One of the very first things you should be doing when you are anticipating purchasing a home is to meet with a lender. Not just any lender, a lender that has been referred to you by someone you trust (who has used them before) or even better yet, your Realtor.
There is virtually nothing further you can do in your home buying process (other than dream) until you have met with and applied with a lender and have been given the green-light to look at homes. Without a pre-approval letter and assurance from a lender that you can qualify for a loan, you are literally wasting everyone's time by wanting to look at homes.
Put yourself in the sellers shoes. Their listing agent calls them to tell them that they have a showing on their home. In their mind, they are expecting the potential buyers that are coming into their clean and tidy home to have been through the loan application process. It is very unfair to the seller to expect them to spend hours cleaning their home and getting it ready for a showing for you to come and take a look before you even know if you are qualified and for what amount of mortgage your are qualified for.
Now, put yourself in the Realtor's shoes. They spend hours and hours of their time collecting data on the home(s) you want to see, setting up the showings and taking you to see the homes. Realtors do not get paid until they get clients to the closing table. To ask them to spend their time and gas driving you around is also unfair to them.
The last thing I want to address is your ultimate choice in lenders. Hopefully, you have found a Realtor that you like and trust to handle your real estate transaction. That said, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, did I mention Please trust them when they refer you to a lender. They are referring you because they work with someone that knows the business very well and that the Realtor is confident will get your transaction to the closing table.
I have went down the ~"Switch lenders at the last minute" road more times than I care to re-think about. Why, you ask ~ because the buyers wanted to use someone different that who I recommended and problems arose as we proceeded through the transaction. I know what you may be thinking ~ what is the Realtor getting out of referring me to this lender? NOTHING other than you and your family into the home of your dreams. It is and has been illegal for quite some time for any lender to give anyone that refers them business any kind of a financial kickback for that referral of business.
With that said ~ The lender of choice for Cherry Wings Realty is and always will be Randy Brown with Versatile Mortgage. His company is the only wholesale mortgage brokerage left in Northern Michigan. Randy and his staff know the right questions and follow up questions to ask to make sure that when they send you out to look at homes, you will get to the closing table to receive the keys to your new home. With decades of lending experience behind them, this staff is second to none in problem solving, knowledge of product lines that best suit your needs and their close rate is one of the best in the industry.
Happy House Hunting.
Comments(0)