It’s wild how much it can swing depending on who’s handling your file. I had a similar thing happen when I applied for a HELOC—one person flagged my s...

Totally agree, questioning those fees can make a difference. When I bought my place in Oak Cliff, I noticed a “processing fee” that seemed weirdly hig...

Honestly, it does feel like overkill at times, but you’re not alone. I had to go back and explain a bunch of random deposits, too—one was literally a ...

That’s exactly what tripped me up the first time. I got so focused on getting a lower interest rate that I barely noticed the lender’s “processing fee...

That hits home. I had a neighbor who got a letter about his fence color after years of no one caring—just because a new board member decided to “enfor...

Funny thing is, I used to think the same until I actually ran the numbers on my last ARM. The lower intro rate saved me a chunk up front, and I was ab...

Man, you’re not kidding. My escrow went up twice last year—felt like a surprise bill every time. I swear, the mortgage payment is just the tip of the ...

That's a solid point about the extra payments. When I first bought my place, I was pretty fixated on refinancing too, thinking it was the only real wa...

Yeah, totally get that. I used to think escrow was just banks holding onto my money unnecessarily, but after nearly missing a payment myself during a ...

Totally get the psychological angle, but for me, avalanche worked better. I'm a numbers guy, so seeing how much I'd save in interest was motivating en...

Yeah, appliance replacement reserves caught me off guard too. Had a lender ask for reserves specifically for kitchen appliances because the inspector ...