AskChristee Modules FAQs

The simple answer is no. For many people running the reports is educational. However, we offer an extensive educational library of videos and articles. Our goal is to supply the homebuyer with information for making smart home buying decisions.

Please view the video ‘Homebuying Basics’ for a better understanding of homebuying concepts.

AskChristee provides comprehensive information which allows you to make informed real estate finance decisions. In each step of the homebuying process AskChristee will provide critical information. 

Other online ‘financial’ or ‘affordability’ calculators are really for entertainment purposes or a precursor to entice a user to make a loan application. AskChristee’s algorithms provide unique analysis, for making intelligent decisions, otherwise not available to the homebuyer.

Modules beginning with the word ‘Quick’ do not require input of income and the target payment is based upon input of desired monthly payment.

In modules such as ‘Buyer PreQual’ or ‘Buyer Choice’ the ‘target payment’ is AskChristee’s estimate of an affordable payment based upon credit score, income, debts, and loan type. In these modules, the target payment may be changed by the user (under optional inputs) to a payment more affordable to them.

AskChristee analysis is based upon the ‘target payment’.

You may wish to discuss the target payment with a lender and then rerun AskChristee calculations.

Financing terms and costs are extremely important in a real estate transaction. AskChristee approved agents will assist you in evaluating financing options with your lender. They will also review lender fees, closing cost and other financial aspects of the home purchase. In short, you will receive additional professional services and avoid paying unnecessary fees by working with a AskChristee approved agent.

‘Buyer PreQual’ provides critical information to assist you in selecting the proper price home to purchase with an affordable monthly payment. AskChristee will also provide total cash required including closing cost and options to reduce required cash.

‘Buyer Choice’ will provide analysis of the available options to purchase a specific property. The analysis is based upon an affordable payment, loan type and available cash.

The selected area influences things such as loan specific information, property tax rates, insurance rates, and closing costs. If you change locations, then you will have different results.

The credit score influences many things such as target payment, mortgage insurance cost, and suitable loan type.

Christee offers two modules that do not require a credit score – Quick PreQual and Quick Buyer Choice

For ‘Buyer PreQual’, it means the maximum price home you could purchase based on the target payment and the minimum cash required for down payment and closing cost. The projected price home will be adjusted if user enters available cash.

For ‘Buyer Choice’, it means the minimum amount of cash required for the user to purchase the specific property based upon purchase price, target payment, or other inputs such as maximum payment or LTV or loan amount.

“Purchase a home while spending the least amount of cash is important for most folks”

An affordable price home is based upon the ‘target payment’ and available cash for closing cost and down payment. AskChristee modules will display ‘minimum cash results’ which is the maximum price home and loan amount based upon the target payment. The amount of cash entered will either increase or decrease the projected sales price.

Please watch video ‘Best Utilization of Cash’.

No. AskChristee provides vital information for you to discuss with your loan officer. After reviewing the AskChristee report, the loan officer may suggest a slightly different target payment. Thereafter, based upon the ‘target payment’, AskChristee will provide superior analysis for proper price home and available options for best utilization of cash. AskChristee provides information for making smarter decisions.

This input provides the user the option to enter their desired monthly payment which will be used as the ‘target payment’ for calculations.

The default setting is ‘Yes’. An input of ‘No’ allows user to enter a higher Target Payment than suggested by AskChristee. In certain modules such as Vacation or Investment this input also allows for a lower down payment than normally required for non-owner occupied purchases. .

This optional input allows the user to control the loan-to-value ratio (LTV). For example, if you enter “10” into this field, the results will be based upon a 90% loan-to-value or 10% down payment. However, you cannot enter a value which is lower than minimum down payment requirements for selected loan type(s). In other words, an entry of ‘2’ would be ignored for conventional and FHA loans while the same entry would produce requested results for VA and USDA loans.  Don’t worry AskChristee will sort it out, should you make a crazy entry.

This input is only applicable to VA loans. If the veteran is ‘Exempt’ then the VA funding fee will not be included in the results.

The Funding Fee rate increases on your 2^nd VA loan.

A lender may offer a program where there is no monthly mortgage insurance (PMI) on a conventional loan with less than a 20% down payment. Generally, this will require a higher interest rate. You may view the merits of such a program by turning PMI calculations OFF.

AskChristee maintains the data for maximum FHA loan amount for anywhere in the US.

Yes. AskChristee will post an alert when the loan amount exceeds conforming conventional or VA loan amounts for the selected area.

Yes. AskChristee estimate of closing cost include estimated prepaids and escrow amounts.

Some lenders or mortgage companies may charge processing fees, underwriting fees or admin fees. These fees will vary from lender to lender. You may enter these fees into AskChristee for a more accurate estimate of closing cost.

A loan origination fee is an example of prepaid interest. The borrower agrees to pay an origination fee in exchange for a lower interest rate. An origination fee will increase the closing cost.

Great question. It is possible that the agent refers a buyer to a specific lender or mortgage company based upon their great rates or service. Quite often, the referral is based upon a personal or financial relationship. The financial relationship could be as a result of the real estate firm having a financial interest (ownership) in the mortgage company. The financial relationship could also be a “marketing agreement” where the lender pays for joint advertising for loan officer and agent. 

The law exempts those who only perform real estate brokerage activities (sales) unless compensated by a lender, mortgage broker, or other loan originator (or their agent). Unless brokers/agents engage in the business of a loan originator, they will not have to be licensed as loan originators. Therefore, unless the agent is being compensated by the ‘Lender’ then they do not require a loan originator license. Furthermore, the agent is not prohibited from discussing real estate finances with a homebuyer.