A COMFORTABLE MORTGAGE

During the real estate boom, many homebuyers were surprised at the amount of money a bank was willing to lend – and many who took the full amount now face foreclosure. As banks struggle to reinvent lending, Bank of America has debuted www.BankOfAmerica.com/HomeLoans. The Web site not only includes a calculator to determine the maximum amount of money a buyer qualifies for, it also includes calculators to help buyers determine how much debt they can comfortably take on. Bank of America says it designed the site to be easily understood and to help consumers face a variety of contingencies, including the maximum payment that an ARM could potentially cost. The new site includes BofA products, such as the Flat Fee Mortgage Plus, which has no application fee and a single closing fee; it doesn’t always include some standard costs of homeownership, such as property taxes, homeowners’ insurance or prepaid interest.

Source: The New York Times, Bob Tedeschi (05/08/2009)
© Copyright 2009 INFORMATION, INC. Bethesda, MD (301) 215-4688

Questions, comments or suggestions on this article? Have a news tip? Send a letter to the editor to: Newseditor@floridarealtors.org.