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Hi:
Regarding realtors - pick up a Sunday paper and visit some open houses in the area you are interested in. This will give you a chance to see what is on the market and also meet some realtors who you might like to work with.
realtor you choose.
This isn't normally the best way to find a true Real Estate Professional though. The best way to find someone good is through the referral of someone in the area and then do a little research on that agent to see how many listings they have and how many homes they've sold.
Open houses was the way to sell homes in the 80's when you couldn't get a good look at the inside from the small ad in the paper. Most very busy and succesful agents have a fellow agent from the office sit their open houses in hopes of them getting a new client to work with. A referral from a Realtor you know and trust outside the area is also a good resource as well for a good referral to a local professional.
I would just make sure the Realtor you end up working with is a full time agent.
Best of luck to you in your home search! It's can be brutal, it will test your patience...but stick with it, take your time and don't forget to HAVE FUN! You are buying your first house ya know!
The realtor is always going to recommend a broker that he or she has a deal with and gets a kickback. If this were 2004 and the guidelines were restrictive for banks, but not brokers, then you should go to a broker if you had some kind of funky loan. But, these days, there is nothing that a broker can do that a bank can't, except charge you a ton of fees and lie to your face and tell you that those fees are necessary.
The realtor is always going to recommend a broker that he or she has a deal with and gets a kickback. If this were 2004 and the guidelines were restrictive for banks, but not brokers, then you should go to a broker if you had some kind of funky loan. But, these days, there is nothing that a broker can do that a bank can't, except charge you a ton of fees and lie to your face and tell you that those fees are necessary.
It's illegal for a Realtor to get a "kickback" from a mortgage professional. We generally have business relationships and refer mortgage professionals that can get the job done, keep our clients happy and not overcharge them.
I can definitely recommend a really really great lawyer - Enrico Luciano. He operates out of Clifton and has been amazing about staying in touch, looking out for us, making sure that we're informed and in the loop at all times. 973-916-0099. Tell them Mike sent you.
As for who to get the loan from, don't go through PNC. Our loan officer was initially great at the start, and said we should be able to close by 12/31. Pretty much for the entire month of December, he was really slow to return our calls and e-mails. Whether through his fault or the fault of the actual underwriters and mortgage processors, we missed our closing date and now we can't get things in order over the vacations that my wife and I had. We're going to have to take personal days to get things going now.
i don't know any banks that are doing a very good job at closing on time. it all depends. i had a close call with BofA, and i just refinanced with Fifth Third and also was a pain. Closings don't get processed very quickly. A friend just had a smooth experience with PNC. So who knows? loan officer originates the loan. the banks have a back office group that processes all the documents you have to send. if they are backlogged, it takes you longer. then, to extend a rate lock, you have to pay the bank to extend it because THEY didn't get you closed on time! what a scam. lol
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