[RANDY P]

So, we have established that the 1st set of fees that are payable to the company writing the loan are in fact, negotiable.

As of for the other costs notated in the 2nd set, those are pretty much universal across the board.


How to determine if the loan is useful

1) - the payment. Can you afford it?

2) overall amount of closing costs - with the above knowledge, if there is an excessive / high cost difference in fees when you're comparing offers in the 1st set of fees noted, chances are you are being charged quite a bit. Compare the rate, the length of the loan, and the overall payment, vs. the closing costs.

A low rate is meaningless if you are paying huge origination discount, admin, processing and broker fees to get there.


Once again, between loans, the 2nd set of fees are always required, so that will be a constant. If there is an offer that DOESN'T have that noted, then they are omitting costs that are required, and chances are it's a bogus offer. That, believe it or not, is a common ploy into tricking borrowers that a particular "offer" is better than another.

Getting around that 2nd set of costs is like trying to skip paying sales tax - it simply isn't possible. Those costs are required to certify the mortgage as legal and to protect the bank. No lender in the USA will lend money on a home without adequate precaution - otherwise the loan isn't legal and the bank will lose. In other words, they won't do it without the appraisal, title inspection, paying the required various state and county customary fees.

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