Is your money tree bare at times for giving free advice? I am sure many of us have done this from one time or another. I just hope you don't do it often. It can have an affect on you. Sure, we all need to make a living. And I know there are a lot of helpful people in this business. Not to pat myself on the back, but I know I am very helpful, outgoing, sincere, and won't turn too many people away. I just love helping people.
Two nights ago I received a phone call from a consumer in Texas that had read one of my blogs. She was actually buying her first home with her husband. I didn't answer the original call which was at 11 pm, 10 pm her time. Her first words to me where, "I read that you are the FHA Expert." She goes on to tell me that they are suppose to close in a few hours. Hey, I believe in shopping around, but the day before closing? I then give her my e-mail address so she could forward me the good faith estimate that she received from Countrywide. Now, I am not knocking Countrywide here. I always make a statement, you aren't dealing with the actual lender, but with a loan officer who makes the original decisions. But at this time, we aren't getting anywhere. She calls me 2 times in a row, asking if I received her e-mail. I said, no, I didn't. I even sent her an e-mail with my e-mail address. I was just about to tell her to talk to someone else, because she didn't even have my e-mail address correct. How can you mess this up even after I send it to you.
I finally get her good faith estimate. It was a little higher, which she told me that she was able to get them to come down in their fees twice. I told her my opinion, anytime you can negotiate pricing like that, they were charging you too much to begin with. Sure, rates change daily, but the loan officer came down twice and not by a little. The other complaint was that nobody was calling her back. They only communicated with her by e-mail, even the branch manager. I thought this was very odd and poor service.
Do you want to hear the end? Asking yourself, Jeff, where are you going with this? She told me that her settlement was moved to 1 pm from noon. A semi red flag for me. Especially since they applied with Countrywide back in July. She also asked my opinion in regards to her most current good faith estimate. I said send me the HUD settlement sheet when they get it from the title company. It's amazing when a client says that they want better, that they won't settle, and the final numbers come down again. After reviewing the HUD statement, I told her to go with it. That it looks good. She thanked me for taking time out of my day.
I received a call from this person about 7 pm last night. Her first words out of her mouth were, "We have the keys". I said congratulations several times after she thanked me several times. What will I do now? Send her my business card and ask for referrals. I knew I wasn't getting anything because I told her to stay with her current company. But it did put a smile on my face when she still took the time to call me later on to thank me. A first time homebuyer excited with her first home, thinking of herself. This was not the case.
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For more information on FHA loans, please go to this link. The FHA Expert You can also go to this group : The FHA Mortgage Group
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Copyright © 2007 by Jeff Belonger
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