Our Team typically handles between 160 and 180 transaction sides a year and we see all kinds of Lenders. The Good ones who still understand what it means to provide the customer and the agent with genuine service.(Very rare!)  The Bad ones who could care less about service and surprise the customer and agent at the closing table with a "bad" loan with lots of fees that's very different than promised. (Not so rare) And finally the Mediocre ones who will get the job done, provided you call them every day, and do half the work for them.(The Majority)

Having serviced home buyers and sellers in Jefferson County Missouri for more than twenty years, we are familiar with most of the local Lending institutions and how good (or not) their service is. We have established relationships with several of the more competent lenders in the area and recommend them to our clients.

Unfortunately, most of our clients today have already talked to a lender when they come to us. This is due to the idea planted in their heads that they can get a better deal with a pre-approval letter. Realtors on both sides of the table understand that the majority of these pre-approvals are not worth the fax paper they're printed on.

In the last few years, we have seen the lending business change with many "Lenders" soliciting business on radio, television, and the internet. The ones who advertise on the radio are usually local, the ones on TV are usually big national companies, but it seems most of the ones who advertise on the internet are small out of state mortgage brokers who coax buyers in with promises of low rates "regardless of credit" and shop the loan to the last minute with the end result being something much less appealing than what was promised.

Recently, I had a customer come to me to looking for a home in the $230,000 price range.(This is a nice home in our area with our average sale price being around $180,000) He had already been in touch with a lender who told him he could do 100% financing with payments less than $1,100/mo.(do the math) I was immediately suspicious and asked him who the lender was. It was some company out of California that had sent him an email. I warned him of the problems we had encountered in the past with these lenders and offered to provide him with the names of some local lenders. He chose to stay with the lender he had been talking to.

After several phone calls from our team members and the customer, we finally received a "loan commitment".(worthless!!) When it came time to close, the lender was not ready. After a week delay, they finally sent the Title Company the docs needed to close. The loan they finalized was an 80/20 loan with an 8% 40 year on the first and an 11% fifteen year balloon on the second! (with outrageous fees) His payment would be $1,847/mo before insurance and taxes! Needless to say, he could not afford this kind of payment and was ready to walk away. I quickly called one of the lenders that I routinely work with and told her the situation. She had loan approval in less than 24hours, and closed in less than 48 with a loan that he could live with.

If you want to avoid these kinds of complications, consult with your Realtor. Tell them your financial situation, and what you're looking for in a loan. They can point you in the right direction. You may find that you can't get what you want. Better to know before, than to get stuck with a bad loan due to contractual obligations.

All lenders basically make money the same way, and its market driven. So when it's all said and done, the only real difference is how much money the lender is willing to work for.

Are there good, "internet" lenders you can depend on? Sure. The problem is you need some way to verify their track record. The bottom line is: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.