David Neal's Mortgage Blog

I had a situation last week where a customer communicated to me that do business with us made him nervous because we had some common acquaintances. Of course his main concern was that they would be somewhat privy to his personal business and it occurred to me that this would be a perfect topic to blog about.

The first thing I want to say is that under no circumstances, unless we have specific permission from you, is your info shared with anyone. By anyone, I mean not my wife, my best friend, neighbor...no one. I am even very apprehensive about disclosing who I am doing a mortgage for, regardless if the people I'm speaking with, knows the person or not. Consider us Switzerland! One of the things I have addressed with my team is that we have to be sensitive to the fact that in some cases, just allowing someone else to know we are doing a mortgage for our client, may cause problems. Like in a situation where one of the spouses doesn't know they are getting ready to be divorced and we are doing the mortgage for the house that our client is going to move to when they file. This is a very difficult situation and even an accidental slip on a phone message, could cause it to become explosive. So, when we leave messages, we only say we're from First Liberty and don't leave any info that would disclose to a potential listener, other than the client, to the fact that we are doing a loan for them.

I have done loans for a previous client's parents, siblings, friends, coworkers and so on. In order for them to trust me, they have to know that I'm not going to pass personal information even if by accident, to the other parties. Mum is the word.....for real!

Now on to the next part. I have gone to great lengths to make sure we're doing everything that is possible to keep your info safe. No paper leaves our office in a trash can, only non paper items are thrown in the trash. We do as much as we can through secure means of transfer, like through our secure login for customers here at my website instead of emailing them. You never know who's going to open an email! We don't leave open files laying around for somebody stopping by our office or the cleaning person to get into or casually see. All of the private info that we have on people is stored on a server in a bunker somewhere, so that even if my computer was stolen, the thief would not be able to access your info.

Please know that I'm not blogging about this, just because it sounds good. I am writing this because it is one of the most important issues in the world of finance and I want to make sure people know that we don't take it lightly

This week has been a doosey! The market volitility on Wall Street and the huge stock market gains in a day and then drop the next has provided an enviroment ripe for traders. That hasn't been good for mortgage bonds. This combined with last weeks existing home sales report which was up, has served to devastate mortgage rates this week.

Don't panic just yet, even though it may be hard with this kind of rate volitility! The Consumer Price Index is due out today at 10:00am est. This is an index that can have a big impact on the market. I believe that it will be lower than expectations and should drive bonds to rally. We will have to wait and see how the market reacts.

Right now, more than ever....it's important to have a rate lock strategy on how we're going to plan your rate lock timing to a dip and therefore make this crazy market work to your advantage. an untimley lock could cost you thousands, so steer clear of loan officers that haven't developed a plan for the timing of your rate lock or that want you to lock as soon as you can without anything other than a minimal explanation.

Good Luck!

I have been doing mortgages for so long and have diligently worked on bringing the best mortgage experience possible, that I really do believe with every fiber of my being that, when somebody chooses to do business with another company....they will get inferior service. What adds to that are the people I have talked with after they have closed with another company and the people have come back to me after starting with somebody else.

I hope that doesn't sound arrogant, because I don't think I am. It's just that I really do care about people in general, which sounds hokey, I know....but it's true. I don't know why, but I feel badly when somebody I speak with, got screwed on their mortgage. I don't know how it sounds when I talk with potential new clients and hopefully people don't take it as I'm just trying to sell them something! I try to relay the conviction and the passion I have for trying to everything possible to make their home buying experience a great one.

So, if I come off like I'm trying hard to convince you, that you really have to watch these other companies. It's because I am, because I know the level of service I provide and for the most part I know the service other companies provide. No don't get me wrong, I'm not doing mortgages for charity and I am trying to get paid.....but I feel and treat everybody the same regardless of the amount of money I'm going to make. it's because everybody deserves the best possible service and advice when it comes to a purchase as large as buying a home is!

I just want to wrap it up with a tie in to what I think will be the topic of my next post....Why are people sceptical of almost everything, but when it comes to mortgage advertising they see an advertised rate or an estimate of fees and really treat it as that's what they will get? Even though there's half a screen of fine print on the TV screen for just a few seconds. I welcome feedback on what people think is in that fine print....Anyway, I don't want to rant