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Recent News and Events
I Have a Fixed-Rate Mortgage! Why Did My Payment Increase?
Research consistently reveals that mortgage applicants who understand the process through which their Mortgage Loan Originator (MLO) guides them are measurably happier than those who simply go along with the MLO for the ride. Happier customers are more likely to return to that loan originator with future needs and refer others in need of mortgage services. I began my mortgage-industry career as a Mortgage Customer Service Representative. As a Mortgage Customer Service Representative, I was regularly dumbfounded when customers would call, convinced that we were violating the terms of their mortgage contract, because their payments increased even though their [...]
How to Pass the NMLS Exam!
I have good news and I have bad news. The good news is that the NMLS National MLO licensing examination is a passable exam. The bad news is that, per the NMLS itself, only 57% of those who take the NMLS exam pass it on their first attempt. Who Must Pass the NMLS Exam? Unless exempt, anyone desiring to originate residential mortgage loans securing one-to-four-family residential properties located throughout the United States, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands must first secure a state-issued mortgage loan originator license. Exemptions apply to those originating residential mortgages under the employment [...]
The All-Important Credit Score When Underwriting a Mortgage Loan Application!
The quality of an individual’s credit serves as a window into their creditworthiness. Individuals who are consistently or, even occasionally, late paying their credit obligations (and, by late, I’m referring to failing to remit the payment during the month in which it is due), who utilize more than 30% of a credit line’s available credit, who default on credit obligations, utilize numerous credit accounts, and even have limited-to-no credit all present potential signs of possessing a problematic credit character. When a lender considers lending hundreds of thousands of dollars to an applicant seeking to finance a home, it is perfectly [...]
Important Things to Know About Scheduling Your NMLS Exam!
You’ve finally finished studying and you’re ready to schedule your NMLS exam. Great! But now you need to make a choice. Would you prefer to take the exam at an in-person testing center or online? Regardless of your preferred modality for taking the exam, the registration process is practically the same. Either way, you must go to either the NMLS’ website at: https://mortgage.nationwidelicensingsystem.org/profreq/testing/Pages/default.aspx or to Prometric’s at www.prometric.com/nmls (they both ultimately produce the same results). Once on the NMLS’ website, the next step is to create or log onto your NMLS account. Before you can schedule your exam, you will [...]
The Six NMLS Exam Federal Mortgage Related Laws Component Study Strategies!
There’s no way around it! If you want to pass the NMLS exam, you must possess a solid grasp of the federal laws on which you should expect to be tested. Even though the NMLS exam’s Federal Mortgage Related Laws component accounts for only 24% of the overall NMLS exam, if the test candidate is not proficient in this area, even if he or she is solidly proficient in the other four test component areas, he or she will fail the NMLS exam. Proficiency in the Federal Mortgage Related Laws component is mandatory for NMLS exam success. There are [...]
Success Through the Temporary Buydown!
Mortgage interest rates are on the upswing; there’s no contesting that. Higher rates automatically associate with higher payments and higher payments result in fewer qualified borrowers. The seller’s market, which the real estate world has experienced for so long, is rapidly coming to a close. A seller’s market evolves when there are more buyers seeking to buy homes than homes that are available for sale. When sellers receive multiple offers, they maintain the leverage and can pick and choose the ideal offer to accept. Buyers scramble to outbid each other and homes ultimately sell for way beyond their initial asking [...]
Recent News & Events
I Have a Fixed-Rate Mortgage! Why Did My Payment Increase?
Research consistently reveals that mortgage applicants who understand the process through which their Mortgage Loan Originator (MLO) guides them are measurably happier than those who simply go along with the MLO for the ride. Happier customers are more likely to return to that loan originator with future needs and refer others in need of mortgage services. I began my mortgage-industry career as a Mortgage Customer Service Representative. As a Mortgage Customer Service Representative, I was regularly dumbfounded when customers would call, convinced that we were violating the terms of their mortgage contract, because their payments increased even though their [...]
How to Pass the NMLS Exam!
I have good news and I have bad news. The good news is that the NMLS National MLO licensing examination is a passable exam. The bad news is that, per the NMLS itself, only 57% of those who take the NMLS exam pass it on their first attempt. Who Must Pass the NMLS Exam? Unless exempt, anyone desiring to originate residential mortgage loans securing one-to-four-family residential properties located throughout the United States, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands must first secure a state-issued mortgage loan originator license. Exemptions apply to those originating residential mortgages under the employment [...]
The All-Important Credit Score When Underwriting a Mortgage Loan Application!
The quality of an individual’s credit serves as a window into their creditworthiness. Individuals who are consistently or, even occasionally, late paying their credit obligations (and, by late, I’m referring to failing to remit the payment during the month in which it is due), who utilize more than 30% of a credit line’s available credit, who default on credit obligations, utilize numerous credit accounts, and even have limited-to-no credit all present potential signs of possessing a problematic credit character. When a lender considers lending hundreds of thousands of dollars to an applicant seeking to finance a home, it is perfectly [...]
Important Things to Know About Scheduling Your NMLS Exam!
You’ve finally finished studying and you’re ready to schedule your NMLS exam. Great! But now you need to make a choice. Would you prefer to take the exam at an in-person testing center or online? Regardless of your preferred modality for taking the exam, the registration process is practically the same. Either way, you must go to either the NMLS’ website at: https://mortgage.nationwidelicensingsystem.org/profreq/testing/Pages/default.aspx or to Prometric’s at www.prometric.com/nmls (they both ultimately produce the same results). Once on the NMLS’ website, the next step is to create or log onto your NMLS account. Before you can schedule your exam, you will [...]
The Six NMLS Exam Federal Mortgage Related Laws Component Study Strategies!
There’s no way around it! If you want to pass the NMLS exam, you must possess a solid grasp of the federal laws on which you should expect to be tested. Even though the NMLS exam’s Federal Mortgage Related Laws component accounts for only 24% of the overall NMLS exam, if the test candidate is not proficient in this area, even if he or she is solidly proficient in the other four test component areas, he or she will fail the NMLS exam. Proficiency in the Federal Mortgage Related Laws component is mandatory for NMLS exam success. There are [...]
Success Through the Temporary Buydown!
Mortgage interest rates are on the upswing; there’s no contesting that. Higher rates automatically associate with higher payments and higher payments result in fewer qualified borrowers. The seller’s market, which the real estate world has experienced for so long, is rapidly coming to a close. A seller’s market evolves when there are more buyers seeking to buy homes than homes that are available for sale. When sellers receive multiple offers, they maintain the leverage and can pick and choose the ideal offer to accept. Buyers scramble to outbid each other and homes ultimately sell for way beyond their initial asking [...]