Peter Thompson is a long time resident of the Chicago area, and has been a mortgage loan officer specializing in helping first-time home buyers since 1992.

As a mortgage lender specializing in first time home buyer loans and Illinois mortgage loans, I know how important it is to save money on your mortgage. For most people, whether it is rent or a mortgage, housing is their biggest expense. If you are buying a new home, there are a lot of ways you can save big money on your home expenses.

Here are some tips for getting the best mortgage deal when buying your home:

Don’t buy more than you can afford. Put together a budget and make sure you feel comfortable with your new payment (keep in mind, much of your mortgage payment is tax deductable).

When negotiating the contract for the purchase of the home, ask the seller to pick up some or all of your closing costs. This is a common practice now, and this could save you thousands of dollars up-front.

Compare different lenders to see who offers the best deal. There can be a big difference in the cost of a mortgage from one lender to another. Let each lender you talk with know you are shopping and ask for their best deal.

Make sure you are comparing apples to apples. In mortgages it is too easy to get taken if you are focusing on only one thing. If you are just looking for the best rate, you may end up paying a lot more for closing costs. The lowest payment isn’t always the best deal, and it can be confusing if you have options with different Illinois Mortgage Rates and different closing costs. If the lenders you are talking with are quoting different rates, pick a rate and ask each lender how much it will cost to close at that rate.

Once you have narrowed the field down, ask if they will waive any additional fees. They may or may not, but it never hurts to ask.

Make sure you are getting the program that works best for you. Adjustable rate mortgages can save you a lot of money compared to a fixed rate, if you don’t plan on being in the home long term. This makes sense for a lot of first time home buyers. A 15 year mortgage costs a whole lot less than a 30 year over the life of the loan, if you can afford the higher payments. The key is that everyone’s situation is different, and you should get the mortgage that is right for your needs.

Get all the terms in writing and make sure that your rate will be locked in long enough to close the loan. The lender will give you a Good Faith Estimate of closing costs, and a lock-in agreement showing that they have committed to the terms you agreed to.

Research your lender. Even if someone offers the best deal, it won’t work for you if they aren’t able to close under the terms you agreed to. Do a Google search and ask your Realtor and attorney what they know of the lender.

Go with your gut. Whoever you work with, you are relying on them to help you take on the largest purchase of your life. Do you feel comfortable with them? Does their advice make sense? Do they return phone calls and are they responsive? If not, you may be heading into problems.

Saving money on your mortgage and home purchase goes a long way toward making your budget more manageable. A little planning ahead of time saves a lot down the road.

Which is worse bankruptcy or foreclosure?

In this financial crunch, when millions of people face foreclosure or declare bankruptcy, it is really important to know which is worse foreclosure or bankruptcy. Both bankruptcy and foreclosure will have negative affects on your credit score. So which you should opt for will depend upon your situation.

Foreclosure is considered as the worst financial situation that a man can face. Foreclosure will have huge negative affects on the credit report and after you face foreclosure, you may not even get approved for a loan in coming 7 to 10 years and your credit score will be dropped by 250 to 300 points. So we should always try to avoid foreclosure as much as we can.

Though bankruptcy will have huge negative affect on the credit report and it is not desirable to face bankruptcy, but bankruptcy is actually a relief for those people who are facing foreclosure. Bankruptcy is actually the last option to avoid the foreclosure and to save yourself from the harassment from the creditors. But the thing is that if you want to file bankruptcy then also you need to get approved to file bankruptcy to avoid fraud.

So even though both foreclosure and bankruptcy both have huge negative affects on the credit, people like to choose bankruptcy as it also gives some relieves too.  Search foreclosure listing properties in your city and state.

Advantage of Refinancing Mortgages

Refinancing means you are paying off your existing mortgage loan and getting a new mortgage loan with different rates and terms; generally better rates and terms than your existing mortgage loan. There are numerous advantages of refinancing a mortgage but it is better to check out whether those advantages can be applicable for you in your situation.

When you are refinancing you are getting all together a new rates and the new interest rate must be lower then your existing mortgage loan. So you can save a huge amount of money. With refinancing you can also change your mortgage terms also. Like you can increase or decrease the loan period according to your needs. If you decrease your loan period then you are paying lower amount as the interest for the loan and if you are decreasing the loan period then your monthly mortgage payment will be lower.

So with refinancing you can be able to fulfill your needs. If you have huge money in your hand at this point of time or expecting to be so then you can afford to decrease the loan period and you will naturally be paying lower amount as the interest; but if you are struggling to make your monthly payments then you can increase the loan period to make the amount of monthly mortgage payment lower.

There are many lenders and mortgage institute in the market but you should choose the lender wisely. Go for a bit of research about them and you may also have a talk with them before going for the refinancing and check out how much helpful they are actually and can they really be able to provide you the best rates and terms in the market.