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We are a first time home buyers and will likely be closing around mid Jan on a resale home. Our loan application is conditionally approved and final approval should come through soon etc.
The question I have is how do I manage/track my loan account transactions after closing? I think this is referred to as "servicing". I mean things like setting up auto payments, viewing the statements, viewing escrow account transactions etc... I was under the impression that there would be an online portal much like any credit card or bank accounts.
So I asked my "loan officer" about the same (Certusbank is the lender). The response I got is as below, it seemed vague to me. (I understand that my loan could be sold etc but my question is specifically around account management aspects)
"I am not sure who will service it but initially you will make a payment to us. No online portal for us until we start keeping loans to service I imagine. But if And when it is send to an investor, I would imagine that will be available"
What question should I be asking them further regarding 'servicing'? Are these aspect to be made clear by closing day? After closing I assume my loan officer will disengage, so I am trying to get as much clarity as I can. Thanks
Most likely your loan will be sold to a final "servicer" shortly after your closing. In my case I went through Centex's own CTX Mortage group who approved us and put the initial money into the load for us. VERY shortly we were notified that we were sold to Bank of America and we now log into the Bank of America site to make our payments, view our escrow account, etc.
Not saying you will end up with Bank of America, but it will most probably be a bank with the web portal you are looking for. We did not know at the time of closing who we would be sold to, but it really doesn't matter in the long run. All will be told to you as needed.
Do yourself and simplify and don't do the escrow.
Just pay your taxes and insurance yourself.
Then you can more accurately and easily view what's happening with principle, the pay-down, etc.
Not always an option. I have a FHA loan and escrow is required.
Lenders usually also require a slightly higher rate for loans without escrow.
For the OP, for this loan (and most anything you pay monthly), set it is up as an auto-pay from your bank (push), and NOT on the lender's web site (pull). There are countless horror stories where lender's "forget" that a loan has been paid off and continue or restart to pull/draft payments. When you set it up from your bank, you control what gets paid when.
Also, if you do paperless statements, you should do a screen capture or print to PDF of each monthly statement so you have an account of your activity. This is another area where banks can "forget" to credit accounts.
Lenders usually also require a slightly higher rate for loans without escrow.
.
Find one that won't raise them.
This wasn't even brought up in our home loans.
Certainly no conversation about rate differences.
We didn't even talk about escrow until AFTER the rates were locked in.
If the op has a choice, he should not do escrow. No one should unless they are forced to or too financially irresponsible to handle their money, in which case buying a house might be a bad idea anyway.
I am putting down 20% and my credit score is excellent (800+). My loan's LTV (loan amount/appraised value) is 77%
Being a first time buyer, I didn't even know that escrow can be avoided . Yes, I rather pay yearly property tax and home insurance myself yearly.
But I don't think I can bring this up with my lender right now. Can I?
My loan has already been conditionally approved and all paper work done. (I locked just before thanks giving & rates have gone up now so I can't play the I'll switch lenders card...)
YES, bring it up with them.
Every time we do business with a home lending, they assume escrow and we wind up telling them, "Uh, no. What the hell kind of people are you used to dealing with?"
So I don't think it is every too late to ask.
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