TODD..... .  yes, very true......at least in regards to your first comment.  In regards to the second?  broker banker???  I have more access as a banker and control more...

Loan officer guy..... .This is what you said...."You have hit the nail on the head. I've found a great article about FHA loans and loan officers at"... I deleted your link, which was BS, showing everyone to a loan officer.

NATHAN & EVERARD..... . thank you very much for those kind words...

GERRY.... . bingo, if your loan officer doesn't take the time to teach you the process, they are just an order taker... thanks for the kind words...

LARRY.... .   thanks... but I am not sure I follow your feedback in regards to in-state vs out-of-state is huge. Huge as in?  thanks

THESA.... . thank you very much for those kind compliments...

PERRIN.... .  I am not replying to your comment separately to call you out, but because you stated a lot that I want to break down piece by piece.

You first repeated one of my statements and added your own...  you repeated this.. You state "The only thing you won't get from me than what your local loan officer could offer you is a face-to-face meeting and for me to be at your closing"...    then you said..."simply not true and very self-serving."

Then you go on to state reasons to why you would use a local lender...

• "less appraisal and less title issues also less escrow issues."

My break down of what you mentioned....

simply not true and self serving?  Okay, your opinion....  but it is true... I do have a problem with your opinion, because it's one-sided. Self-serving?  Maybe... but it's also the truth. I was able to close 10 loans that other local lenders could not. How is that self-serving.  What's funny is that two of them were appraisal issues and I closed them. One was in Virginia and the other in Florida. 

In regards to appraisals and title.  First off, most realtors order title. I only take over title on refinances only and those purchases that I know the borrower.... friends, friends of the family, etc etc.  So your comment is mute in that case.  Besides, if I did a loan for someone out of state, I am using a local title company.  It's called common sense and it's something not all lenders, loan officers, and even local lenders have.

In regards to the appraisals... same as title... I am using appraisers that are local. Why wouldn't I?  Do you know that some of the lenders in your local area use lenders that send their loans to be underwritten some where else?  In many cases, out of the county and maybe out of state?  Especially if you use a local mortgage broker...  but getting back to the appraisals....  we have very seasoned underwriters and they don't chop value unless the comps don't support the value. So it comes down to a good appraiser.  So you can have your opinions, but they are very misleading. For one reason, because you don't know me and you are making blind statements, that I can actually back up. Besides, there have been times when I have asked realtors if they have an appraiser to recommend.

Here is another statement that you made to me...  "Sorry you do not bring enough knowledge to the table..."  Sorry if I have sounded defensive in my comments above, but what would you say if some stranger said this to you?  lol    Even though I have 16 years in the business, do you know how many times a potential borrower tells me that they have learned more from me in a half hour than they did with their previous loan officer who they have been with for a week, two weeks, or a month. That kind of statement to me is the norm, because I do bring tons of value and knowledge. I never said I know everything or that I am god.. I am human.. but I would bet that know more about lending than 80% of all loan officers out there, especially when it comes to FHA.. and if I don't know, I am not afraid to ask.

In regards to plain vanilla deals, most can do those. It's the hard deals to where I rise above most. Not only am I very knowledgeable, but extremely creative. I know how to work deals... and that is where I became very successful. Do you know how many clients that I have closed that before they got to me, they had talked to a handful of loan officers. I had one client that actually spoke with 11 loan officers and I was the only one that got his deal closed.

In regards to time frames?  I closed a FHA semi hard loan with credit issues in New Market, VA in 5 business days. And that was after a local loan officer who was recommended, with 30 years experience, couldn't close the loan, who had it for 32 days. And what was funny was that my rate was 1/2% lower and my fees where about $800 lower. And I am not the cheapest, because I do bring value to the table.

My appraisal requests at the bottom?  LOL   Again, you are making blind statements. My comment might come across as rude, but you showed me no courtesy. My appraisals get done just as fast as your local lender... I have a large network spanning over the U.S....  I can do things just as quick as the next person. Sure, if they really want to push it and close it in 2 more days than I would, great. But then again, I wonder if they are truly that busy. Or depending on hard the deal actually is... you need to compare apples to apples.

Time?  I closed a loan with a client in Florida 8 months ago. She was with her previous loan officer for 4 months, who had done her loan previously. I closed that in 23 days.

As you said in this statement...  "Local knowledge can be important... knowing the appraisers, knowing the market to dispute the numbers if necessary or to even recognize an error has been made, knowing the local history..."

