Choosing the right lender before purchasing a home is as important and choosing the right home. The lender you pick can make or break your your deal on any home. Some items to take into consideration when picking your lender is:
*Referrals (ask around and get referrals from others that have purchased or refinanced a home recently)
*Interview a couple of lenders to find out what type of loan programs they offer (there are lots of loan programs out there that can save you lots of money at time of close and in interest rates for the entire loan period)
*Ask your real estate agent if they have heard of the lender - your agent has closed many deals, they know good lenders and bad lenders. They know who can get the deal done and who hasn't. If you agent hasn't heard of the company you are looking at that might be a sign that they are not well established or don't close a lot of deals which might be a sign you don't want to put your loan in their hands.
*Make sure your loan officer has experience in closing transactions and in closing the loan program you have chosen is best for you
*Lender fees also vary from lender to lender make sure you find out what their fees are, while the cheapest may not be the best the most expense might not be the best either
*Follow up is also an important criteria in your lender, you want to make sure they call you back in a timely manner if you have a question or you are able to get a hold of them quickly. If you find a home you love and need a new loan status report you want to make sure they can get that to you within a couple of hours!
Some things we have started seeing in the lending industry that are causing issues with deals are:
*Low appraisals not being disputed by the lender, if you know the home is worth more than the appraisal came in at you can dispute this but it has to come through the lender. We recently had an appraisal come in $17,000 below offer and rather than the loan officer disputing the appraisal as he was asked to do it put it on the bottom of his pile and ignores which almost cost the buyer the deal until they changed lenders
*Lenders are not doing their due diligence prior to giving out a loan status report. You want to make sure you lender has reviewed your credit report, tax records and pay stubs prior to telling you how much you qualify for. We recently had a buyer with a per-qualification come to us to put an offer on a home for below their qualification amount and then find out that they didn't qualify at all because of an items on their credit report. Had the lender reviewed the entire credit report rather than just look at the number they would have know that before even looking for a home and placing an offer. Think how disappointing it would be to find the home of your dreams and then be told you can't have it because your lender didn't do their due diligence.
There are just a couple of things we have seen happen in the last month. As you can see the lender is a very important part of your real estate transaction and you want to make sure you are an important part of their day as well while you are working with them.
*Referrals (ask around and get referrals from others that have purchased or refinanced a home recently)
*Interview a couple of lenders to find out what type of loan programs they offer (there are lots of loan programs out there that can save you lots of money at time of close and in interest rates for the entire loan period)
*Ask your real estate agent if they have heard of the lender - your agent has closed many deals, they know good lenders and bad lenders. They know who can get the deal done and who hasn't. If you agent hasn't heard of the company you are looking at that might be a sign that they are not well established or don't close a lot of deals which might be a sign you don't want to put your loan in their hands.
*Make sure your loan officer has experience in closing transactions and in closing the loan program you have chosen is best for you
*Lender fees also vary from lender to lender make sure you find out what their fees are, while the cheapest may not be the best the most expense might not be the best either
*Follow up is also an important criteria in your lender, you want to make sure they call you back in a timely manner if you have a question or you are able to get a hold of them quickly. If you find a home you love and need a new loan status report you want to make sure they can get that to you within a couple of hours!
Some things we have started seeing in the lending industry that are causing issues with deals are:
*Low appraisals not being disputed by the lender, if you know the home is worth more than the appraisal came in at you can dispute this but it has to come through the lender. We recently had an appraisal come in $17,000 below offer and rather than the loan officer disputing the appraisal as he was asked to do it put it on the bottom of his pile and ignores which almost cost the buyer the deal until they changed lenders
*Lenders are not doing their due diligence prior to giving out a loan status report. You want to make sure you lender has reviewed your credit report, tax records and pay stubs prior to telling you how much you qualify for. We recently had a buyer with a per-qualification come to us to put an offer on a home for below their qualification amount and then find out that they didn't qualify at all because of an items on their credit report. Had the lender reviewed the entire credit report rather than just look at the number they would have know that before even looking for a home and placing an offer. Think how disappointing it would be to find the home of your dreams and then be told you can't have it because your lender didn't do their due diligence.
There are just a couple of things we have seen happen in the last month. As you can see the lender is a very important part of your real estate transaction and you want to make sure you are an important part of their day as well while you are working with them.
No comments:
Post a Comment