Several years ago the U.S. Congress tried to protect consumers from a few unscrupulous lenders by requiring all lenders to calculate and disclose the annual percentage rate (APR) you pay on your mortgage loan. But most homebuyers will learn more by directing their attention to the Good Faith Estimate of Settlement Costs (GFE). Although Congress meant well, in practice the APR is not helpful and may be confusing.

If you are looking for a good way to understand your costs of borrowing and/or to compare one lender's costs to another, the GFE is your best bet. Get your lender(s) to provide a written GFE before you commit your mortgage business. When reviewing a GFE, keep in mind that the lender actually controls only a certain portion of the disclosed costs. Other parties typically control costs of appraisal, settlement, title insurance, recording fees and taxes, survey, and the "prepaid" expenses of homeowner's insurance, mortgage insurance, real estate taxes, etc. Review these origination fees, discount points, etc. and you will have the ability to understand the full costs of your proposed mortgage loan.

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Cheryl Rellstab
Keller Williams Realty Nevada County
101 Mill St
Grass Valley, CA 94945
Main Number: 530-274-2727
Fax: 530-274-1438
CherylRellstab@NUMBER1EXPERT.com
cheryl@cherylr.com

Cheryl Rellstab has been involved in Nevada County real estate since 1984. Her background consisted of building fine homes for clients, purchasing property & building spec houses. Cheryl believes the most important contributions she can give to her clients is to listen to their needs and advise & guide them through the process. 2004 & 2005 were record years for Cheryl w/ 40 million & 44 million in sales, consecutively. Cheryl is an owner of the Keller Williams franchise in Nevada County. She was the top individual producing agent in the Keller Williams Northern California & Hawaii Region for 2005 - 2007 out of nearly 4000 agents & received national recognition at the Keller Williams convention for her achievement for each year. Her network base allows her to keep her finger on the pulse of new development in the local real estate area. In our fast-changing market, insight into current trends gives her an advantage. This is important because in real estate as in life, timing is everything!

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