Tim Bradford   
Lending Specialist   
216-324-8113   
LO.007173.000   

Welcome to www.GFEforDummies.com

The purpose of this site is to assist Buyers shopping for the best mortgage understand the Benefits and Flaws that are part of the new Good Faith Estimate that is scheduled to take effect Jan 1, 2010.  The important thing for anyone to remember is that this document is intended to be prepared in GOOD FAITH and a borrower can easily compare different ESTIMATES for different companies easily.   On this site I am using the Sample GFE that was provided by HUD, the complete form is available here.   You may wish to use the GFE that you recieved from a Lender or download this one. 

One of the reasons for the revised GFE is the fact that Lenders charged a variety of fees using different names for the fees being charged. 

With the New GFE all of these fees are summarized and combined on to the "A" box on the GFE on Page 1 and Again on Page 2.

The presentation of "A - Your Adjusted Origination Charges" is a very good because it presents one TOTAL amount.  Because this amount has to be Guaranteed and must include all lender fees it can be an effective number that allows a borrower to comparison shop, provided all other loan terms are Identical.   When shopping for a loan, any variance in the "Summary of Your Loan" should be questioned and verified.  Pay particular attention to the "per month" Payment shown here, this payment is suppose to include Principle, Interest and Monthly Mortgage Insurance.   If you are comparing identical loans all the information presented here should be Identical. 

Click here to proceed to Page 2 of the GFE and an explanation and pitfalls with Item "B" on the GFE. 
This is where "GOOD FAITH" plays a very important part of the ESTIMATE