Realtor® or Lender: Which Comes First in the Homebuying Process?

Realtor® or Lender:  Which Comes First in the Homebuying Process?

This is a question that often runs through the minds of prospective home buyers.   I would recommend that prospective home buyers contact a Realtor® or a rel estate agent first.  I image that my answers comes as no surprise to you, but let me tell you why I say that.

Throughout the entire home buying process, you will deal will many people and companies including but not limited to your lender, home inspector, appraiser, title company, just to name a few.  You will find a recurring theme throughout the process and that is "what did your Realtor say?"  Almost every vendor involved in the process, will at some point, ask you that question and for some, they'll ask it many times.  The reason being is that your Realtor® is like the navigator or conductor of the process.  Nearly everyone will look to the Realtor® for answers and directions.

Another really good reason to choose the Realtor® before the lender is that, as the nucleus of the process, the Realtor® will likely refer you to a lender that they've had a really good working relationship with and the lender has a successful track record of closing transactions.  This is also true of many vendors that you'll be dealing with.  While the Realtor® can only suggest a lender or other vendors, you are free to select a vendor of your own choosing.

As a licensed Realtor in the State of Alabama, I consider it a pleasure and an honor to serve as your Realtor of choice and promise to help you achieve your goal of buying a home and/or selling a home in the future.

Charita Cadenhead is a licensed Realtor® in the State of Alabama since 2006, serving the Metro Birmingham market.  In 2007, she founded Bham WIiRE (Birmingham Women Investing in Real Estate). Bham WIiRE consisted of women interested in real estate investing, but later the focus expanded to include all women interested in any aspect of the world of real estate.  She is co-author of the book “Sell Your House Fast for the Right Price”, and has been featured on NuWire.com.  She is an avid blogger with nearly 1300 posts to date,  including a great number of featured posts.