Playing the Interest Rate Chicken Game with your Term

5 Year vs. 10 Year Mortgages – Does it Matter? 

The best and worst thing about becoming a mortgage broker is the training. On one side, getting your license involves doing a lot of math with specialized calculators and an understanding of legalities and other professions surrounding purchasing real estate. The advent of the Internet has made the former redundant and while it's nice to know how a real estate appraiser uses comparable sales to determine a home's net worth, it isn't up to me to actually do the appraisal.

Your friendly mortgage broker learns a lot through osmosis and trial and error and trying again. Most of my education has come after I received my license. Understanding credit reports and lender's various positions regarding credit scores, 'high-risk' locations for lenders, purchasing your parents' house, sweat equity as a down payment, all matters not covered in the How-To-Brokerage textbook. 

You will Discover This Free New Post is Guaranteed to Make You think 'Mortgage Broker'

There's a lot of things to consider if you are thinking of jumping careers into a completely new field in a futile bid to ward off the specter of our imminent demise which will (unless 'science' gets in the way) claim us all in the next 100 years.

Because apparently, NASA becomes sponsored by the wine industry

I decided to juggle the mind field of mortgage brokering after some recommendations from family. This is on top of my job as a care aide, father, husband, volunteer firefighter and part-time writer for a popular webzine (if you live in the United Kingdom and still have an opinion of Christopher Nolan's Batman). I sometimes get them confused as on top of all these responsibilities, I also need to sleep.

The other day, slightly distracted by thoughts on my various career paths, I came across a minor accident; a few vehicles were pulled over to the side of the road and a few people were attending a middle-aged man with no visible signs of injury. He wore motorbike leathers and seeing as how there was no motorbike visible, only a slight skid mark that went over the side of the road into the bushes, it was pretty self-explanatory.

As all first responders, professional or volunteer should do, I identified myself to offer my trained assistance;
"Hi, I'm a mortgage broker, do you need any help?"

It took me a brief moment for my ears to catch up to my words as the 1/2 dozen assorted strangers looked at me. Too late, I corrected myself;
"I mean, I'm with the fire hall."

But by then it was too late, I lost their business.

"Are you looking for a variable or fixed rate?"