Have you tried Citibank/CitiMortgage? DS (only 22) purchased a bank owned Chicago condo and he was able to get paperwork, etc done in 2 short weeks. He borrowed 1/3. They couldn't have been better.

Hi Penny, Is it really better to always invest or save rather than pay down? Nothing is ever "ALWAYS" anything, of course. Paying your cash into your real estate equity rather than into safer, more accessible accounts, or accounts with principal protection guarantees, is primarily an emotional benefit for those who choose to do so. For these folks the emotional "feeling" is more important than the actual financial security... and that is FINE when the choice is made with eyes wide open to the risks of only getting halfway there and being trapped with remaining payments and no income or savings. What if you are older and almost living paycheck to paycheck and so can save/invest little...wouldn't it be best to reduce the debt? If you are older and living paycheck to paycheck then SAFETY RESERVES are exponentially more important than reducing your debt prematurely. CASH IS SAFETY... when you are swimming in excess cash, THEN you can safely eliminate the longterm debt. I'm a relatively recent lurker here, but would like clarity, as this is an area of great worry for me, a middle-aged, single first-time homebuyer. Since my 30 year fixed mortgage on my inexpensive home will have me making payments until my late 70's,I have felt compelled to pay what extra I could on the principal over the last 5 years, only reducing my loan about 2 years worth or so, so far. All of that hwile still living paycheck to paycheck? (Or was that a hypothetical of somebody else?) Far better to build up your safety reserves as fast as you can. A surprise stoppage of income for an extended period of time can never be "saved" by partially reduced debt... but accumualted cash CAN save your hide. Unfortunately, I recently stopped extra principal payments reasoning that I need to focus more on paying down my hefty student loans. I am nervous about having all this debt! Accumulate cash first, at least until you have enough safely saved to pay all of your total living costs for at least 12 months if you found yourself unemployed and without supplemental income sources. Once you have that safety net underneath you, THEN if you emotionally must, you can begin chipping down the debt balances. If you ultimately die in debt but never without the ability to pay... that is better than trying to live without cash but only partially debt-free. At any rate, I know that I will be forced to work until my mortgage is paid off...Given the circumstances, wouldn't it make sense to want to pay it off? Sigh, wondering if I'm doing it all wrong...Penny. It only "makes sense" emotionally, not financially. Go for safety and security FIRST, and you can go for the emotional good feelings later, when you can safely afford them. Good luck, and welcome to the boards! Dave Donhoff Strategic Equity & Leverage Planner

A wonderful idea that alleviates a lot of frustation!!!! Small tip, but Oh So Useful! My DH got me a regular shaving blade (the kind used in barber shops) which is extremely sharp but still pulled and wrinkled. I even tried buying a pack of those individually wraped razor blades. Many thanks for the SMALL, but BIG tip!

mfbenson, I'm with you and I've worked in banking and investments for 30 years. You and aphilla are right in that ALL lenders (banks, S&Ls, mortgage companies - all lenders) borrow so that they can make more loans. That's the basic nature of the financial services industry. Even BAC and WF have been known to borrow from their bank parent. Deposits that are held in national banks are FDIC insured up to $100,000. Money market funds at Fidelity, Vanguard or any other private sector money market fund are not FDIC insured nor are they insured by any other federal agency. Chances are high that most of our mortgages were already sold or committed to be sold/securitized by the time we sat at our closings. If a lender goes belly up, nothing has changed in our obligation to repay the mortgage. We make a monthly payment until our obligation is satisfied. Yes, we may be instructed to send our payment to another PO box or bank account, but that's a small operational detail in the big picture. And, yes, a loan could be called but I'd wager my entire net worth that that won't happen to the average residential mortgage.