Mortgage brokers, lender brokers.. advice (home loan, real estate, approved, credit)

[amylee134]

Hi all,

We are in the part looking for a good lender for our second home. Looking through many websites: local banks such as Wachovia, SunTrust, BoA, some online like GMAC, etc.. we realize that most of listed information are for First time buyers. Requirements or eligibilities for apply a second loan is no-where to find. Actually SmartMoney, one of the members here, had given us really good thoughts about what to prepare in order to apply for a second loan (Thank you SmartMoney). We didnt' have any experience with this step because we didn't do any search with our first mortgage, we just followed our credit union. That was sure an expensive non-experience.

To be short, should we hire a lender/mortgage broker to do the loan searching job since our situation is a little bit complicate (first mortgage underwater - zero down, have about 20K in saving and want to get a 90K property)? As SmartMoney stated here (http://www.city-data.com/forum/mortg...-question.html) we might not have enough money for reserving if 6 months are required on both properties (would be about $3.5K/month x 6 ~ 21.5K)

How much should we prepare for the hiring fee at the current moment?

Do you have any thought/experience with the Upfront Mortgage Broker (we found this term on a mortgage proffesion website)? We found one UMB company in DC/VA/MD area. It's said in their website that if we use their agent, we will receive some commission rebate. This rebate to me seems too good to be true (similar to the i-Agent website someone posted here). Of course we don't have any buyer agent at the moment so we think if this is true, we might give it a shot.

We think we should rather go with known lenders like banks than try to get a low rate with Amerisave or QuickenLoan? Which lenders do you prefer?

Thank you very much for your time and consideration.
Have a wonderful day.
Amy

[bornandraised atl]

...Couple thoughts...

As far as an upfront mortgage broker - I would venture to say that this would require some sort of application/consultation fee upfront with maybe a portion refunded to you at closing or used to offset some closing costs....Nothing wring with this business model, some brokers will use this model to make sure that the client is serious --- or this is used if they view themselves as a professional.....Nothing wrong with this business practice - just know that it is non-refundable.

...But before you write that check - ask around for reputable mortgage people - just because you work for a large Bank - does not automatically qualify you for the job - the same with a small company or broker - just because you don't work for a name brand does not mean you are less qualified...Start with Friends and family ask who they know that you should know for a mortgage.

Your scenario will be difficult based on what you have said - financing for second/vacation homes has been become more expensive as far as rates go, more difficult to qualify for, and fewer places/lenders for the programs to be offered.

Start with friends and family for a referral - if you do not want to ask them call a local real estate office and ask them for a name or two.

Do your homework, be prepared, tell them the full story and shop around.

Good Luck.

[SmartMoney]

I'm still not getting a warm and fuzzy. Rebates that are part of the transaction typically cannot be used as reserves. Reserves must be on deposit when the loan is approved, not to be received. Parties to the transaction can't provide the funds in advance, this would be an inducement to purchase.

Strongly recommend you quiz realtors in the area you are looking to buy for a loan officer recommendation and go meet with him or her. I would not pay any fees up front.

[amylee134]

Thank you both for your advices.

We don't feel like we want to put money upfront so that someone will find some options for us. Maybe all options given to us are too bias, just like bankrate usually picks some specific banks, that we don't like. And the broker will earn when we accept one of his options. But then again, if we were the loan brokers, we would want money upfront because .. maybe we don't want to work for free.

I had emailed SunTrust Mortgage and asked about how much the minimum requirement for the second home loan is. It seemed to me that that bank wants me to commit first since the answer was "Yes, there are minimum requirement for second home loan". Oh well.. shopping for a mortgage loan is definitely not the type of shopping that I like.

Have a wonderful weekend.