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Shame on Wall Street...& fickle realtors!

By Linda Bourgault

Services for Real Estate Pros with lulugraphix-creative photography & fine art

August 06, 2007 08:30 PM

American Home Mortgage (AHM) was hammered last week and this week they are belly-up in the market. What does that mean "locally" in Hawaii? Twenty plus loan officers and support personnel are without work (income and benefits). This is a horrific situation locally and on the mainland. One of the negative outcomes is that some realtors are relinquishing good working relationships with loan officers that have zero responsibility about the current situation.

Lenders and loan officers are working harder than ever to serve their clients. Some clients that have been caught in the change over from one lender to another need to know it's like starting from scratch on every loan. The loan officers that are taking your deal to another lender have an incredible challenge, but they are working their buns off to make your deals work. This is an emotional as well as volatile time, but it can be resolved with understanding and patience.

Time for an extra dose of Aloha!

Good day, Linda

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Todd Murphy

Fitts Agency - Tuscaloosa, AL

Realtors have NOTHING without lenders, period. A good loan officer is worth his or her weight in gold.

Aug 06, 2007 09:20 PM

Kris Wales

Keller Williams Realty - Lakeside Market Center - Macomb, MI

Real Estate Blog & Homes for Sale search site, Macomb County MI

It could be that I haven't had enough coffee this morning, but I'm afraid I'm having a hard time understanding what you mean by 'abandon'.

Are you talking about the agents that had clients with loans in progress that disappeared when the lenders pulled the programs? If so, I can understand your frustration if the loan officer was diligently working on putting the buyer client into another program quickly.

If the loan officer is out of a job because of his company shutting its doors and searching for a new company to work for, how can that be considered abandonment? I would definately keep in touch with that individual if I already had a good working relationship with that person, however I would also advise my current buyer clients to shop around for another mortgage until that person was employed elsewhere. So much of what we do is date driven. Asking a home seller who has a contract for sale on their home to wait until the buyers loan officer finds employment elsewhere would be unrealistic in most cases.

What a lousy situation all the way around.

Aug 06, 2007 11:50 PM

Linda Bourgault

lulugraphix-creative photography & fine art - Flower Mound, TX

Todd: I could not have said it better! Thank you.

Aug 07, 2007 02:11 PM

Kris: I apologize for the confusion. Yes, I was addressing, "the agents that had clients with loans in progress that disappeared when the lenders pulled the programs." Those with good working relationships will make it through these challenging times and may even strengthen their partnerships. Thank you.

Aug 07, 2007 02:22 PM

I edited my entry above in hopes of clarifying my point. Thanks for your patience with a newbie!

Aug 07, 2007 02:44 PM

Bruce Bourgault, Vice President, Mpro

Central Pacific Homeloans - Honolulu, HI

Hi Angel -- Thanks for your post it is all ways difficult to maove a loan. We are doing our best to make all of these deals work. Aloha

Aug 09, 2007 10:20 AM

Bruce: Even the Number One VA loan officer in Hawaii has a tough time when loans are moved. Here's to happy clients and closings...Good luck! Mahalo.

Aug 09, 2007 02:44 PM

Gary Bolen

McCall Realty - South Lake Tahoe, CA

CRS - Lake Tahoe Real Estate Information

We too had friends that were part of AHM. Really good people. Also wanted to thank you for recently commenting on something we did. Was much appreciated.

Aug 12, 2007 01:50 PM

Gary: Thank you for your comment. Good luck and good lending.

Aug 13, 2007 06:05 AM

Shame on Wall Street...& fickle realtors!

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Linda Bourgault

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