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Why You Need A Barf Bag When You Apply For A Mortgage

Because I am in the trenches of mortgage madness daily, let me just tell it like it is: Getting a mortgage these days is NOT A PLEASANT THING.

Why is this? Because quite honestly, BANKS ARE NOT A PLEASANT THING.

They are woefully understaffed:"get in line, we'll get to you when we get to you" is the prevailing mentality.

Banking reps (that used to help brokers) are either a thing of the past, or answer e-mail questions with 3 words or less. No one answers their phone anymore, and staying on hold for an hour is the norm (for some major banks).

They look at every loan as a potential foreclosure, and every property as a depreciating asset that will immediately plummet in value.

They look at brokers with an eye of suspicion, and impose guidelines that either insult borrowers or make no sense.

Everyone is frustrated as this trickles down through the real estate industry.

We try to sheild our clients from the worst of it, but it becomes more and more difficult to accomplish.

We try to make the the ride pleasant (which most of us believe is a big part of our job). But accomplishing this becomes nearly impossible.

The ride takes too long. (Buyers grow weary. They want out of the car. "What is taking so long? Are we there yet?")

The ride has a million speed bumps. (Yes, you can get over speed bumps, but it sure is a bumpy ride and they sure do slow you down. "Excuse me, I am getting car sick. Could you pull over?")

There are unexpected roadblocks, dead ends, and detours. (Sometimes this may kill the journey, but mostly you just re-route and lose even more time. "Hey idiot driver, didn't you mapquest this before we started?")

All of this and the clock ticks. The lock ticks.

When I have "THE TALK" with a new client at the beginning of the mortgage process, it always starts out like this: "Please DO NOT take this process personally, because you are about to embark on a journey that will be insulting, frustrating, and challenging."

At which point the guy with the 803 credit score and the 25% cash down payment throws his head back... and laughs.

Does this "TALK" do any good? No. They still take it personally.

And so do I (sometimes). I tell myself, "snap out of it".

The roads may be rough and the job may not be as much fun.

But here's my philosophy: The world needs the steady influence of experienced drivers more than it ever did before.

That, and barf bags in the back seat.

Written By Janet Guilbault, Mortgage Banker/Broker Based Out of the San Francisco Bay Area

Posted by Janet Guilbault California Mortgage Banker/Broker on 07/09/2009 10:58 AM

Comments (20)

Qualifying Buyers in the Mortgage / Finance Channel

mortgage mess, qualifying for a mortgage, buyers, mortgage broker, approval strategies

Originally posted at: Buying Real Estate in California? Everything You Need to Know to GET APPROVED NOW: Why You Need A Barf Bag When You Apply For A Mortgage

Post is included in group: The Ninety-ninth Percentile
Post is included in group: Realtors®
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Post is included in group: LOANS

20 Comments on Why You Need A Barf Bag When You Apply For A Mortgage

JUL

Bring a blood sample and your first born child. With 99% down we can get you a 7% loan in 3 months. LOL

Hey Terry, yep, that about sums it up. A day in the life of a mortgage person sometimes seems like a true battle.

I feel sorry for my clients. I used to be able to take the brunt of the bad parts. Now I am just the messenger (that they want to shoot)

The barf bag will get smaller in time. We dealt with this when we were dealing with the S&L's that completely collapsed.....changes were made. We barfed for a few years, and then all moved back to beyond what was being allowed in the S&L crises. Sadly I feel that our new government will end up doing the same which will be personally great, but it is merely a fix that we will end up fixing again down the road. In the interim we shall barf.

On the flip side. I had 2 quick closing contracts with lenders. One was on the 6th and one on the 11th to close the end of June. HA! That's a joke, right? They both closed and both appraised above sales prices that even I could not comp.

Terry's coments would be funny if not so true. We would see more Buyers if they had not heard so many horror stories. Who would want to go through this on purpose?

Tim: Prayer at the beginning of each day: Please, God, just one easy loan.

I had a high appraisal too, and the lender refused to underwrite until the contract matched the appraisal.

Agree with you, all this tinkering is going to come back and bite us in the butt.

The chaos is just the norm for now. I am trying to live with it.

Dinah: I agree completely and actually wrote a post about how "fear of financing" is hurting our industry.

I am wondering why banks don't hire more people to FIX at least part of the problem. Did they promise Prez O that they would make a profit and now can't do that (and still properly staff the mortgage dept?)

