Michigan Real Estate Purchase: Choosing a Loan Officer
Proceed with Caution: The weirdest part of talking to people about their loan experiences is that people usually are more particular about their Realtor than their Loan Officer. In reality, your Loan Officer is responsible for ten times more than your Realtor, especially in a foreclosure transaction.
They will be digging through every aspect of your life; they are exposed to some of your most sensitive information. They are responsible for organizing the entire transaction from open until close. Most importantly, this is the person that represents you, and your application to the powers that be, so you need to believe in them to portray your strengths and represent you well.
This is also a good time to realize that cheaper rarely means better. A good bit of advice I would give anyone…choose wisely, make sure your Loan Officer is making as much as your Realtor, and demand excellence.
Interview with a Vampire. No, it’s not that bad. Actually the vast majority of bad loan officers and bad lenders are out of business or are being sued, but you need to do a thorough interview with anyone you may hire to represent you. Always ask the following questions.
How long have you been in business?
How many loans do you close each month?
Have you done a foreclosure purchase before? How many?
What type of loan is your specialty? This should be one or two, not many.
Where do you get your clients from? Someone that gets referrals from Realtors and other professionals, may be better than someone that just answers the phone at a bank…just and opinion.
How do you get paid? How much will you get paid? Someone that dances around this…whew you’d be hard pressed to convince me to use them for anything.
What do I need to pay at closing time?
If what I need to bring to closing changes, who will be responsible for paying it? Why?
When will you lock my rate, how often will you update me? *This is important because a foreclosure purchase will usually take close to or more than 30 days to close and fund. It is generally impractical to lock a rate for more than 30 days, and any good loan officer will update you when rates change and give you the option to chose when to lock while advising you based on market trends.
Are you available to me outside of banking hours? Most of you are working people, and the banking system is setup during to function 9-5. It is important to have contact info and know that your loan officer is available to answer your questions at any time, otherwise you will end up a very frustrated individual. It is best to test this theory right out of the gate by calling after hours and expect your loan officer to either answer the phone or call you back within an hour or two.
The final word is to keep a positive attitude, recognize that most likely the effort is worth the reward, demand excellence from those you pay and pay those you demand excellence from.
They will be digging through every aspect of your life; they are exposed to some of your most sensitive information. They are responsible for organizing the entire transaction from open until close. Most importantly, this is the person that represents you, and your application to the powers that be, so you need to believe in them to portray your strengths and represent you well.
This is also a good time to realize that cheaper rarely means better. A good bit of advice I would give anyone…choose wisely, make sure your Loan Officer is making as much as your Realtor, and demand excellence.
Interview with a Vampire. No, it’s not that bad. Actually the vast majority of bad loan officers and bad lenders are out of business or are being sued, but you need to do a thorough interview with anyone you may hire to represent you. Always ask the following questions.
How long have you been in business?
How many loans do you close each month?
Have you done a foreclosure purchase before? How many?
What type of loan is your specialty? This should be one or two, not many.
Where do you get your clients from? Someone that gets referrals from Realtors and other professionals, may be better than someone that just answers the phone at a bank…just and opinion.
How do you get paid? How much will you get paid? Someone that dances around this…whew you’d be hard pressed to convince me to use them for anything.
What do I need to pay at closing time?
If what I need to bring to closing changes, who will be responsible for paying it? Why?
When will you lock my rate, how often will you update me? *This is important because a foreclosure purchase will usually take close to or more than 30 days to close and fund. It is generally impractical to lock a rate for more than 30 days, and any good loan officer will update you when rates change and give you the option to chose when to lock while advising you based on market trends.
Are you available to me outside of banking hours? Most of you are working people, and the banking system is setup during to function 9-5. It is important to have contact info and know that your loan officer is available to answer your questions at any time, otherwise you will end up a very frustrated individual. It is best to test this theory right out of the gate by calling after hours and expect your loan officer to either answer the phone or call you back within an hour or two.
The final word is to keep a positive attitude, recognize that most likely the effort is worth the reward, demand excellence from those you pay and pay those you demand excellence from.
For more information, go to our website or call us today:
http://www.iconmortgagelending.com/ or 810-953-4266
http://www.iconmortgagelending.com/ or 810-953-4266
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