Living Well 60+ September-October 2014

How to Choose a
Mortgage
Reaching out to right
lender is important
by Jamie Lober, Staff Writer
Choosing a mortgage is no
simple task.
“Having a mortgage is an
emotional process,” said Lashonda
Moore, mortgage loan officer at
PNC East Main Street in Lexington.
“Reaching out to the right
lender is the key.”
Some people find the process
easier than others. “It depends on
what the customer’s needs are,
how complex the property [they
want to buy] is and what type of
loan you are doing,” said Moore.
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Prequalification is the best way
to start. “Getting a pre-qualification
is always the first step into
purchasing a home,” Moore said.
“It lets you know exactly how
much money you qualified for.”
There are several different types
of loans. “You have rural housing
loans, conventional mortgages,
FHA mortgages, VA loans,”
Moore said. “They are personalized
for the customer’s needs.”
The duration of the mortgageprocuring
process varies with
every scenario and every person.
“The majority of the time it takes
30 days to close a mortgage,”
Moore said. “If you are looking at
government loans and rural housing
loans, it can be up to 60 days
to close. The VA loans can possibly
be around 45 days to close.”
If you have the correct information
at hand when you begin, you
can make things go smoothly.
“You want to make sure you are
prepared as far as the documentation
you might need,” said Moore.
“You always want have your last
two years of tax returns, your last
two years of W2s, 30 days’ worth
of pay stubs and two months of
bank statements.” Most people
want to know up front how much
house they can afford to buy.
With this documentation, a credit
report and an examination of
liabilities and debt, a qualified
mortgage banker can determine
that information.
Everyone is their own best
judge of when they are ready to
purchase a home. “As a mortgage
lender, you never want to put
3 1
someone in the position where
they cannot afford to make a
house payment, so you have to
sit down and have a conversation
with them,” said Moore. “Knowing
how to save and what to do to
be qualified for a house is important,
and sitting down with a
mortgage banker will help you get
on the right track. Find someone
that you work well with.”
A competent mortgage lender
will usually talk about expenses,
including the amount of the down
payment you will need. “A down
payment of 5 percent conventional
usually is the route that most
people will go,” said Moore. The
best strategy is to start saving as
soon as possible.
The benefits of homeownership
are enormous. There are no disadvantages.
“You are building equity
in a home, and having a house is
the American dream,” said Moore.
CMS continued from Page 17
drugs are nearly always covered under the Medicare hospice benefit.
On behalf of the hospice providers across Kentucky and the patients they
serve, KAHPC would like to sincerely thank the Kentucky Members of
Congress who co-signed the letters to Administrator Tavenner. Because of
your support, hospice patients can now rest a little easier.
DOWNSIZE continued from P. 21
locked during the sale. If it is an estate sale and items you wish to
keep have been removed, then holding the sale in house would be an
exception.
• Price every item. If you do not know prices, ask a professional.
• Keep your cell phone handy in case of trouble.
• Check with the city or your homeowners’ association to see if a
license is needed and for signage regulations.
• If you are undecided about selling a particular item, don’t. Once an
item is gone, it can never be recovered. So go slow – no quick decisions
here. Decide well before the sale what you will need to keep or
want to sell. Put a tag on keepers. It is easy to forget which items you
decided to keep, give away or sell.
HEADACHE continued from P. 22
your headaches. “The main focus is to reduce the intensity, the strength or
the duration of the headache such that it does not affect the patient,” said
Kapoor. “If you do not respond to medications or the headaches come on
suddenly and are associated with changes in vision or you are not feeling
well, you should get a prompt evaluation.”
The best thing you can do is take good care of yourself. “Consider a
good, healthy lifestyle [and] dietary factors,” said Kapoor. “Exercise generally
does tend to help people.”
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