dispute and Automatic Underwriting snag

[jjmtmj126]

Yes, I would like a referral!  were I live there is currently $10,500 in grant money available, and there are only a few lenders who deal with that.  My LO happens to be one of them.  Others either don't do FHA, don't use grants...or are so busy that they haven't called me back!  

But I'm at the point now where it's obviously either wait on this LO and maybe get the grant money (it may be gone by the time he's ready to proceed with our loan), or forget it and go with a different lender.  

[jjmtmj126]

So I took your advice and found another lender (found through Lending Tree).  After running our credit and putting us through the automatic underwriting he said we were approved for $20,000 MORE than the other guys told us.  How is this possible?   He also said he didn't want to write a pre-approval letter until we had a house we wanted to write an offer for, and he'd write the pre-approval for that amount.  is this typical?  the company got good reviews and got an A- from the BBB.  

What is the difference between bankers and brokers?  Is a broker kinda like the "loan shark" of mortgages? 

[Anonymous]

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@jjmtmj126 wrote:

So I took your advice and found another lender (found through Lending Tree).  After running our credit and putting us through the automatic underwriting he said we were approved for $20,000 MORE than the other guys told us.  How is this possible?   He also said he didn't want to write a pre-approval letter until we had a house we wanted to write an offer for, and he'd write the pre-approval for that amount.  is this typical?  the company got good reviews and got an A- from the BBB.  

What is the difference between bankers and brokers?  Is a broker kinda like the "loan shark" of mortgages? 

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Our lender also isn't giving us a preapproval letter until after we make an offer. She said once we make an offer, she'll send a preapproval letter to our realtor. I think with bankers, they finance the morgage with their own funds whereas brokers get the funds from someone else. I read that's why it's harder to get approved with a banker versus a broker but closing fees are supposed to be cheaper with a banker which is who we are dealing with.

[creditisbetter2]

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@jjmtmj126 wrote:

So I took your advice and found another lender (found through Lending Tree).  After running our credit and putting us through the automatic underwriting he said we were approved for $20,000 MORE than the other guys told us.  How is this possible?   He also said he didn't want to write a pre-approval letter until we had a house we wanted to write an offer for, and he'd write the pre-approval for that amount.  is this typical?  the company got good reviews and got an A- from the BBB.  

What is the difference between bankers and brokers?  Is a broker kinda like the "loan shark" of mortgages? 

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That's awesome. It's possible because different companies can do different things. I don't know why some places can get it done and others can't but they all have the power to do what they want if they want to. Some places are more restrictive than others or it's possible your CR has changed since the last pull or the requirements necessary aren't as strict. Either way that sounds like a good deal. When we went to get our pre-approval, we had a house in mind and they worked the approval based on the home we wanted. It also depends on if you are using FHA, Conventional, VA loan etc. Whatever those limits are in your state, is generally what the approval CAN go up to. Banks offer financing options that are in-house so to speak and brokers shop around for lenders and loans. I don't think one is better than the other if at the end of the day they can get the job done and get you a fair price and apr for it. You have more power when you shop around and know what you can get from someone else should your primary person give you a deal that you don't like.

[jjmtmj126]

Well that certainly makes sense.  We've just gone though so much these last couple weeks that I don't want to get my hopes up, but if this guy can do it then so be it!  Like you said, whatever it takes to get the job done...