I've been hearing stories for that last few months of how banks are trying to recruit loan officers and entire teams away from BOA? Supposedly, BOA loan officers have had their hands tied with misc restrictions and have not been able to keep customers in their pipeline. Just in the last week I've received emails from two former BOA loans officers from Vienna and Reston VA areas. Both of these have decided to move to George Mason mortgage. They claim they can offer much better service and have many more loan programs that they can offer from George Mason mortgage. I know one considered going with Presidential mortgage, and a couple others, but decided on George Mason.
I've dealt with George Mason before, and I wasn't that impressed with them at the time, but maybe they have gotten better over the years. They are usually not the first choice for buyers in this area. I can't remember the last buyer I worked with that had a pre-approval from George Mason, although they are a subsidiary of Cardinal Bank which is a little more popular around here.
What worries me is, if BOA continues to lose loan officers, and then has trouble recruiting new loan officers as well, is their service going to get worse? Is their loan processing going to take longer? Will their short sales start taking longer again? Right now they have made some improvements with their short sales procedures, and most of their short sale specialists are down to handling 80 files each instead of 5-600 files each which is what they once handled?
Seems like changes and adjutments are the norm in this business, so all we can do is stay on top of industry changes, and make adjustments as we see fit. I have known one of the above loan officers for 25+ years, and I wondered why he didn't ask me or other agents what lenders we liked working with the best , before he decided to go with George Mason? I know I don't choose the lender for a buyer, but I usually give them a few to consider depending on what kind of buyer they are? George Mason hasn't been on my list for quite a while, so I doubt I'll be indirectly referring and business to either of these loan officers unless they send me evidence explaining why buyers should consider using George Mason.
Buyers, plan ahead, take your time and interview 2-3 loan officers, 2-3 real estate agents, etc. Agents can give you suggestions, and explain to you why they are suggesting certain lenders, but the final choice is yours.
Jeff Pearl / REALTOR / Lic in VA
Re/max Distinctive / Reston VA
Homes / Land / Farms
703-727-4876
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