http://www.hartres.com en-us http://www.hartres.com N/A service@5flagsweb.com Mon, 05 Jan 2009 20:19:53 -0600 20 http://www.hartres.com/articles/19/1/Test-Article/This-is-a-test-article.html asdf ralex@hartres.com (Rick Alex) Wed, 03 May 2006 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.hartres.com/articles/17/1/What-Is-APR/Annual-Percentage-Rate.html The APR, or annual percentage rate, is the interest rate used to compare loan programs from different lenders. By no means should you assume that the APR advertised by a bank is the rate you are going to get on a loan! ralex@hartres.com (Rick Alex) Wed, 26 Apr 2006 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.hartres.com/articles/16/1/What-Is-PMI-And-Do-I-Need-It/Private-Motgage-Insurance.html PMI is Private Mortgage Insurance, and you will generally have to buy it if you purchase a house with less than 20% down. It ensures that the lenders will get their money back if they have to foreclose on your loan. ralex@hartres.com (Rick Alex) Wed, 26 Apr 2006 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.hartres.com/articles/15/1/Will-My-Loan-Be-Transfered-Or-Sold/Loan-Transfers.html If your lender goes out of business or just decides he'd rather have cash for your loan than the loan itself, he can sell it at any time. The secondary mortgage market is very strong, and it's quite common for pools of mortgages to be sold. ralex@hartres.com (Rick Alex) Wed, 26 Apr 2006 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.hartres.com/articles/14/1/What-Affects-Mortgate-Rates/Mortgage-Rates.html Most consumers don't understand the admittedly byzantine convolutions of the way mortgage rates are calculated. The first thing you must understand is that there are many different interest rates that together affect your overall mortgage rate, including the following: ralex@hartres.com (Rick Alex) Wed, 26 Apr 2006 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.hartres.com/articles/13/1/Whats-The-Differnce-Between-Pre-Qualified-Versus-Pre-Approved/Pre-Qualified-Versus-Pre-Approved.html A pre-qualification is a statement issued by a loan officer. He interviews you, reviews your credit history and other factors that are used to determine your eligibility for a loan, and tells you what size of loan you can be approved for if you want to buy a home. ralex@hartres.com (Rick Alex) Wed, 26 Apr 2006 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.hartres.com/articles/12/1/What-Is-A-FICO-Score/FICO-Scores.html Fair Isaac & Company developed their own scoring method to determine the likelihood that credit users would pay their bills back in the Wild West days of credit, the 1950s. ralex@hartres.com (Rick Alex) Wed, 26 Apr 2006 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.hartres.com/articles/11/1/Whats-The-Deal-With-Zero-Point-and-Zero-Fee-Loans/Zero--Zero-Explained.html Once upon a time, homeowners lived in the dark woods of Expensive Loans, and the Fairy Godparents of Loan Refinancing all advised them to wait until average loan points dropped at least 2% before refinancing anything, because between points and fees anything less than that would be eaten up before the decreased interest rate helped the homeowner save money. But then something magical happened. The zero-point/zero-fee loan was invented. ralex@hartres.com (Rick Alex) Wed, 26 Apr 2006 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.hartres.com/articles/10/1/What-Should--I-Know-About-Home-Equity-Loans-and-Credit-Lines/Top-Things-To-Remember-About-Equity-Loans-And-Credit-Lines.html Home equity loans and lines of credit are a special type of credit based on the equity you own in your home. Home equity can be treated like loans or like regular lines of credit, but you should remember that when you use them, that's counting against the part of your home that you own. ralex@hartres.com (Rick Alex) Wed, 26 Apr 2006 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.hartres.com/articles/9/1/Loan-Process-Step-By-Step/Step1-Organize-Your-Documents.html Your loan documents will be slightly different depending on whether you're buying or refinancing a loan, or applying for a home equity loan. ralex@hartres.com (Rick Alex) Wed, 26 Apr 2006 00:00:00 -0500