How can a Realtor determine which Loan Officer is right for his/her book of business?
Is it the one that buys you lunch? Maybe. ;) The one that offers new sales tactics to build your book of clients? Plus. Offers to 'help' pay for future ad? Plus.
There are few 'smart questions' that every Realtor should ask a potential partner. You will need to understand their business in order to ask the 'right' questions.
1. Do you offer FHA mortgages? a) How long have you been doing FHA mortgages? b) How many lenders do you work with that offers FHA? c) How much does a borrower need to put down for an FHA loan? (Correct Answer is 2.25%, inexperienced professionals will say 3%) d) Does your lender offer 'manual underwrite'? (This is a HUGE QUESTION to ask. If the lender only looks at the automated underwriting then your loan can be dead in a few seconds. Manual Underwriting allows the Underwriter to review files that have No Credit Score/No credit report, credit scores around 400, and can use letter of explanation for past derogatory remarks.) e) How many FHA appraisers do you have? f) What is the turnaround time for your FHA approvals? g) what is the county loan limit for FHA?
2. Do you offer zero down programs? a) Do you offer MyCommunity or HomePossible loans? b) How long have you been working with these programs? c) What is the minimum middle credit score to avoid High PMI payments with most loans? (Correct answer 620, product knowledge question) d) How many lenders do you work with that offers these programs?
3. Do you offer VA loans? a) What is the minimum down payment for VA? b) How many VA lenders do you work with? c) How long have you been doing VA loans? d) How many VA appraisers do you work with?
4. Do you offer Jumbo Loans? a) What is the highest residential mortgage loan amount you can offer? b) How many Jumbo lenders do you work with? c) What is the highest Loan-to-Value you can offer? d) What is the lowest credit score you can use?
4. What are your work hours? a) Do you work on weekends? b) Do you work on holidays? c) What is the best way to contact you? d) How fast can you offer a PreApproval letter? e) What is your turnaround time for returning a phone call? e) Do have a work website where my clients can see the types of programs you offer? f) Do you have a fax/printer AT HOME?
5. Are you a lender, bank, or broker? Bank originates, buys, sells, or services loans. Mortgage lender originates, sells, and may service the loan. Mortgage Lenders may work with more than 1 lender. Brokers doesnt buy, sell, or service loans. They originate the loans, and can work with a large amount of lenders (Carteret Mortgage works with over 440lenders). Asking these questions will give you OPTIONS for future clients.
6. Do you offer credit advice or credit repair? a) What is the average turnaround time for credit repair? b) How long have you been working with credit repair? c) Do you charge for your services? d) Do you offer Rapid Rescore for your borrowers? (If the answer is no, you can visit Free Rapid Rescore Information to learn how to do it yourself.)
7. How often do you call with new loan updates whether bad or good? Do you have a setup program that can help US retain new/former clients?
Most of the product questions MAY change as the market shifts. Do not ask the loan officer to pay for a whole ad. (RESPA Violation) Do not ask for anything in return for your clients. (kickbacks) This is a common RESPA violation. Some loan officers will be annoyed and others will report you. It's not worth losing your license for a few hundred dollars.
I will post more questions as they come up....
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