I want you to be smart mortgage shoppers.
So, I thought I would relate a cautionary tale that happened to me late last week.
I had a potential client that was doing some mortgage shopping.
She was comparing a payment estimate I had given her to a payment estimate given to her from one of the large national mortgage companies. …I won’t mention any names, but their name starts with a Q and ends with an N, and it rhymes with “licken”.
She was about to go with their payment, because it was $275 less than my payment estimate.
Once I dug down I realized that the loan consultant she had been talking to (happened to be in North Carolina) has significantly underestimated her property taxes. That loan consultant had given her a figure of $100 estimate for property taxes, when in Texas that number would actually be closer to $375.
I explained to her property taxes tend to be higher in Texas than other states. This is due to Texas not having an income tax, and property taxes are their primary source of income for the state and local government agencies.
Had she gone with their loan at some point in the process she would have had quite a surprise when she got the real tax figure.
I don’t think the loan consultant had intentionally lied to her about the property taxes. I just think she didn’t know taxes tend to be higher in Texas.
The moral to this story is you are better off shopping for a mortgage from a company that works in your state or community, because they will be familiar with the nuances of your state.
That’s it for today!
Have a good day today! …and thanks for reading.
Brett
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