Like Emmary I too couldn't even imagine life without my three fur babies.
As a long time, dedicated and devoted dog mama, I am just so saddened to hear of stories of pets that have been abandoned because of foreclosure or furry family members that have to be given up because families can no longer afford to keep them.
Any agency and/or service that is specifically geared to helping these poor creatures is a desperately needed service. In an effort to promote the services of this wonderful organization, I would like to pass along this info to anyone who knows of any fur babies that are in need of a new home.
People are not the only ones losing their homes, lets do what we can to help the ones that can't help themselves.
Over the last week, on my intraweb email, there have been quite a few realtors looking to help their clients rehome pets. I can't imagine having to do that. My girl, Belle, is everything to me. Personally, I'd live in my car before giving her up.
That's my girl!
However, I've seen heart-breaking stories on why people have to give up their furry friends. Home foreclosed on, new rental place won't allow pets and no one in their circle can adopt or foster. What can you do to help out without having to utter those words: "I guess you'll have to take them to the shelter."
These days there are a ton of options and, thanks to the net, all it takes is a quick Google search to find help. Local animal lovers normally have a network set up for helping rehome animals either locally or attaching the animal to a transport to another town. There are also breed specific rescues that can help point you in the right direction if they can't take the pet themselves. Some rescuers will take on the role of a foster for a while until a person is set up in a place and are able to take the pet back. There is an organization called "Foreclosure Pets" that was created to help.
Take a moment, do a google search in your local area and create a reference list that you can keep handy in case you happen to run across this situation. It won't take that long to do and, in the end, you're helping someone deal with a very emotional and trying time.
Get real! Why would I want to have an agent act as a middleman when I can deal with the builder? I can get the house for less because there will be no commission to pay. Why should I lose thousands of dollars just to have you walk in with me? If you are a home buyer how often have you thought this? If you're a Realtor how often have you heard this?
Some home builders are including in their contracts a 1% fee to be paid to them every time the house is sold for up to 99 years. The money is nothing more than profit for the builder and is not used for up keep or any type of property improvements. Lenders are getting keen to this and reviewing contracts very carefully looking for this clause.
Junk fees on a home loan. What a misused term. So many fees are mistakenly classified as home loan junk fees including fees that are bona fide. Mortgage loan fees nationwide amount to roughly 110 billion annually. You may wonder why that figure is so high to do a home loan. 
In the first four parts of this series, I provided some background info on what happens with most mortgages after the close of escrow as well as some of the different types of lenders available to consumers and the advantages and disadvantages of those types of lenders. 
I hope you have enjoyed this series, I know I have. In doing this series, I hope I have shed some light on the lending industry as well as provided some valuable information on how to choose the lender and MLO that is right for you and your particular mortgage needs. 
It's these types of buyers that need to be particularly selective about the lender and MLO that they choose to work with. There are going to be some lenders and MLO's that will not be the best choice for them but they may not realize that until it's too late. 
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While there are advantages and disadvantages of using any type of lender, working with lenders that focus on nothing but mortgage loans can be much more beneficial to you as both a homebuyer and/or homeowner. The two most common types of these organizations are mortgage bankers and mortgage brokers. 
The mortgage loan originators (MLO) that work for mortgage bankers and mortgage brokers 
The MLO's that work for depository lenders are 
You've decided to take the leap into the current real estate market and make the move to buy a home. For many of you, it will be your first home and for others it may be a larger home (after selling your current home). For some, it may even be a second home where you and your family plan to spend vacations. 
So who do you talk to? For some, you may talk to the mortgage professional who did your last mortgage and if you were happy with the service that you received from that person and you've stayed in touch with each other over the years, that is most certainly a good place to start. 
The three major GSE's in today's secondary market are Federal National Mortgage Association (aka Fannie Mae), Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (aka Freddie Mac) and Government National Mortgage Association (aka Ginnie Mae). 
With the exception of Ginnie Mae, GSE's purchase mortgage loans from lenders so that the lenders have additional funds to lend more money to new borrowers. At this point, I want you to remember one thing about this stage of the process: "if a lender can't sell it, they won't fund it - period". Once again, with the exception of some portfolio lenders.
I know this all sounds confusing, especially since you just wanted to know how to choose a lender. While this can be confusing to most buyers looking for a lender, it is info that is good to know in order to understand what's important when choosing a lender. While it may seem like where your loan ends up at is really important and for some it may be, the more important thing to consider is how the lender and MLO you choose is going to benefit you in buying a home?