Something struck me in the commute to work: when I talked to my RE's coordinator, she recognized the LO's name, said she'd worked with him on another transaction before... looked up the record, saw that they closed right on time, and "I'm glad you got a good LO" and mentioned Chase specifically (did say she'd had some problems with various Chase LO's historically) and it got me wondering: what do various people in the industry (consumers, RE professionals, etc) judge a loan officer by?
My contribution to start: if your LO understands the underwriting well enough to know where things may require a LOE, go and get the customer to work on that ahead of time rather than getting the "Suprise!" from UW, that's nothing but goodness! Better yet when it's done ahead of time the LO can massage it. 
I look for the following:
- Communication is huge - email, phone, text - frequent communication
- Anticipation of what the u/w needs by knowing the loan u/w criteria up front, and checking with u/w if there is something either unknown or not typical
- Collects documents upfront before issuing pre-approval - so there are no surprises when the docs are submitted
- Knowing all the loan packages - so if borrower A would be better off with loan X instead of loan Y then the discussion can be had right up front - not two weeks into the deal
- Honesty is high on this list, don't minimize issues and don't hide from the parties in the transaction if you hit a bump in the road. A good LO anticipates the bumps in the road so they aren't there or they are handled in the normal course of business
- Good, detailed- oriented team in place: LO, processor, u/w, closing department, funding dept
- Closing on time
- Getting the figures to the title co at least 3 to 5 days before closing so we have a HUD1 completed and reviewed and distributed 3 days before we close -
All this is easy when the borrower has A paper and is W-2 type. This is not easy when the borrower needs specialized attention. That is the true test of a good LO. Do they have other resources available for the no-A paper self employed type? Do they know how to best position a borrower so they can get from non-qualifying to qualifying criteria?
@StartingOver10 wrote:I look for the following:
- Communication is huge - email, phone, text - frequent communication
- Anticipation of what the u/w needs by knowing the loan u/w criteria up front, and checking with u/w if there is something either unknown or not typical
- Collects documents upfront before issuing pre-approval - so there are no surprises when the docs are submitted
- Knowing all the loan packages - so if borrower A would be better off with loan X instead of loan Y then the discussion can be had right up front - not two weeks into the deal
- Honesty is high on this list, don't minimize issues and don't hide from the parties in the transaction if you hit a bump in the road. A good LO anticipates the bumps in the road so they aren't there or they are handled in the normal course of business
- Good, detailed- oriented team in place: LO, processor, u/w, closing department, funding dept
- Closing on time
- Getting the figures to the title co at least 3 to 5 days before closing so we have a HUD1 completed and reviewed and distributed 3 days before we close -
All this is easy when the borrower has A paper and is W-2 type. This is not easy when the borrower needs specialized attention. That is the true test of a good LO. Do they have other resources available for the no-A paper self employed type? Do they know how to best position a borrower so they can get from non-qualifying to qualifying criteria?
^^^ I agree with all of this. Responsiveness, knowledgeable, timely, anticiapte requirements. Don't ask me for things piece by piece. Let me know upfront what you need so I can get it together. Oh, and be nice.