Negotiation Skills for Business, Salary and Debt

Need A Mortgage... Negotiate

The life of money-making is one undertaken under compulsion and wealth is evidently not the good we are seeking; for it is merely useful for the sake of something else - Aristotle

For most, the cost of purchasing a home is the biggest financial decision of their lives and with the escalation of home prices over the past decade, shopping for a new home can be a bit traumatic when that perfect place is out of reach.

Although, you must be realistic in looking for homes that fall within your budget there are things you can do that will help stretch your dollar and get you into the house you've always dreamed of.

The process of buying a house really comes down to how much you can afford.

The first step in the mortgage process is getting pre-qualified. In essence, when a loan officer pre-qualifies you for a mortgage (purchase or refinance) they work backwards to figure the maximum mortgage amount you can afford or that you qualify for according to the lending guidelines.

Here is brief overview of how they do it. First of all, you need to understand that lenders only count income that can be documented. If you can't provide documentation of income then it can't be used.

Here are few examples: It's easy to determine income if you are an employee on a salary. If you get paid twice a month then your income is simply multiplied by 24 to determine your yearly income. If you are paid every two weeks then your income is multiplied by 26 to determine your yearly income.

If you are an hourly employee with little overtime then it's also fairly straightforward. However, it gets a little trickier if you work a bunch of overtime, receive commissions or bonuses because that portion of your income varies. What usually happens for borrowers that fit into this category is that the previous two years W2 forms are simply used and the past 2 or 3 months of actual income is used and then everything is averaged to determine monthly income.

For self-employed or 1099 borrowers income is pretty much determined by what your net income indicates from you tax return. This is usually shown on Schedule C at the bottom where it indicates "profit" and with most lenders they want a two-year track record.

However, more and more lenders, even lenders that focus on borrowers with less than stellar credit have become more creative in recent years and have programs that require less documentation. Some programs only require bank statements to verify income and there's even programs called "Stated" that simply use the industry average income for a particular profession, in a particular area of the country, without requiring any verification of income.

Other ways to stretch your dollar when it comes to getting a mortgage is to pay close attention to all the fees. All fees are listed on the Good Faith Estimate which is required to be shown and explained to all borrowers before a loan can be approved.

A key factor to remember in trying to secure any mortgage is that many of the fees, including the interest rate are negotiable. It's kind-of an industry secret, especially when it comes to interest rates, that interest rates are set in stone and out of the lenders hands but that simply is not the case.

The actual interest rate you receive is up to the loan officer, and it can vary by up to a full point, even more is some instances, for borrowers with bad credit. The reasons behind this are beyond the scope of this article but the bottom line is this? don't be afraid to question your interest rate, regardless of what you've been quoted, because there's a good change you can get it lowered by an eighth or quarter or perhaps even more.

Fees are another dirty little secret of the mortgage industry because most are negotiable. One of the biggest fees is the origination fee, which is normally 1% of the loan amount. This fee is simply all profit for the lender or broker and is totally negotiable. Don't be afraid to question this and get it down to a fixed dollar amount you can live with, especially for high loan amounts.

Other negotiable fees include: appraisal fees, processing fees, credit report fees, closing fees and lender fees. Lender fees are common for borrowers with bad credit and in some instances it's as high a $995. This is an actual fee that the lender is charging the broker but if you question it the broker can go to the lender and tell them that this deal is dead if they don't lower the fee and in many cases they will lower it significantly.

Remember, loan officers and lenders only make money if the loan goes through so it's in there best interest to do whatever it takes to make sure that happens. So? if you're prepared to walk from the deal because you feel the fees are too high or the interest rate is too high they will, in most instances, work with you. However, you must be realistic and if you expect virtually no closing costs and an unrealistically low 30 year fixed interest rate when you've got bad credit it's not going to happen.

In summary, shop around and after you get the best deal then go to work and negotiate, negotiate, and negotiate the fees and the rate. And by the way, you can do this with good credit or bad credit, whether you are buying your first home, your tenth home or simply refinancing your current mortgage. Follow these guidelines and you could save hundreds, even thousands in closing costs and perhaps secure a lower interest rate that will save you money each and every month.

Tip - For options in finding the best mortgage, new or refinance, check out the links below.

Visit http://www.eyeonsubprime.com or http://www.eyeonsubprime.com/links.html or http://www.eyeonsubprime.com/sitemap1.html for more information on loan and mortgage options.

