For buyers, the most important piece of your transaction is your mortgage. You will shop rate, but let me challenge you by thinking bigger.
Think process and realize your goal is to buy the house. All things being similar, consider this.
1. Do you have a loan officer who is licensed as such, specializes in loans and works with your schedule? Or, do you have the platform person at the bank who sells mortgages and several other products, who is not individually licensed and who does not specialize in lending?
The mortgage PIECE of the transaction is so important, I will not take a buyer out to see a home UNLESS they are preapproved. Why would I show them a home I'm not sure they can buy? It's a disservice to the seller, it's time consuming for me, and it is ultimately not fair to the buyer. Securing financing is actually the best first step before you house hunt.
A prequal and a preapproval are not the same. Anyone with a pulse can get a prequal. It's just a letter that says, "if you provide all your docs and when we eventually run your credit, if you meet the guidelines you can get a loan". It means nothing. Many banks can only issue you a prequal. They can not review your credit until you have found a home, and their processing staff can't review your information unless you have an application.
However, a preapproval means the buyer has met with a loan officer before the home search, the credit has been reviewed, income and assets were submitted and reviewed, and the lender says, "You qualify. Go find a house with your agent." Those are the buyers I work with, and we close on homes successfully because they are truly qualified.
If you were a seller, who would you rather have walking through your door? When you get an offer, which offer is stronger; the one with the prequal or the one with the actual preapproval?
When considering a loan officer versus a retail bank (or online lender), ask yourself these questions.
1. How much time do you have? Gathering your paperwork and following up with a lender can be a part time job. It is the most paper intensive part of the process of home ownership. Can you spend time faxing, mailing, driving, sorting through what is required, or do you have a loan officer who will do the leg work for you?
2. Does the lender allow access to your agent and attorney? These three advocates work together, as a team, to reach one goal; to get you in into your home. If the communication is not there, delays are likely to take place. COMMUNICATION IS KEY.
3. Is the loan processed locally or do you need to send you paperwork to California, on a different time frame, and they work 9-5? Are the appraisers local?
THINK smart. A smooth real estate transactions occurs when your advocates (agent, lender, attorney) are able to work well together to reach the ultimate goal. HOME OWNERSHIP.
It's like the collaborative orchestration of a good basket ball team, as the ball is driven down the court. It is passed to a team mate, strategically passed again down court, another time, to a team mate by the basket and "BOOM" - in the net. This play has been practiced by your advocates. Don't hit the rim for the rebound. Get the ball in.
HAVE A TEAM DO THE WORK FOR YOU! Buying a home is stressful enough. Delegate what you can and allow your trusted advocates to do their job for you.
Annmarie Cristiani
sales associate, REMAX Traditions Real Estate
annmarie.cristiani@gmail.com
201-815-7861
www.househunter99.com
