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Can go either way and work out well... My idea - ask your best local friends who have recently bought a house who they recommend and why... if they had a great realtor or a great lender, start there... interview a couple even, pick one, ask that person for a good referral for the other.
I think referrals from friends are the best way to find the people who really work hard for their clients.
Ok, you know I love you but I have to disagree with this. Getting referrals from realtors on mortgage brokers and other professionals does not always yield the best deal and that's what I am concerned about. I went with a local mortgage broker back when I was refinancing my house and it almost cost me an additional $6k because I didn't do my due diligence.
Go to bankrate.com and search. Search rates yourself. It's is the easiest thing on earth to do. You don't need a mortgage broker to hold your hand during this process. You are going to pay for that.
Right now, I find Bank of American to be very competitive. I don't know what product OP would want in terms of term or anything but you can easily compare them by look at the APR.
If it were ME, I'd get a preapproval with the bank, mortgage broker, etc. And THEN contact a realtor. People like it when you can show proof of funds up front.
Yep. My mother was a realtor. My sister was a realtor. I've done a lot of consulting in the real estate biz.
Lots of realtors won't even work with a prospective client unless they are preapproved. The reason is pretty simple. They've been burned too many times, dragging people around to houses and negotiating contracts, only to learn that the client has terrible credit or simply cannot afford the house they wanted to buy.
what B of A or Quicken can do on a refinance, with no time deadline beyond the rate lock, has almost nothing to do with getting a mortgage to purchase a home.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Grlzrl
Ok, you know I love you but I have to disagree with this. Getting referrals from realtors on mortgage brokers and other professionals does not always yield the best deal and that's what I am concerned about. I went with a local mortgage broker back when I was refinancing my house and it almost cost me an additional $6k because I didn't do my due diligence.
Go to bankrate.com and search. Search rates yourself. It's is the easiest thing on earth to do. You don't need a mortgage broker to hold your hand during this process. You are going to pay for that.
Right now, I find Bank of American to be very competitive. I don't know what product OP would want in terms of term or anything but you can easily compare them by look at the APR.
Ok, you know I love you but I have to disagree with this. Getting referrals from realtors on mortgage brokers and other professionals does not always yield the best deal and that's what I am concerned about. I went with a local mortgage broker back when I was refinancing my house and it almost cost me an additional $6k because I didn't do my due diligence.
Go to bankrate.com and search. Search rates yourself. It's is the easiest thing on earth to do. You don't need a mortgage broker to hold your hand during this process. You are going to pay for that.
Right now, I find Bank of American to be very competitive. I don't know what product OP would want in terms of term or anything but you can easily compare them by look at the APR.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BoBromhal
what B of A or Quicken can do on a refinance, with no time deadline beyond the rate lock, has almost nothing to do with getting a mortgage to purchase a home.
Multiple similar offers? The Bank of America buyer loses out.
A good agent will refer a lender who communicates; who hits all the deadlines, including bringing the money when the contract says.
The answer was implied clearly in the unbolded sentence: "A good agent will refer a lender who communicates; who hits all the deadlines, including bringing the money when the contract says."
Implies it all.
Why, in more depth:
Because of historically terrible processing and underwriting services.
BOA is one of several commercial banks who only offer home loans as a sideline. Commercial banks tend to underfund their processing and underwriting departments, staffed with overworked personnel.
Too often, they think they are the center of the transaction, rather than the client. Lender-centric rather than client-centric.
Too often they miss deadlines or do sloppy work. It affects buyers and sellers.
I want to do business with lenders who only do home loans, or specialize in home loans as their primary line of business. No checking accounts, credit cards, car loans, insurance sales, CDs, investment advice sales, etc. Lenders who are client-centric and communicative.
Some credit unions are OK, however.
I like lenders who know they either deliver the money, hassle-free and on time or they go out of business. There are enough of them, there is little reason to engage with bloated dabblers like commercial banks.
Last edited by MikeJaquish; 10-14-2019 at 04:32 AM..
The answer was implied clearly in the unbolded sentence: "A good agent will refer a lender who communicates; who hits all the deadlines, including bringing the money when the contract says."
Implies it all.
Why, in more depth:
Because of historically terrible processing and underwriting services.
BOA is one of several commercial banks who only offer home loans as a sideline. Commercial banks tend to underfund their processing and underwriting departments, staffed with overworked personnel.
Too often, they think they are the center of the transaction, rather than the client. Lender-centric rather than client-centric.
Too often they miss deadlines or do sloppy work. It affects buyers and sellers.
I want to do business with lenders who only do home loans, or specialize in home loans as their primary line of business. No checking accounts, credit cards, car loans, insurance sales, CDs, investment advice sales, etc. Lenders who are client-centric and communicative.
Some credit unions are OK, however.
I like lenders who know they either deliver the money, hassle-free and on time or they go out of business. There are enough of them, there is little reason to engage with bloated dabblers like commercial banks.
BofA says deadlines shmeadlines. What deadlines? We'll get it done when we get it done.
Personally, I think you should go with the REALTOR first. My experience has been that most lenders will refer you out to the agent that gives them the most business. Doing high amounts of volume does not necessitate that this agent is a good fit for you or will do a good job for you. My personal experience with so called "top producing" agents is that all they care about is getting the transaction closed and moving on to the next one. Doing a great job by maximizing a sale price/minimizing a purchase price for a client are not top priorities for them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MrRational
To see how much they might be willing to sign you up to borrow.
NEVER confuse that sort of number with what is in YOUR best interest (aka "what you can afford").
Good advice. Just because they'll lend you the money doesn't mean you should spend it all.
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