A banker stood up at our realtor's meeting yesterday and gave this same tale of woe. He said aim for 2 months for closing. His face was sad and he felt bad about having to give us this info. Excellent blog with good analogy!

Janet - I just reblogged your post. We are working with a couple of lender situations right now and I could really use a barf bag. It seems like logic has gone completely out the door for many lenders.

Barbara: Thank you for sharing that validation. I have not wanted to write this post because yes, it is somewhat negative and your job as Realtors has its own set of burdens right now. I don'twant to bring anyone down!

But I also feel it is my job to give my readers and honest inside look at what is going on. And I think it helps put things in perspective.

Right now, everybody is pretty frustrated. And this really is the root of most of it.

K & M: Actually, I agree with you and I think most mortgage people will as well. What I hate the most about it is the total lack of customer service.

Usually in a down economy, customer service gets BETTER not worse. But this is pretty weird...because everyone has been fired (and those that were the most competent were fired first since they made the most money)

Customer service EVERYWHERE just sucks.

In an effort to "fix" the mortgage mess... another equally difficult "mess" has been created. There is no one who has a brain left... it is quite frustrating at all levels. All sanity is gone.

Janet: I had to respond to your great headline. So true. Today I was told by a portfolio lender why they couldn't take a loan on because the front end ratio was 1.7% higher than what they could except. It makes you wonder if their pipe is too full; thus turning down is easier. I'll see if I can submit elsewhere with barf bag attached! Take care.

Paul: Does make you wonder.

I do believe their pipelines get too full. I think that is part of the reason we have roller coaster rates and time lines.

JUL

I tend to like this market. We must be in very different situations. I recieved a sales contract yesterday, I took the loan application along with personal docs today (a purchase), that I will close in 15 days. I am very confident of that, too (without being over confident, I pray). It is FHA financing though, not sure how much CA can even do with that. :)

Janet: I always look forward to your blogs. I don't envy you for ONE SECOND in this market. You were kind enough not to mention that the other parties who want to "shoot the messenger" are the Realtors! Yet you are able to share the message with such great humor! A gift.

JUL

Janet... I agree with Steve, above me. I tend to like this kind of market, because I end up picking up the pieces that the other loan officer or lender dropped the ball on. Besides, it sounds like from your blog, that you are crying the blues from a mortgage brokers standpoint. As a mortgage banker, it doesn't take us years as it takes some brokers and banks. We have in-house underwriting which is from 4 to 7 business days. If the file comes in complete and easy to process, it still can close in 2 weeks. I like to tell everyone 3 to 4 weeks, to keep their level of expectations lower. I just closed a FHA loan in 9 business days, from start to finish, that I took from another lender. Besides, I remember once that you said that I was negative about loan officers in another blog of yours. Not picking a fight here, but isn't this the same? Hey, don't get me wrong, I believe in educating the consumer. and unfortunately there is will always be some negative things in our industry that we have to make others aware of... and if we are upfront and honest about them, it should not scare the public away, but make them more informed. just my .02.

PS... this message should not sound universal. Again, I know brokers are dealing with this more than bankers.. and the big banks are experiencing this also. B of A and Wells... 45 days or longer for settlements. They are big banks... and yes, there will always be speed bumps in any market, more now than ever before... but we have to be creative and over come them.

jeff belonger

Jeff: Could be a difference in our markets. Our bank at RPM is overwhelmed and having record month after record month. Yes, we are having issues as a result. But you are right that it is FAR better than dealing with those big name banks.

Brokering loans right now is really a nightmare. I am hanging with my bank right now, had some really bad experiences trying to broker some loans.

Sometimes, though, my clients ASK for a specific bank. It is happening more and more because they try to do it themselves, then when no one pays attentions to them (and after THEY wait on the phone for and hour) they turn to me, but ask for Wells Fargo.

This is a negative blog, Jeff. Not about other brokers or bankers in the mortgage business. About the longer time lines and the terrible service being dished up.

JUL

Hi Janet,

This was great - classy barf bag to boot! Do you mind if I link this to my blog on AR and my other wordpress blog. I won't do it if you don't want me to.

JUL

Hi Janet - yes, we sure have had to adapt and change, haven't we? Although most change can be good, I think the jury will be out a long time on those happening in the mortgage industry.

Great post Janet! Try doing anything "outside of the box" and you can run into a lot of problems.

Keep up the good work!

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