Finding Great Mortgage Loans in a challenged Housing Market

Consumers wanting to save money on their mortgage payments will find challenges due to a recent downturn in the housing market. Many companies continue to offer good rates but consumers with credit challenges will have a hard time finding a good deal. Finding Great Mortgage Loans in a challenged Housing Market
With the home buying market bottoming out in late 2006 and early 2007 and foreclosures reaching record numbers, mortgage lenders began to change the way they did business. Many mortgage lenders stopped offering subprime loans-----the mortgage loans that were offered to home owners with credit problems.

Because of these changes, mortgage loans that consumers could receive just last year are unavailable. Future homeowners with great credit will still be able to get a loan from traditional lenders such as banks and national mortgage companies. But even those with seemingly high credit scores are finding challenges.

Research is the only way to find the best interest rate and deal on a mortgage and consumers can find great information on the Internet. Yahoo has a plethora of financial information on mortgages. Another popular search engine, http://www.msn.com/, also has a financial section for those looking for a home purchase loan or take out a second mortgage. Most of the news affiliates have financial sections such as CNN, also known as Cable News Network, which has the latest in mortgage news at http://www.money.cnn.com/.

Some websites offer financial advice and direct links to home lenders. The website, http://www.efinancedirectory.com/, has information about first and second mortgages. The site also has information on lending companies.

Lending Tree is one of the most familiar mortgage brokers in the business. During the boom in the real estate market, their commercials were very prominent on television. The company’s website, http://www.lendingtree.com/, has a site where lenders can type in their information and get information in their email inbox.

GuideToLenders.com allows consumers to compare loan packages. With the market in turmoil, the offers are less lucrative and the interest rates are higher.

A financial advisor is always on call at http://www.myfinancialadvice.com/. The site also offers informative articles on how consumers can save money on their mortgage and get the best interest rates.

To simplify the search for a mortgage company, Mortgage Banker Magazine recently named their top ten mortgage companies.

1. Countrywide Financial Corp

2. Wells Fargo Bank

3. Bank of America
4. Washington Mutual Bank

5. JP Morgan Chase Bank
6. World Savings Bank

7. Suntrust Mortgage/Suntrust Bank

8. Citimortgage/Citibank

9. New City Mortgage

10. Private lenders

All of the companies have websites that describe their mortgage programs. Consumers can make a pre-application online. Many of these companies no longer offer subprime loans due to the recent rise in foreclosures.

Some companies are still offering subprime loans. A directory of subprime lenders can be found at http://www.mywholesalelenders.com/. This is a great site but is available only for real estate agents and mortgage brokers. Future homeowners can ask their financial professionals if they have access to the site.

Many subprime lenders are also listed on http://www.lenderlab.com/. The website had list of subprime lenders that anyone can access.

People with challenged credit may lost money instead of saving money if they don’t thoroughly research the companies they choose. Mortgage fraud has increased in recent years and the federal government has made several arrests.

Loan fraud includes any false statement made to a lender. Those statements can be made by the consumer, real estate agent, appraiser, mortgage broker, attorney, closing agent or anyone associated with the loan.

False information about the borrower is just on common mortgage fraud scheme. Others include false information about the source of the buyer’s downpayment and the amount of closing costs paid by the buyer. Often someone associated with the loan will ask the borrower to falsify so that they can get the loan and the commission. Mortgage fraud resulted in $946 million in losses in 2006, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. These losses are often passed on to other consumers in the forms of higher interest rates and increases in home sales.

If you have questions about whether or not your loan is legitimate, consult an attorney or call law enforcement. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (http://www.fbi.gov/) partnered with the Mortgage Bankers Association in March 2007 to combat mortgage fraud. You can find more information on the agency’s website. You stand to lose more money if you are caught up in a mortgage fraud scheme than if you pay a bit more in interest with a legitimate company.