Deceptive mortgage ads: what they say, what they leave out
We've all seen ads from mortgage companies offering below market rates or low payments. Sometimes they seem too good to be true and you know the old saying, if it seems to good to be true, it probably is.
I'm not suggesting any of the ads to the left are deceptive but mortgage rates of 3.875%, a low payment and no SS number required from the first ad should be reason for caution.
Some of the home owners who borrowed during the housing boom didn't understand what kind of loan they were getting and some of today's foreclosure problems are a direct result of shady lending. The new good faith estimate is supposed to help minimize bait and switch lending and provide home buyers with an easy to understand mortgage terms summary.
But don't count on that to stop predators and scams.
Someone visited my website the other day and asked me for a list of reliable local lenders serving the Charleston real estate market. I sent it along with a note saying that if you are looking for a great Charleston Realtor, I would be happy to help with the purchase of a home and if you wanted a list of OK Charleston real estate agents, I could send that as well.
Well, it turned out they had already selected a Realtor so my next question was why are you asking me for names of good lenders and isn't your real estate agent helping you with that. It turned out they were but he just wanted to be sure so all in all, there isn't anything wrong with double checking and that's really the point of this post anyway.
The FTC offers you tips on deceptive mortgage ads: what they say, what they leave out.
And for a list of reliable and professional Charleston mortgage lenders, contact me.
But choose me to be your Charleston Realtor also. 