MORE ARTICLES:

Negotiation Skill Training ? How to Hone Your Negotiation Skills
Everyday we come face to face with situations that test our ability to negotiate. Though you might not give it much thought, a lot of negotiation happens with people we meet and choices we make. Whether it?s over a meal with your hubby, at the supermarket with the saleslady or during a lunch meeting with your boss, we need to grasp the basics of a negotiation skill training to make the most of these everyday deals.

Negotiating Skills Will Get You Ahead
Negotiating skills can help you manage lots of different kinds of life situations, both at work and in your personal relationships. Here are a few examples of where these skills can help you build an even better life for yourself:1.

Negotiation Techniques - How to Win by Not Negotiating Against Yourself
Negotiation and Negotiating Skills are some of the most sought after sales training courses People seek out negotiation tips, negotiating strategies and scour the web for processes to win against the 'other' person in a negotiation

Real Estate Investing: Sales and Negotiation Skills are Critical
Do you want to build wealth through real estate? You need expertise in two critical areas: specific investment strategies and sales and negotiation skills. But if knowing how to identify good deals is what's really important about investing in real estate, why do investors need to worry about their sales and negotiation skills?"Knowing how to identify good deals is certainly a critical part of real estate investing, but it's not the only part," says Russ Whitney, internationally recognized real estate expert and bestselling author of Millionaire Real Estate Mentor (Dearborn Trade Publishing).

Negotiation Expert Marty Latz Authors New Monthly Negotiation Column for The Arizona Republic and Weekly Negotiation Blog
After ten years as a negotiation columnist for The Business Journal of Phoenix, Marty Latz, author of "Gain the Edge! Negotiating to Get What You Want," will be writing a new monthly negotiation column for the Arizona Republic. In addition, he also publishes the weekly negotiation blog at ExpertNegotiator.

Negotiating Skills: Ask For More Than You Expect To Get
It creates some negotiating room, and you might just get what you're asking for.Whether playing the role of buyer or seller in a sales transaction, asking for more than you expect to get is a classic opening position in negotiations.

Essentials of Negotiation - Be A Negotiation Specialist!
Some people make it look really easy - closing deals and winning great transactions without breaking sweat. But do you know that there are ways to become an expert on the essentials of negotiation and getting things done your way? The benefits of knowing the essentials of negotiation are endless!

Negotiating Tactics: Don't Let 'Good Guy – Bad Guy' Control the Sales Negotiation
Counter one of the classic negotiating gambits by addressing it directly.You've assembled a brilliant sales proposal for a new client and when you arrive to the meeting to hammer out the final details, you suddenly find yourself sitting across the table negotiating with two people.

Get What You Want - Negotiating Skills for the Timid!
OK, I know this title sounds self-serving and hard nosed, but the article isn't! Whether it's buying a car, asking for a pay rise, saying 'no' to a friend or renting an apartment - at some stage in our lives we all are going to need to know how to negotiate. Yet, so few of us know the basic skills before embarking on life changing purchases or decisions!This article is written for those TIMID folk who want to feel more confident in the basic skills of negotiating.

Credit Card Debt Negotiation: The Need to Negotiate
Credit Card Debt Negotiation: The Need to Negotiate Credit card debt negotiation is one of the various strategies incorporated in credit card payment programs Like credit card debt relief and credit card debt settlement, this term is used to denote our desire to be freed from debt

Salary Negotiation Tips ? How to Negotiate Your Way to a Higher Salary
?Who needs to know salary negotiation tips?? you might ask. Every deserving employee does! If there comes a point in your career when you feel deprived of the greater opportunities your job has to offer, then you need to know and apply effective salary negotiation tips to stay ahead. When you invest a lot of time, energy and skills into something, it is only fair that you are rewarded the full benefits of your labor.

Negotiating and Sales Skills Are Critical
When I first started getting active in creative real estate, my skill set at negotiating was very weak. I had done the telemarketing thing for American Express as a financial planner and had studied and learned a few techniques.

Assertion Skills For Women: Using DBT Skills For Better Health
**Please remember that no part of this article is intended to take the place of professional or medical advice This article provides limited information and does not attempt to diagnosis or treat any illnesses or disorder

Negotiation Newsletter Teaches the ABCs of Effectively Negotiating With Children of All Ages
Is it wrong to negotiate with your children? Not according to a feature article: "Negotiate Better Relationships with Your Children" in the February issue of Negotiation.