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Moving to Ft Benning / Columbus / Phenix City? Recommendations for Newcomers Pt. 1

By
Mortgage and Lending with Primary Residential Mortgage

First of all, let me extend a welcome to all Military personnel, Civil Service personnel and your families to the Chattahoochee Valley.  This is a great area to live and raise a family! 

I am blogging this series to welcome new residents to Columbus in hopes that the information I provide here will be helpful to you.  Columbus and the Chattahoochee Valley offer a lot to do, and is well located within 90 minutes of Atlanta, 3-4 hours to the N. Georgia Mountains and 3 hours to  the World's best beaches in the Florida Panhandle.

For the topic of the first part of this series, I shall discuss what I know best, the lending business.  I have been in the lending business for 20 years and have experience in multiple areas such as mortgage lending, construction lending, consumer and commercial lending, etc...

For those of you who have been pre-approved by a 1-800 mortgage lender, that is great.  It is good to plan ahead and know what price house you will be able to qualify for so you may shop effectively for your new home. 

However, there are several benefits to using a local lender as opposed to a 1-800 Lender:

•·         When you give your business to a 1-800 Lender, it does not benefit anyone in this local community. 

•·         As a local lender and citizen of this community, I try to give back whenever possible.  Last year, I enjoyed spending numerous hours supporting our active duty and wounded soldiers by sending them to SEC Football games www.gamedayforheroes.com.  Getting to know these young men and women who serve our Country has been one of the most rewarding experiences in my life.  We are now working on expanding this program and taking it to the next level to continue to reward our troops for their service. 

 

•·         Working with a 1-800 Lender, I learned while taking a Continuing Education class last week that many of the Big Banks and 1-800 Lenders were encountering nightmare stories, such as loans taking 3 months to close and you may have 3-4 different loan officers throughout the purchase of a single home.  You cannot associate a face with the person on the other end of the phone and real estate closings do not happen as smoothly because the out of town corporate lender does not know the paperwork flow and work patterns of the local real estate attorneys.

•·         Your local lender is here for you and works as part of a local team to help you get into the house you want.   Local realtors, real estate attorneys and lenders all work in conjunction as a team to help you find, finance and close on the purchase of your new home in a smooth and efficient manner. 

 

•·         Most 1-800 Lenders use Centralized Underwriting to approve and process their loans.  This means you are likely one of many loans that are in line for underwriting / processing across the entire nation.  Your closing may be delayed for days and possibly weeks while waiting on an underwriter to clear it.

•·         At Primary Residential Mortgage we have a local underwriter dedicated to our office and only our office.  We work closely with local realtors and closing attorneys to make sure your closing happens on time. 

•·         Some think the 1-800 Lenders are able to offer better rates on their loans.  

•·         At Primary Residential Mortgage, we have excellent products and also shop all the top lenders for you to provide you with the best rates and terms available.  We check loan products of Wells Fargo, Bank of America, GMAC, Franklin American, etc... to make sure we are providing the best pricing for you.  Having competed head to head against these 1-800 Lenders again and again, I can tell you we do offer the best pricing when taking into account the rate and fees and discount points paid.   There will be no hidden closing costs with me as your lender!

Call Now!!!  (706) 888-0980