QUESTIONS THAT YOU SHOULD ASK YOUR MORTGAGE ORIGINATOR

The world wide economic downturn which began with the collapse of the mortgage market in the United States in 2008 – specifically that of two of the largest lenders in all of America, Freddy Mac and Fanny Mae – has continued to destabilize the property markets of many countries around the globe.

As a direct result, major world economies such as those in the Far East, mainland Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States are finding it increasingly difficult to restart – or even jump start – their property markets. It is to be noted that the development of national real estate markets has a significant effect on the financial standing of a country. For example, there is a direct correlation between unemployment figures being reduced when new building starts grow. This is simply because when new building projects are undertaken, construction labourers, electricians, metal workers and the like have to be employed for the project to be built, thus the more construction sites, the more people become employed.

The reverse of the above scenario is what is still happening in the United Kingdom at present. The mortgage market is floundering because the lending institutions have now put so many restrictions as barriers before granting home loans that people are just not buying and selling their properties and, as there is so little demand for new properties, the construction industry is also in the doldrums and therefore related unemployment figures are not falling.

The interest rates now being offered by the banks, building societies and other financial lenders for home loans are the lowest they have been in the past thirty years. This is because these home loan lenders are attempting to attract clients to try to get the mortgage business going again and, in turn, the construction industry back on track. Even so, there are still so many hurdles that these institutions want their clients to jump over in order to acquire a mortgage that many simply avoid them altogether and take the advice of a mortgage originator.

The job of a mortgage originator is that of somebody (or a company) who acts as a consultant to those people who need advice on how to go about getting home loans. The originator is well versed in the laws and requirements of the all financial institutions which offer such loans and, as an independent broker, is thus able to find the ideal solution for each their customers’ individual mortgage needs. An originator thus performs a very important task – that of having all the options at their fingertips, so that their clients to do not have to run from one financial institution to another, arranging meetings and have to provide sets of documentation to each one, in the hope of being granted a loan. The originator will also be able to explain the differences in the various charges these lenders make, which are generally added to the mortgage amount and thus interest is paid on them for the entire term of the loan.

The majority of mortgage originators operate free of charge services for mortgage seekers, as their fees are paid by the lending organisations. You do not even need to come prepared with a long list of questions when you meet with an originator, as they will go through the entire process step by step in order to assist you with every aspect until completion of the deal..