Again, another blind statement....   hence why I surround myself with true experts in their fields... and hence why realtor feedback is very important.  If there is a mistake, the realtor will point it out to me... and we have the resources and knowledge to correct it or to stay on top of it.  Doesn't it start with the realtors such as yourself?  if you marketed the property correctly, no matter which appraiser I use, we really shouldn't have a problem, right?  I have heard this argument the most, that I need to know about the local market. No I don't....  many of your loan officers don't even know their market. But that is not my issue here. Again, I call on experts to help me with a certain area if we have questions. I have been very successful and in the last 5 years that I have done 65% of my business out of state and 70% of it in the last year... I have not lost one deal in those 5 years.

In regards to the not being at settlement....  a joke of a statement because about 75% of the loan officers don't attended their closings..... even locally.  And I can back this up with fact, not by spitting out blind statements. I talk to title companies, title clerks, and notaries from all across the US.... my 2nd year into the business, I have attended 95% of all my closings that are 1 hour or closer. And yes, I am accessible by my cell phone, especially when they go to a closing.  And what's funny is that I only hear from about 10% of all my clients at closing because they don't have issues. I don't change fees, rates... playing that bait and a switch game that so many play, even locally.

Overall, I love when someone such as yourself wants to try and make me look bad. Your statements weren't exactly friendly and maybe my reply isn't 100% polite either. But one thing that I could challenge you with are facts. If I wanted to take the time, I could back most of my statements with hard core facts, real facts.... not just opinion.

I will agree with only one statement of yours... yes, "face to face is the best." I won't argue with that statement... but again, if a borrower wanted to close a loan and if I told them I could do it... barring any unforeseen title issues, maybe something the property that the appraisal might show, or misinformation from the consumer, my loans close. Any company that I have worked for are always amazed at my closing ratios... so the numbers speak for themselves.

In any case, thanks for the feedback. I value feedback such as yours, because you try to paint a different picture to the consumer. I have had realtors such as yourself try to get my client to use their in-house or local person. In a few cases, not only was my rate better, but so was my service. I not only got back to them quicker, I was available at night and weekends... and I actually explained the process better than the other local loan officers that were referred. I would love the challenge to show you the same, compared to what you think your local loan officers are doing.

PERRIN..... Defensive?  Yes I was, because I actually take pride in what I do and your comments were directed towards me and not the average loan officer. And sorry to say, but because some of your comments were blindly made. Even in your follow up comment.

Here is a blind comment from your most current reply....

"I just do not believe a guy in NJ can do a difficult loan as WELL as a guy in the area"

Why is that such a blind comment?  Because you need to define difficult. What might seem difficult to you might seem normal for me. Why?  Because I have been originating loans for over 16 years. I would have to bet that I have done plenty of "difficult" FHA loans in my past. But again, define difficult. Your loan officer might gripe to you that it is a difficult loan, when it might not be. You can only really compare apples to apples on this one.

Then you go on to make this next statement....

"Sure you can do 10 loans or what ever... that isn't the point."

That was my point.... that I actually closed 10 deals just this year that were turned down by their local lender, for various reasons. 5 of them were tough, a few others because the loan officer or lender didn't know what they were doing. 2 of them where appraisal issues, from what the previous lender had stated. And all of these people found me on the internet and trusted me, because I supplied very good, quality information within my blogs.

Here is a statement that you made... I feel like I am watching a 'Law and Order' episode, when the defending lawyer takes the witness statement out of context.  You said this... "Yes you are correct about relying to a certain extent upon the local agent... that for one is a reason I won't rely upon you.... I want someone that doesn't need to rely upon me.."

If you read my whole statement, I said.... "if the realtor does their job initially, when it comes to comping the property correctly, then there really should be no problem.  If there is, then I would hope I get some help from the realtor. You can't tell me that you never were asked for help by your local lender?  Never. not once...???   And your statements above make it sound like we are talking about an issue that happens on more than 50% of all transactions. In my case, this rarely happens, that I need to call upon a realtor to help. Just in 2008 alone, of all the out-of-state transactions that I did, which were 22 of them... I needed the help of 3 realtors. That is about 14% of the time and in a market to where many lenders are double checking the appraisals and comps....

Here is a statement from you that baffles me...  "And getting a call a 4pm because an out of town lender can't get the information is not something I want to deal with."

Okay, so you wouldn't take a phone call from your local person at 4 pm then either?  What ever happened to service to the client?  I know my local market very well, but there have been times when I still needed the service of my realtor or the local realtor. And if we didn't find something out until 4 pm, then I called at 4 pm. I didn't know that there was a daily time frame when not to call a realtor. 

