having trouble making their current...

Since I am relatively close to the epicenter of the foreclosure crisis you might imagine how many homeowners in distress over their current mortgage situation I talk to. Since I am not a loan modification expert, nor do I do loan modifications for profit, I usually refer them over to www.loansafe.org so they can read up on successful loan modification stories from people with their same lender, or who are in similar situations. A good majority of them are usually having trouble making their current...

It's hard these days to know what lenders are looking for when someone is trying to qualify for a mortgage. This blog entry isn't so much to tell you what one needs to get you approved, rather than just a list of all of the applicable questions that are likely going to be asked during the mortgage process. Not every single question is covered here but the most important 11 items that I could think of are.

1. Credit. What are your credit scores and if you have any, what negatives (collections,

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Since just about every loan I do I get asked if there is anything special the homeowners insurance needs to contain I thought I'd write something brief. While most standard homeowners insurance policies will do the trick, there are a few things to keep in mind.

• Coverage typically needs to be for at least fire and extended coverage
• Amount of the coverage must be at least equal the lessor of 100% of the insurable value of the improvements (usually determined by the cost approach on the

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