Dora Griffin's Blog

Interest Rate Buydowns  Interest rate buydowns for home loans are coming back into focus.  What are the benefits of an interest rate buydown and who is the best candidate?In general the best candidate for an interest rate buydown would be someone who is expecting to have a greater income in a cou...

Federal Reserve Interest Rate and Long Term Mortgage Rates Yesterday the Federal Reserve increased their interest rate by .75% (3/4). Often this is confused with long term interest rates (fixed rate mortgages) going up by a similar amount.The Federal Reserve increases or decreases their key funds...

Pre approved for a loan?  You want to be sure to heed these three warnings. When you pay off some debt the line of credit is often closed which  may result in a drop in scores. Applying for new credit can drop your score, especially if you open the new line of credit. New credit can also reduce y...

SAME DAY HOME LOAN APPROVALS Same day home loan approvals do happen. I have them happen quite often, and yesterday it was less than thirty minutes after I submitted a file.   The key to a quick turn around in underwriting a home loan is the quality of the submission. The quality of the submission...

                                        IS NOW A GOOD TIME TO REFINANCE? Is now a good time to refinance is an age old question we don't hear as much these days because rates have been at lows not imagined until now. However, it is a question a home owner should always ask themselves. Generally i...

Home Loan Shopping, Read the Fine Print Prior to Covid 19 I did in person home buying classes throughout the year. We cover a lot of info which I do by phone now, but one important point I always make is to always read the fine print when home loan shopping. Lenders are going to advertise their b...

Thanks for your candor! I have spoken with several folks over the last few months about home financing. Quite a few of them contacted me because they have seen advertisements that interest rates are at all time lows. Some of them tell me the rates they are seeing and ask if it is really true, mos...

Why Borrowers Get Spam After Their Credit Is Pulled A borrower needs a mortgage to purchase a home. They contact the mortgage broker or bank they want to work with, apply for a mortgage loan, have their credit pulled, and boom! they start getting spam calls out of the blue asking if they are buyi...

How The Pandemic Changed My Mortgage Business Each day we learn something new about the Covid-19 virus. This week we are learning whereas the first case was thought to be in 2020 the virus was actually with us months earlier in 2019. I, like many, know people, several family members to be exact w...

The Benefit of Seller Paid Closing Costs Did you know seller's often pay part or all of a buyer's closing costs and prepaid items?  In our Northern Kentucky and Ohio market they do. Now more than ever this can be a benefit to the buyer because we for the time being are in a very different world o...