The Mortgage Files

Nationally syndicated mortgage news and advice from Senior Loan Officer Scott Sheldon.

Scott Sheldon's The Mortgage FIles Blog

Why A "No Cost Mortgage" Still Costs

By Scott Sheldon / August 26, 2012

“There’s no such thing as a free lunch.” Such words have never been more relevant to consumers being pitched to take out a no cost loan. No cost mortgage mortgages have been around since the mid-90s and offer consumers the ability to pay no closing fees. The general closing costs, you’d otherwise pay in procuring…

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Scott Sheldon's The Mortgage FIles Blog

Duplex Loans, 2-4 Unit Financing…Explained

By Scott Sheldon / July 29, 2012

Single family homes, condominiums, planned unit developments….. and then there’s 2 to 4 unit properties, often called duplexes, tri-plexes and four-plexes. A 2-4 unit property is the oddity of the various property types, it’s this property type that has the most confusion when it comes to securing mortgage loan financing. People think a single-family residence…

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Scott Sheldon's The Mortgage FIles Blog

Mortgage Comparison Shopping: How To Read The Good Faith Estimate

By Scott Sheldon / May 20, 2012

Taking out a mortgage loan requires careful consideration of all the costs associated with a purchase or refinance transaction. For many, trying to do their due diligence of mortgage comparison shopping, reading, analyzing and interpreting the good faith estimate can be somewhat of a misnomer. The revised good faith estimate goes into much greater detail…

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Scott Sheldon's The Mortgage FIles Blog

Sonoma County Home Loan Refinance: When and How

By Scott Sheldon / May 10, 2012

There’s an old saying amongst homeowners that you shouldn’t refinance your mortgage unless you can save 1% in interest rate. So in other words, if your mortgage is 5% for example, and you can get for 4.125% on a new home loan refinance, you shouldn’t do it because you’re not saving the full 1%. This…

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Scott Sheldon's The Mortgage FIles Blog

Comparing Mortgage Rates In Sonoma County

By Scott Sheldon / November 18, 2010

What to look for in comparing mortgage rates in Sonoma County. The Federal Reserve came out last week discussing in the media how they intend to purchase mortgage bonds moving forward in order to keep borrowing costs for consumers comparing mortgages down. If you are comparing mortgage rates in Sonoma County be aware that interest…

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Scott Sheldon's The Mortgage FIles Blog

Sonoma County "Best Rates"

By Scott Sheldon / October 24, 2010

Sonoma County Best Rates:there are two ways to look at them. Most consumers look at mortgage rates whether being online, in the newspaper, etc. and automatically assume that the interest rate that is being advertised is the real interest rate that they can actually a lock a loan on. Get A Live Rate Quote for…

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Scott Sheldon's The Mortgage FIles Blog

FHA Streamline Refinances "The Truth"

By Scott Sheldon / October 17, 2010

There is so much confusion out there associated with getting an FHA streamline refinance. You can still get a low Sonoma County mortgage rate by refinancing your FHA Loan. Because of the way the market is presently, borrowers have the capability of getting a no cost FHA streamline Refinance done. Most people who have FHA…

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