MHQ - Mortgage HeadQuarters

Have you always dreamed of owning a vacation home? There may never be a better time than now. Purchasing a second home is not a decision to be taken lightly. But if it is something you've always wanted, the means for making that dream come true are not as difficult as you might think. Here are a few things to consider before purchasing a second home at the Lake of the Ozarks : Conventional Financing Purchasing and financing a second home is little different than purchasing a primary home. Some of the low down payment programs are not available, but with conforming loans, as little as 10% down can get you started. "Cash Out" Financing We can look at getting your 10% or more down, that is needed to purchase the second home, by using equity from a primary home via refinancing . Rental Income If you don't mind sharing your home, the income can be a great. However you should never purchase a vacation home if you're dependent on rentals to make it work. Buyi...

Owning a home offers great benefits to a homeowner, such as the ability to use the equity that's built up over time. Home equity can truly provide value and security to your future. You may find yourself in a situation that leaves you needing to take advantage of  refinancing your mortgage  to lower your payments or to take advantage of a lower interest rate. However, while you may have equity available, there are some mistakes homeowners make that prevent them from being able to refinance. Check out 5 mistakes you should avoid to prevent not being able to tap into your home equity when you need it. 1. Not Doing Your Homework You may just be thinking about going with your current mortgage lender to refinance your home because of the convenience factor. However, if you’re planning to contact your current lender about refinancing without doing some comparison shopping first you could be selling yourself short. With rates still relatively low across the board, it may seem l...

Whether you're  buying your first home  or needing to  refinance your current mortgage  to make some much needed upgrades to your home, there's probably going to be a time when you're going to have to consider mortgage lending options. Make no mistake, there's a lot involved when you get a mortgage. You wouldn't be looking up loan information if it were possible to get a loan in a single day with a simple application. But  Mortgage Headquarters of Missouri, Inc  does the heavy lifting so you can concentrate on your life rather than the mortgage loan. Take a look at the mortgage services we offer at MHQ! First Time Homebuyer Lending As a first time homebuyer, there may be several factors to getting a loan that you may not be aware of. There are some important steps to getting a mortgage loan: deciding on a maximum loan amount, pre-qualifying for a loan, applying for the loan, and getting funded. Because lender guidelines are fairly standard, we can g...

Are you getting ready to buy a home? We want to say congratulations on your decision! Remember, MHQ - Mortgage Headquarters has more than 20 years' experience in the mortgage industry, so we'd be a perfect fit for your mortgage lending needs. But first, we want to help you by providing some tips to start you on the right path to getting that loan approval. Here are four keys to being prepared to make your first offer. 1. Know what you can afford and how much cash you will need. Knowing what you qualify for before looking at any homes will save you the disappointment that can come from falling in love with a home that's out of reach. We'll be happy to "pre-qualify" you now so you'll know what will work later. 2. Know where you want to be. Learn about the neighborhood before you make an offer to buy. Sample the commute. Talk to would be neighbors. See the schools, shops and services before you start negotiating. 3. Choose your property type. Cons...

The standard documentation needed for buyers employed by someone else is typically six to 12 months’ worth of personal tax returns for the approval process. For the self-employed, the burden is a bit greater. If you work for yourself, and are looking to remortgage or buy a new home,  getting approved for a mortgage loan  isn't impossible, but it does mean you'll likely have to jump through many more hoops to prove your income than someone who's steadily employed and on a company payroll. So, what can you do to help your chances of getting approved for a mortgage loan when your self-employed? Here are some tips for you to go by: Proving Your Income When lenders determine how much to lend to you, they generally base their calculations on your average profit in the past few years.  That being said, one of the most important factors for self-employed workers is being able to prove your income to any mortgage lender you apply to. Most will want to see at least two year...

In the world of mortgage lending , the details can get to be pretty confusing for those who don't work in the industry every day. The verbiage of mortgage loan documents can be a bit overwhelming, especially when seemingly random acronyms are thrown into every document as if everyone should be born with the knowledge to know what they mean. We understand that sometimes loan documents can be difficult to understand. That's why we encourage you to contact us with any mortgage questions you might have. This week, we're sharing with you 5 common mortgage acronyms you'll likely see on documents if you're getting a loan. 1. PMI is Private Mortgage Insurance. PMI allows you to finance a home with less than a 20% down payment. For an extra monthly cost to you, PMI provides default insurance to the lender. Thinking of saving more to avoid PMI? Accumulating what can be tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars for a down payment is a challenge for even the most indu...

All too often, buyers run into snags in the approval process because they were unaware of a document they needed to provide to the lender. This can hold up the approval process and potentially put the buyer at risk for not meeting necessary contract deadlines on financing. There are several items that you'll need to provide to the lender so they can begin processing your application.  MHQ - Mortgage Headquarters is sharing with you a list of items you'll need to provide to your lender to ensure a smooth application approval process. Take a look. In general, the documentation you will need includes:   Income & Assets: Pay stubs for the last 30 days Last two W-2s Last two checking and savings Statements for each bank, mutual fund, and/or investment account (all pages even if bank) If Self-Employed or own more than 25% of a corporation or partnership or have rental properties:  Last two years of federal Tax returns (with schedules, all pages) Last two ye...