February 12, 2004
UW employees can get mortgage help on campus
Now is a great time to be a home buyer or to refinance your current home. Interest rates are at or near historic lows, which means that many lenders and brokers are competing for business.
But home buyers still need to be careful, says Dianne Wasson, Affinity lending manager at Home Street Bank. “Companies will advertise low rates and closing costs, but some deals that appear to be too good to be true, actually are. Chances are that the lender is adding additional fees somewhere, in places that may not be clear to the consumer.”
For example, if a loan has extremely low closing costs, the lender may be raising the interest rate to cover this.
“One way to check this is to receive good faith estimates from several lenders before locking in your interest rate,” Wasson says. “You need to be sure to get all the estimates on same day, because interest rates change daily.”
UW faculty and staff have access to the “Hometown Home Loan Program, which offers reduced closing costs, low down payment programs, down payment assistance and free home ownership education. A typical home buyer, or someone refinancing, can save $1,000 or more on out-of-pocket expenses using the program.
These special services are only available through HomeStreet Bank’s Affinity Lending Center, where noncommissioned loan officers can help review good faith estimates and give buyers advice on the best available deals. Affinity loan officers do not raise your interest rate or charge additional fees to provide UW employees closing cost savings. More than 1,700 UW employees have used the program to buy or refinance a home since 1998.
HomeStreet Bank offers brown bag seminars the first Wednesday of each month on the Seattle campus. Topics include fixing your credit, budgeting and saving for a down payment, and remodeling your current home.
In addition, any University employee can schedule a pre-qualification appointment, where Affinity loan officers will provide advice on purchasing or refinancing a home. These half-hour appointments normally are scheduled on the Seattle campus the second Monday of each month; Affinity loan officers also visit UW Bothell, UW Medical Center and Harborview campuses once a quarter.
For details on this schedule, check the UW Events Calendar or HomeStreet’s Web site, http://www.homestreet.com/UW.
