Mortgage Fraud Warning

Courtesy of RECO’s “For the RECOrd” magazine   RECO investigators are all too familiar with mortgage fraud and the turmoil it causes for the victims who are left fighting to get their homes back. Unfortunately, in most cases, RECO only becomes aware of the mortgage fraud after the fact when a homeowner realizes they have… Continue reading Mortgage Fraud Warning

Wouldn’t it be nice…

Many of us have seen the commercial: happy elderly people paying for renovations, trips and university education for their grandchildren through a reverse mortgage. I came across this excellent post from the Retire Happy blog, which details the pros and cons of a reverse mortgage. There are many advantages to these plans: income is tax-free,… Continue reading Wouldn’t it be nice…

Access to 1000 Lenders

One of the most common selling features you’ll see a lot of mortgage brokers and brokerages boast is how many lenders they “have access to.”  But what does that mean, exactly? If Bob the Mortgage Broker (names changed to protect the innocent), has “access to” 35 lenders, and Melissa the Mortgage Broker has “access to”… Continue reading Access to 1000 Lenders

Term vs. Amortization

The mortgage industry has an abundance of buzz words, phrases and acronyms that can be a common source of confusion for prospective home buyers.  Hopefully as you read through this weekly “Mortgage Monday” column, I can help put these words and phrases in terms a little easier to understand. The first couple of phrases you’ll probably hear… Continue reading Term vs. Amortization