Our Story
We like to call this place our "mortgage family". Some are family members and some are family staffers. They all have been involved in the mortgage and real estate industry for over 25 years. Back than the entire team would pitch in and could do anything from mortgage originating to mortgage processing, mortgage underwriting, mortgage closings, analyzing mortgage credit, gather mortgage documentation, help out in getting the mortgage loan to the settlement table, you name it and our staff could do it. All of this just came naturally. It's also important to mention that every mortgage payment including principal interest, taxes and homeowners insurance was figured out on a manual calculator not a mortgage calculator. The APR was figured out on a manual calculator not a mortgage calculator. There was no such thing as a "click here" and get your mortgage calculator. We have seen mortgage interest rates go from 7% (yes, 7%) to 18% (yes, 18%) and vice versa. Years ago there was no such thing as a FICO score and every mortgage loan application was manually underwritten by a mortgage underwriter. The borrower had to prequalify for a mortgage and they also had to save 20% of the purchase price as a down payment. There were no exceptions to this rule. You needed to have 20% and that was it. If the borrower was going to take the money for the down payment out of their checking account or their savings account the mortgage lender needed 3 months of a consistent proven available checking account balance. The reason for this was that the mortgage underwriter needed proven written documentated facts that the consumer's down payment money was not being borrowed from a credit card or from mom or dad because if it was borrowered than it was actually being gifted and that opens up another can of worms.
We remember when the word subprime mortgage market was pre-birth and when the mortgage credit scoring system was born. We never really liked it at the time considering we like the old ways of doing things such as live mortgage underwriting or should I say ALIVE mortgage underwriting. Now, everything is automated. Mortgage underwriters do not look at the mortgage files anymore. They leave it up to the automated mortgage underwriting system. We know for a fact that some mortgage loans are denied because of the automated mortgage underwriting systems. The mortgage underwriters rely to heavily on these systems one negative item and the loan gets bumped out denied and that's it. It is up to the mortgage underwriter to review the items that are denying the mortgage loans. Some of these loans can be saved.
Subprime is over. It destroyed our economy and people are still suffering. Enough said.
From an experienced mortgage underwriting standpoint this company's mission is to help people understand the new normal by bringing back the old ways of doing things. For those of us that have been there we completely understand what happened to this market. It's impossible for everyone to qualify for everything. It's just not possible. We are here to help you prequalify for a mortgage. We are here to help you find the best mortgage lenders that are still in this market.
One of our main missions here at ratesarehot.com is to help the consumer help themselves. By inputting some financial information into our forms excluding your social security number you scroll through the three step process and reach the results page. It is there that you will find out your mortgage pre-qualification number. Also, on this page you are matched with our lender/partners. Our lender/partners have the utmost integrity and have been around a long time and have withstood the storms of the economy.
This company has been born and bred with years of mortgage experience as well as a nice combination of old and new ways of doing things. We have a staff of mortgage underwriting experts ready to help you get through the mortgage pre-qualification process.
We are always looking for feedback from our customers so that we can always do our best to do the right thing.
Here are the products that we offer at this time:
- Mortgage Purchase pre-qualification
- Mortgage Refinance to lower your rates pre-qualification
- Mortgage Refinance for cash out - prequalification
- Mortgage Refinance to consolidate your debt - prequalification
- FHA Purchase/FHA Refinance - prequalificaiton
Always keep in mind that the service here at Rates Are Hot is always free to the consumer.
