There are numerous differences. The most obvious is that as a mortgage broker, we have dozens of lenders throughout the country at our disposal. Upon taking your loan application, we determine the best lender in which to submit your loan. For example, some specialize in construction lending; some handle foreign investors better than others, and some lenders do No Income Qualifying loans extremely well.

Additionally, odds are that Butler Mortgage will be able to obtain a lower interest rate for you than banks. We have wholesale lending relationships with our lenders, which mean we can offer low rates to our borrowers. Our closing costs are low too, and we won´t surprise you at closing with unexpected charges. Many of our competitors "lowball" their Good Faith Estimate of Closing Costs in order to attract customers, but where is the loan officer when you're sitting at the closing table looking at an additional $2,000 in costs. Our loan officers attend ALL closings!

Our flexibility in being able to serve you, our customer, is probably the most important difference. Our loan officers have been known to go to the customer's home, the local Denny's, or even the airport to take a loan application when the need arises.

First of all, we do not get paid a penny unless your loan closes. We do not have a nonrefundable application fee to offset costs if the loan doesn't make it. Therefore, you can bet that we will do everything we can to get you your mortgage loan.

How we get paid is very simple. There are only two ways a mortgage company like ours can get paid. It is either directly from you in the way of origination points, which is clearly disclosed on your Good Faith Estimate, or by way of premium pricing. Premium pricing, or "yield spread" is an often-misunderstood mortgage industry term that just means we get paid by the lender, not the borrower.

The way this works is that if a customer came to us with limited resources and requested a low level of closing costs, then we would offer a slightly higher rate, and waive origination points. This way, everyone wins! We get compensated for our work, the lender gets a loan that is paying a higher interest rate than prevailing market rates, and you get into a home for little money and only pay a few dollars per month more due to that slightly higher rate.

Due to our strong relationship with many lenders, we are able to OBTAIN extremely competitive interest rates. Notice that "obtain" is bolded. The reason for this is to differentiate that word from the practice of "quoting" rates. Anyone can "quote" a 5.00% Fixed Rate, but do you think that will be the rate "obtained" by the lender.

Butler Mortgage doesn't play games. We never play "bait and switch" which sometimes hurts us. In other words, some customers veer toward the lenders that tell them what they want to hear. We may lose business by being honest, but we'd rather shut our office doors for good than mislead a customer!

The length of time it takes is usually determined by how motivated the borrower is. In other words, there is certain documentation that is required to process a mortgage loan such as pay stubs, W2's, bank statements, etc. In some instances, our borrowers have these items at their disposal and give them to us quickly. In these cases, we have been known to go from origination to closing in less than a week. Other customers take a few weeks, give us the requested information, and then ask us why it is taking so long. On average, however, you can expect a 3 week time frame for your mortgage loan.

Butler Mortgage is licensed to do business anywhere in the state of Florida. If the home you're looking to refinance or the one you want to buy is in Florida, we can help you.

Credit reporting is needed because it provides the information that helps consumers make purchases, secure loans, pay for college educations, and manage their personal finances. Credit reporting makes it possible for stores to accept your checks, banks to offer credit and debit cards, businesses to market products, and corporations to better manage their operations to benefit the world's economy.

An "inquiry" is a listing of the name of a credit grantor, or authorized user who has accessed your credit file. Each inquiry is posted to the credit file so you know who has obtained a copy of it. Credit grantors post an inquiry before offering you a pre-approval credit card application. These are listed as "promotional" inquiries on your credit file because only your name and address were accessed, not your credit history information. They are NOT sent to credit grantors or businesses for reasons of credit reporting. They are listed for your informational purposes only.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is the federal law regulating credit-reporting companies like Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union. It has been in effect since 1971. A revised FCRA became effective October 1, 1997. This law protects consumers' rights, such as the right to review and contest information in their credit profiles. It also specifically defines who can access the information in a credit profile, and how you are notified of this activity. You may obtain a copy the FCRA from the Federal Trade Commission.

A divorce decree does not supersede the original contract with the creditor, and does not release you from legal responsibility on any accounts. You must contact each creditor individually and seek their legal binding release of your obligation. Only after that release can your credit history be updated accordingly.

It's your choice. However, beware of companies that promise to remove accurate information from your credit file. Accurate information cannot be removed from a credit file. There is nothing they can do for you that you cannot do for yourself by contacting the credit reporting agencies directly. Only time will heal a delinquent credit history.

For those items in your credit profile that you feel deserve further explanation (such as an account that was paid late due to the loss of job, military call-up, or unexpected medical bills), you may send a brief statement to the appropriate credit-reporting agency. The information will be placed on your credit profile and will be disclosed each time your credit profile is accessed.

Absolutely! The mortgage brokerage industry was originally started with that type of customer in mind. While we now cater to all types of borrowers, we still know how to get the difficult loans closed.

Yes. We can tell you what the underwriters like to see. We'll set you on course to get that dream home.