The 5 People You Should Never Talk to About a Mortgage

When you are out shopping for a mortgage, where do you get your information?  Who do you listen to?  These are the 5 people you should never listen to when shopping for a mortgage.

Co workers

You know all about the water cooler talk.  In addition to gabbing about the latest TV show or presidential candidate, the water cooler is also a place to brag about the latest “accomplishment”.  The new car, the fantasy football team, the best mortgage rate ever! 

Looking good at the water cooler means a co worker may have to embellish on that mortgage rate.  They would never admit they got taken.  You head out thinking you can have that rate too and get sucked into the oldest scam in the mortgage industry which is the bait and switch. 

A mortgage company quotes a crazy low rate but then turns into a much higher rate at closing.  Now, that exact same thing happened to your co worker too.  But they are not going to admit it to you and their water cooler story is safe knowing you will never see the actual mortgage note.

Friends

I actually heard someone at a party tell another guest, “Why are you paying so much interest?  I have an option ARM and I only pay 1.9%.  You are paying way too much at 5.75%.”  For those of you not familiar with an interest only option ARM, it adjusts every month and the 1.9% does not cover the interest for the month.  The additional interest gets tacked onto the loan balance.  They had absolutely no idea what they were talking about.

Friends can be tricky.  They may be trying to help and you may trust them more than a co worker but do they really have your best interest at heart?  I would say, No!  Even though they are a friend, they could have a little of the co worker competitiveness in them.  And if not, they are still completely uneducated giving insane and harmful information just like the party comment above.

Family

Now your family probably has your best interest at heart but they also have horrible advice and information to give you too.  They are as uneducated as you are and by trying to help you, it turns into a nightmare. 

Sometimes it is hard to tell a family member you are going it alone in your mortgage shopping endeavor.  They can get angry you are not totally dependant on them.  Stand your ground and remember…if your family member is not actively in the mortgage business, it is best to get your information elsewhere and make the decision on your own.

Real Estate Agents

Never get advice from a real estate agent for 2 reasons.  One, they can be involved in a kick back relationship with a loan officer.  A kick back is when they send you to a certain loan officer because that loan officer pays them for your referral.  It is totally illegal but it happens all the time. 

Two, real estate agents know almost nothing about mortgages.  Of course it does not stop them telling you what to do.  We have had to undo many blunders by real estate agents and their “advice”.  They can stick to the real estate transaction and let a mortgage professional handle the mortgage advice.

Commercial on TV

I love watching TV when a mortgage ad comes on.  They throw out a really low rate and tons of small print.  They take a dangerous loan and give it a snazzy name like “magic” or “smart”.  And then they train their phone banks to hard sell on only that loan.  You do not get real options or information.  You get what the company wants you to get.

The only way you get real information when mortgage shopping is to discover it yourself.  You have to get educated.  Mortgage selection is not easy but there is real information out there.  Get educated on your own and keep your mortgage shopping on the down low.  That way you do not get the unwanted and wrong “advice” from everyone.