What is the purpose of a good faith estimate?

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Jeff Thomas
Mortgage Advisor, Family Lender
www.lendingsolutions.net  
703-830-9808

Jeff Thomas is a Mortgage Advisor and Financial Educator with Family Lender, Inc. located in Fairfax, Virginia. Jeff has seen the mortgage business change significantly in the 15 years he has been in the business. Changes such zero down loans, to relaxed underwriting guidelines to borrowing more than the house is actually worth on a purchase or refinance transaction. 

With the changes in the mortgage industry, Jeff has had to make changes in the way he performs his job. Jeff originally thought he was a loan originator, but after realizing the positive impact he could have on other peoples lives he made some basic adjustments to his business and now sees his position and career as a financial educator.

By taking the time upfront to get to know the people he serves, Jeff has been able to positively impact and improve the lives of the people he works with by providing relevant and timely advice. . This assistance comes in many forms, from insurance to painting to helping interview the right retirement professional. This core group of professionals allows Jeff to concentrate on providing the right advice for each person he works with.

Jeff is one of 200 people in the country that is both a Certified Mortgage Planning Specialist – CMPS and a Certified Liability Advisor – CLA. Jeff recently co-authored a book with Todd Ballinger, called “Borrow Smart Retire Rich”.  The principles addressed in the book will be covered throughout the video. 

Jeff hopes you gain insight on how to purchase and finance a home and hopefully you will find your time well spent and walk away with some information you did not know before.  Jeff Thomas, Where Advice Does Make A Difference!

 

What is the purpose of a good faith estimate?

In this video, mortgage advisor, Jeff Thomas describes how to purchase your first home and the process you must go through to obtain a mortgage. This video is designed for first time homebuyers and also provides valuable information to indivduals who have purchased a home in the past. This video includes an overview of the four parts of a loan file, mortgage jargon, the loan process, house hunting, the types of mortgages available and the 7 steps on how to manage your mortgage correctly.

This expert: 56,025 views

This series: 14,615 views

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Transcripts

Host: What is the purpose of a good faith estimate?

Jeff Thomas: The purpose of a good faith estimate is to tell the borrower in numbers about how much money they are going to have to bring to closing. So if you are buying a house for a zero down then you are still going to be closing cost that are associated with that mortgage, they could be 1.

5-3.

5%. If you are paying cash for a house well then you are not going to be taking a loan application, so the closing cost would be minimal. But the function of a good faith estimate is to let you, the borrower know how much your loan officer is making, what the approximate cost for the settlement are, how much down payment you need, what the recordation charges are and then at the very bottom of the good faith estimate, it's going to say how much money you need to bring to closing to purchase that house.

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