Dora Griffin's Blog

TRID - WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT? TRID that seems to be the buzz word or acronym these days. Each day I see another source offering training, some free, some not. Each day we see professional groups asking for a delay or at least a delay in enforcement.TRID is like every other change that has been impl...

IS VOICE MAIL ON THE WAY OUT?I just saw a post that says voice mail is old news! Corporations are phasing voice mail out and some are giving employees a choice to opt out of voice mail.I know the world constantly changes and I communicate with my clients via email, text and facebook, but really i...

HOME BUYING AND TAX RETURNSSomewhere along the way when buying a home buyers are asked for their tax returns. Before the housing collapse there was this little used 4506T form. In my career I ALWAYS had the form executed as part of my application. However back then lenders did not use the form. A...

WHAT IS A REALTOR PROCESSING FEE?   What is a Realtor processing fee, and why is it on my settlement sheet? Occasionally I get a settlement sheet to review before closing and I see a Realtor processing fee as a line item charge to the buyer or the seller. As a mortgage broker, my concern is for t...

WHAT IS APR? What is APR and why should your care? When shopping for a home mortgage you SHOULD see not only an interest rate but an APR rate. The APR has historically been confusing, often because even the person trying to tell  you what it is doesn't know. One of my co workers a few years ago s...

MORTGAGE BROKERS MAKING A COMEBACK   Mortgage brokers are well aware we are making a comeback. I recently listened in on a webinar by Matt Ishbia of United Wholesale where he said: “Brokers have the option to go to whatever wholesale lender has got the best opportunity, the best turn times, the b...

  IS YOUR REAL ESTATE AGENT WORKING FOR YOU? Is  your real estate agent working FOR you? And then, Is  your real estate agent working for YOU?   No matter where you put the emphasis it is important to know if the real estate agent you are working with is working for you, the seller, themselves, o...

SAVING THE SALT OFF YOUR POPCORN   In reading a comment on a recent blog I wrote about gas price savings it brought to mind savings and its importance to home ownership. There are plenty of mortgage loan programs these days where a down payment can be gifted or zero down is required. This does no...

WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH YOUR GAS MONEY?  When  you live in the world of consumer financing such as a mortgage broker you keep your eye on all kinds of data to help guide borrowers in making sound decisions. Generally negative economic news lowers rates and positive news drives them up.    Gas pri...

AVOID REFINANCE YO  YO   In working with a couple recently on a refinance we looked at several options. Because they had an existing rate in the "6's" refinancing totally made sense. The question was: To what? In explaining options I usually use "The Price Is Right" analogy. Door #1, Door #2, Doo...