Now, even though you gave me a compliment at the end of this comment that you made, I am still very confused by it...  you said "You did mention one thing that is a pet gripe. And that is that guidelines are just guidelines often a good rep can find a way to address issues and go around or over the guideline... it is unfortunate that they can become an excuse. Much of the ability to work around or through is due to the relationship the loan rep has built up. This appears to be one of your strong points and it needs acknowledging more often."

My response to this.....   Taking a part of what you said... "Much of the ability to work around or through is due to the relationship the loan rep has built up."   

The relationship that I built up with who?  The lender?  The underwriter?  I will let you know this... I am a mortgage banker and we underwrite our loans in-house. I don't send them out for the loans to be underwritten. If I had to guess, this sounds like some statements that come from your loan officers as selling tools. Saying, " I have a great relationship with the lender that I send files to... or with the underwriter"... in my opinion, that is sales talk to make a realtor or borrower to feel comfortable. There are guidelines and then there are common sense decisions. Some guidelines can't be bent or broken no matter what. Some guidelines are like benchmarks that could be exceeded, under the underwriters discretion... with common sense and what we call compensating factors.

Overall, what kind of angered me in regards to your initial comments was because you were throwing me into the pot of your average out-of-state loan officer. I am not...  and I have a track record of excellence that only my previous clients and myself know about. Yes, the average out-of-state loan officer/lender can screw up a deal or pull the bait and switch. I have had cocktails with such loan officers in the past. But I need to sleep at night. Besides, the main reason why such out-of-state loan officers pull that crap, the last minute denials or last minute changes is because all they will get are upset and angry phone calls. The client in most cases won't be driving or flying 5 states over to meet in person, to complain. And just a FYI to all that might be reading this... 98% of the time a problem comes up last minute... if the lender had the file for at least 30 days, they knew about it previously. They just wait last minute because it is human nature to drag things out. People don't like to give bad or upsetting news until the very end. The reason why the average loan officer would want to do this?  Because they don't want to keep hearing it all the way through the process. Or if it's a change for the worse, but they can still do the loan, it's a way for them to raise the rate or add fees so that the borrower has no time to make a decision, but are semi-forced into going forward in the 11th hour.

In any case, I am not your average loan officer locally or out-of-state... it comes down to a few important things...

• knowledge.. both product guidelines and common sense
  
• able to think on their own feet
• finding solutions to problems that could be overcome, but realistically.
  
• communication to all parties involved (let me add, timely communication and not when it is convenient for the me, the loan officer)
• being honest and upfront
• having a very good support staff, from processing, to underwriting, to closing. And I have this... in 16 years, the company that I am with now, is probably the best group that I have worked with. And that says a lot...
• getting things done in a timely manner

Perrin... Overall, I do thank you for your input and feedback...   but you made comments about me, when it should have been a general comment in regards to the average loan officer out there. You don't know me or know what I have done for past clients.... even out-of-state. My 10 loans examples was to show that in some cases, even an out-of-state loan officer can do a better job, even on difficult loans. Because it comes down to the 7 issues that I mentioned above... and kind of leaving one major one out of that. Pride... I take major pride in what I do... this is not just a job for me. Not every loan officer can say that.

TOM..... good point. In my opinion, if you are good locally, you should be good any where else. But you know what, 50/50 hindsight comes into play. You not only need to know the taxes on the property, but the title insurance and other fees/state stamp tax fees that could come into play. In some states, they are actually different per counties, just as in Maryland. In Florida, there are even stamp taxes that need to be paid on refinances...

and yes, I understand any realtors concerns about out-of-state lenders... and I have known a few that have steered their client away from me, and sometimes to find out that they got screwed or didn't close anyhow...  people just need to be careful in who they choose, no matter where that loan officer is or who they are referred from.  thanks

PERRIN..... .  stuff and nonsense?  You make some good points, but for that of an average out-of-state lender. My whole point is that I am not your average out-of-state loan officer, let alone that I am not your average loan officer either.

As I mentioned, I take great pride in what I do... I was not trying to attack you, but your comments. Because so many people feel the same way and I want to educate people. I have a borrower that contacted me 2 days ago, who isn't getting feedback from their current lender. A loan officer that was referred to them, that came highly recommended, who isn't calling them back and who never gave them a good faith estimate. This is the same borrower that I mentioned above...  the sad yet funny thing is that the husband doesn't really want to use me because I am out of town, yet they have asked me several times for an honest referral. That part is sad... they trust me enough to give them a name and number, yet won't use my services. Sounds like a double standard. And these are the same people that will shop themselves out of the market. The same type of people that wants someone to tell them what they want to hear. I don't play that game...