| I have been doing mortgages for over 23 years. I don't claim to know everything, but I do try to keep up. A few years ago FNMA came up with their Expande Approval program for less than perfect loans. Depending on whether it is a Level I, II, or III, the rate is about .5% to about 1.5% higher than prevailing. On Levels II and III they offer a "Timely Payment Reward" program at an added cost (about .75 point). After two years of on time payments, the rate will revert to the lower level.
Considering that the going rate for a 30 year fixed mortgage is in the neighborhood of 6.625% (with 0 origination and 0 points), a starting rate of 6.1%, with the guarantee of going even lower, just sounds too good to be true. A prospective borrower whom I spoke with a couple of days ago said that he has a loan such as the one that you have described. He also mentioned that his loan has a Prepayment Penalty. In my experience, Prepayment Penalties are used by lenders to discourage borrowers from escaping a nast loan.
As Elmer Fudd has said so many times: "Be wewy wewy cawefull." |