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20 December 2004
"I know you have written extensively about
settlement costs in the past, but most of it is about the reasons why they are
such a difficult problem for borrowers, which I don�t really care about. Can you
skip the BS and just tell me what to do?"
Wow, I consider that both a rebuke and a
challenge.
Professors have a built-in bias toward
wanting to educate, which means to create understanding. But I have
discovered, not surprisingly, that not everyone wants to be educated about
mortgages. For many including you, a mortgage is just a necessary evil,
something they need to get a house. They are motivated to learn only as much
about it as they need to make the right decisions and avoid being "taken".
So this column is written for you and those
like you. Instead of first explaining how the market works, and then
recommending courses of action, I am placing the "don�ts" and "do�s" front and
center.
Dealing Directly
With a Lender:
Don't select a lender based on
interest rate and points alone.
(Points are upfront charges expressed as a
percent of the loan, e.g., 1 point is 1% of the loan.). Doing this leaves it to
the lender to set the other settlement costs without your concurrence.
True, the lender must provide a Good Faith
Estimate (GFE) of settlement costs within 3 business days of receiving an
application. Trying to negotiate the costs at that point, however, is usually
futile. Once you select a lender, you have little or no bargaining power. The
numbers on the GFE are only "estimates", and the lender can change them at any
time right up to and including the day of closing. Borrowers who email me asking
if a particular charge is "reasonable" receive no reply because I know it is a
futile exercise.
Don't swing to the opposite
extreme and select a lender based on interest rate and total settlement costs
including points.
This would have become the correct strategy
if HUD�s proposed reform measures were implemented, because under that proposal,
lenders would be held to the total settlement costs they offer borrowers. But
the HUD proposals are dead, and under existing conditions, this approach doesn�t
work.
Lenders today can�t be held to their
estimates of third party costs, or, for that matter, to estimates of their own
costs. They can give you a low-ball estimate to get your business, then raise it
after you are safely hooked.
Do select a lender based on
rate, points and a guaranteed total of lender fees specified in dollars.
Some of the common fees of this type are for
processing, tax service, flood certification, underwriting, wire transfer,
document preparation, courier, and lender inspection. But what they are called
doesn�t matter, all that matters is their sum total.
Lenders know what their own fees are, even
though they are shown as "estimates" on the GFE. While rates and points won�t be
guaranteed until you lock the loan, which usually requires completing an
application, fixed-dollar fees can be guaranteed at any time because they are
not market sensitive.
Do insist on the guarantee.
Many retail lenders guarantee their dollar
fees now. These include Eloan.com, Indymac.com, HomeLoanCenter.com, Mortgage.com,
Mortgage.etrade.com, and Countrywide.com. If they can do it, any lender can, and
they will if shoppers demand it.
Do close the remaining loophole,
which is lender-markups of third party services.
Specify that the total of guaranteed lender
charges include any markups of third party services, such as appraisals, credit
report, pest inspection, or anything else. Make sure it is all in writing.
Dealing With a
Mortgage Broker
Do approach the broker as a
service provider who gets paid a fee that is negotiated at the outset.
All Upfront Mortgage Brokers operate this
way, but many other brokers are willing to as well if borrowers request it. It
is reasonably safe to assume that the broker will keep the lender honest on
other settlement costs, so your attention can shift to negotiating with the
broker. Just make sure that the broker fee includes any payment to the broker
from the lender.
Copyright Jack Guttentag 2005
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