10 Tips on How to Know if Your Buyer is Working With the Right Lender

Your buyer says, "Let's make an offer on that property!"

You ask, "Have you been Pre-Qualified?"

Your buyer says, "Of course I have. My cousin's son, who just finished some courses at community college and landed a job at the local bank got me this pre-qualification certificate."

That should be a RED FLAG.

It's always been said, it's not the bank you go to, but the agent originating your file that's going to make a difference on how fast and smooth the loan gets done.

So what makes a good loan agent, mortgage consultant, or home loan originator?

1. Agent needs to answer the phone. A good agent will answer your phone call when you need them to. If they don't, leave a message and they should return your call that same day. If they don't call back, they're either swamped with leads or golfing.


2. Call potential leads immediately. A good agent understands 'Time is of the Essence'. They should call your buyer asap and get started on the pre-qualification procedure. After the pre-qualification is done, agent should fax and email a pre-qualification letter and CALL the realtor to make sure they received it. That letter is needed to submit the offer.


3. Have quick access to run credit. Personally I have my own account with my credit report agency. I ask for the borrower's permission to order the credit report and I order it at my expense. I do not need a manager's permission or tell my client I will need to go to the office to order it. I have the capability of ordering credit through my lap top or blackberry.


4. Take a complete 1003. A 1003 is a loan application. The more detailed information on the loan application, the quicker and smoother the process of the loan can be. This part is very important. There have been deals rejected because of lacking info or too much info. An experienced loan agent knows exactly what the underwriter is looking for, how to make the underwriter's job less stressful, and how to get an approval with minimum conditions.


5. Gathering necessary documentation. A good loan agent knows what is needed to get the deal done and it's not only pay stubs, W-2's, and bank statements. There is more to it, but each case has it's own individual needs.


6. Presenting a fair Good Faith Estimate. This is what makes a difference between the honest loan agent and the dishonest loan agent. It's very simple to make the buyer believe their fees are going to be low by saying escrow will be $100 and title will be $100, but what happens at closing when the buyer is presented with the actual fees? They get upset, uncomfortable, and the experience becomes negative. Personally I like to pad my GFE. My cost, interest rate, and monthly payments have mostly appeared less at time of signing docs. Therefore the buyer is signing freely and appears to be very satisfied with the transaction.


7. Returning call to Realtor with realistic numbers. After talking to buyer a loan agent should immediately call the Realtor and review ratios and price scenarios. The Realtor needs a good offer price to begin negotiations just in case the seller counters the offer and prices start to change. How high of a price can the buyer qualify for? Can they pay for their own closing cost just in case seller denies paying for closing cost?


8. Offer gets accepted and loan begins process. At this stage a good loan agent will have most of the process already started. Ordering appraisal, verifications, escrow, and title should be the only concerns left. A great support team is needing in the operations department. I have 3 processors pushing to get deals done FAST.


9. Updates. A great loan agent will have a system in place keeping track of all loans and updating Realtors on a weekly basis unless things happen faster, then it can be on a daily basis.


10. Offering their weekends at open houses. Helping a Realtor on the weekends can make a difference between opening escrow or multiple offers. Being at the open houses, well equipped and ready to approve a buyer can get a realtor one step closer to opening escrow.

Once a loan agent has proven to the Realtor that teaming up with him/her can make a positive outlook in their success, THE SKY IS THE LIMIT!

Your loan agent should be helping with your success.