Mortgage-Guy.com

A would-be buyer received preapproval for a mortgage from her homebuilder’s banking unit. But the loan was later denied, and she’s now out the $20,000 deposit. How can his happen? Unfortunately, this can be more common that people think.

Builders try and direct borrower to their in house lenders so they profit more from the transaction and have an inside track into the borrowers’ finances. This is done by offering the buyer extra incentives to use the in-house loan company. However, buyers should be cautious with this type of arrangement.

Deciding to purchase or refinance a home is now a much longer project than in the past. Prospective home buyers and refinanciers are often anxious and eager to secure the loan itself, and sometimes therefore overlook key issues in the process. Like simply asking some basic questions and getting straight answers.

There are plenty of ways to end up with a bad mortgage. Let’s face it, not everybody can be a homeowner. Some people are just not cut out to handle it. Whether it is lack of education or just a lifestyle of overspending and not managing bill properly, sometime renting might be better.

Laverl “Nick” Nicholson used to look out of his kitchen window at the weeping willows that mark the burial place of two of his daughters. Then a debilitating car wreck left him unable to pay the $220,000 he owed on his northwestern Montana home.

He tried for a year and a half to lower his mortgage payments through a loan modification, but the government-insured loan that he took out three years ago came with restrictions. The best the bank could offer him was a reduction of $124 per month, leaving Nicholson with a $1,585 payment that he still couldn’t afford.

ALL the revelations this year about dubious practices in the mortgage servicing arena — think robo-signers and forged signatures — have rightly raised borrowers’ fears that companies handling their loans may not be operating on the up and up.

But borrowers aren’t the only ones concerned about potential mischief. Investors who hold mortgage securities are increasingly worried that servicers may be putting their interests ahead of those who own the loans.

My husband and I are 51 and just got a 30-year mortgage with a fixed rate at 4.75 percent for a house priced at $116,000. I’d like to know the best way to pay off our mortgage in 15 to 20 years so we can retire without the worries of the mortgage.