A Simple Way to Save Thousands on Your Mortgage Charges

How many times do you check you restaurant bill? If not often, I would advise you to do it more, especially when dining on your overseas vacations. Still, much more Americans check their restaurants bill, than the number of homebuyers, who check the charges for their mortgages.

There are two popular misconceptions about the mortgage surcharges. First ? the charges are all the same because of the competition. Second ? there is nothing we can do about it, so why bother?

They are both wrong. The charges vary, sometimes within the same company depending on who their customer is. And yes, you can reduce those charges substantially just by asking about them.

There us an old story about a waiter, who presents unreasonably high bill at the end of a meal. His customer asks very politely to see the itemization of the charges. He goes over the items with the waiter one by one. Salad, yes, we had salad. Steak, yes, we had it. What is 'successful' for $95? I don't remember ordering it. Shrugging his shoulders the waiter crosses the item out from the bill: "Most of the time I am successful with that one, but sometimes I am not".

You will be surprised how often this old joke is played on the unsuspecting customers at the mortgage closings. You can say: "But I always check the charges myself. There was nothing like that on my list".

Yeah, you think they would be stupid enough to put the charges in the open where you can check them? No, the charges are buried in the computations of the interest and principal payments. Those computations formulas are among the most closely guarded secrets of the lenders.

The lenders even have a special abbreviation for such charges, P.O.C., which stands for Paid Outside of Closing. Those charges can be for anything, from a finder's fee to your broker (or whoever referred you to them) to different sorts of mortgage insurance, which you are required to pay for, but it benefits the lender.

They will fight you tooth and nail, if you ask them to disclose that. Their most common answer to you would be: "Oh, we don't know the details ourselves. Our computer does the computations. It is our company's private information."

The only way for you to know exactly what the lenders are charging you is to compute the monthly payments independently. They are trying to make this task as difficult as possible for you. They use complicated allocations, where they often change the amounts that go to the interest and to the principal. Why? Because they don't want you to know.

So you might be thinking that after a few years your monthly payments have reduced your mortgage principal, when in reality the principal changed little and all the money went to cover interest payments and a lot of other funny charges, about which you never have been told.

How can you get this information? It can be yours for the asking. Of course you can start getting answers like: "It is not in our computer. We need to order an additional report for that. I don't have this information."

You can continue to deal with this people, if you wish. Just know that they are lying. And if they are lying to you now, what will prevent them to do the same later, when you are at their mercy as their customer.

To learn more about investment advise and retirement planning visit Money Management Forum at Wise-consumer.net, also Surveyor

In The News:

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Washington Times
The Truth About Mortgage Refinancing Revealed By Connecticut ...
SBWire (press release), WI - 17 hours ago
Westport, Connecticut based Mortgage Broker Don Caiati reveals mortgage refinancing secrets at a new web site that is full of free reports, a home buying ...
Refinancing suddenly booms Honolulu Advertiser
Lenders Backlogged By Refinancing Rush Washington Post
Low Mortgage Rates Bring Refinancing Boom MSNBC
Forbes - Washington Timesall 25 news articles

Xinhua
Average Mortgage Rate Hits 5%, Lowest in Decades
New York Times, United States - 9 hours ago
Of course, buying a home is a more lengthy process than simply calling up a mortgage broker to refinance, and activity typically slows during the holiday ...
US Banks Offer Mortgages Below 5% After Fed Action Bloomberg
Rates lowest since '71; time to refinance? Modesto Bee
Long-Term Mortgage Rate Falls Again Wall Street Journal
Forbes - Boston Globeall 831 news articles

Cardoza proposal could aid housing crisis
Stockton Record, CA - 2 hours ago
Under the Cardoza plan, the payment on that mortgage refinanced to 4 percent fixed rate would drop to $1194 a month. Contact reporter Bruce Spence at (209) ...

REFILE-UPDATE 1-US mortgage demand dipped before Fed move-MBA
Reuters - Jan 7, 2009
The jump in applications during December may have been driven by homeowners already "on the fence" and prepared to refinance on a drop in mortgage rates, ...
Mortgage applications down in latest survey Forbes
Week-to-week mortgage applications down 8.2% MarketWatch
Fewer apply for home loans; credit line delinquencies increase Los Angeles Times
KVOA.com - Kansas City Starall 63 news articles

Boston Globe
Fed’s Rosengren Calls for ‘Concerted’ Fiscal, Monetary Policies
Bloomberg - 4 hours ago
... to purchase or refinance homes,” Rosengren said. The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped for a 10th week to 5.01 percent yesterday, ...
Rosengren sees path to recovery Boston Globe
Fed's Rosengren says recession more severe than thought Reuters
all 51 news articles

Los Angeles Times
Congressional Press Release on Mortgage Deal
Wall Street Journal - 9 hours ago
"Despite efforts by Congress to address this issue, not enough lenders have come to the table to help borrowers with bad mortgages refinance into new, ...
Citigroup reaches agreement with key senators on mortgage ... Minneapolis Star Tribune
Citigroup agrees to allow judges to help modify some mortgages IdahoStatesman.com
all 530 news articles

TopNews
Question & Answer on mortgage refinancing
Boston Herald, United States - Jan 1, 2009
If I refinance the mortgage on my current house, will I hurt my chances for getting a loan for a new place later on? A: No. Refinancing a loan shouldn’t ...
MORTGAGES: 30-year Mortgage Rate Falls For Ninth Straight Week To ... CNNMoney.com
Mortgage Rates Hit 37-Year Low Poynter.org
30 Year Fixed Rates Drop to 5.10 percent Best Syndication
Wall Street Journal - Ventura County Starall 457 news articles

Refinancing shoots through the roof
Plano Star Courier, TX - 15 hours ago
“Quite a few people have remortgaged,” said Craig Jarrell, loan officer with Pulaski Mortgage. “Most people who refinance are new homeowners as recent as ...

Mortgage refinancing skyrockets
Cincinnati.com, OH - Jan 3, 2009
... 2009 With US mortgage rates the lowest in 30 years, local lenders say they've seen a strong surge in loan applications as homeowners seek to refinance ...
Waco banks seeing a boom in mortgage refinance applications Waco Tribune Herald
Borrowers seeking to refinance may face challenges WTOP
As mortgage rates slide, refinancing applications take off Dallas Morning News
all 15 news articles

Congressman sees support for home refinancing bill
Central Valley Business Times, CA - Jan 8, 2009
“So many folks have found themselves underwater in their mortgage … they can’t refinance,” says Mr. Cardoza. Often those who have lost their investments in ...
Cardoza submits plan to refinance mortgages Merced Sun-Star
Congressman Cardoza Introduces Housing Legislation ABC30.com
Cardoza sponsors bill to reduce mortgage payments, stabilize ... Central Valley Business Times
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mortgage refinance - Google News

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