topic Re: Lender hunt is on! Overwhelmed... in Mortgage Loans

Lender hunt is on! Overwhelmed...

ludawg23 — Thu, 20 Feb 2014 15:03:50 GMT

OK - so my wife and I are in the very early stages of our home search.

Our finances and FICO scores are in order but I have no idea how to find the "right" loan officer or online lender. I entered in our information on lendingtree dot com and my phone has been ringing off the hook. Who do you know to trust?

1) What are people's experiences in searching for the "right" on? Do you get referrals from friends and try to stay local?

2) Can the online lenders be trusted? I heard it's totally normal to get a mortgage loan approval and never see your loan officer

Any insight or tips would be greatly appreciated!

Re: Lender hunt is on! Overwhelmed...

Anonymous — Thu, 20 Feb 2014 15:48:27 GMT

Following. I'm going through the same thing. Best of luck!!!

Re: Lender hunt is on! Overwhelmed...

tony46231 — Thu, 20 Feb 2014 16:11:12 GMT

Lending Tree is just giving out your info to actual mortgage brokers or bankers. I asked a question the other day about lenders and the answer I got was to stay away from brokers and go with someone who actually funds their own loans. I've also read posts here that advise to stay away from Lending Tree.

I haven't started looking yet, but the first place I'm going to get a pre-approval from is my local credit union. Another is a referral from a real estate agent that is a friend of a friend. I would go with local banks and referrals from people who have actually used a specific lender.

I'm a big fan of technology. I don't mind not having a local insurance agent, but when it involves the biggest purchase of your life, my preference would be to see the lender face to face.

Re: Lender hunt is on! Overwhelmed...

ludawg23 — Thu, 20 Feb 2014 16:19:51 GMT

I also heard that getting a referral and staying local for a home purchase is the way to go. But many LO's say they met most of their clients but you should always work with someone who knows the area/market.

I have one guy right now in NJ who sounds great and has been very helpful. Also waiting for my sister/brother in law to get back to me with a local referral.

But the online lending business is COMPETITIVE!

Re: Lender hunt is on! Overwhelmed...

BrianB_The_Loan_Professor — Thu, 20 Feb 2014 16:28:21 GMT

These days local or not isnt as important as it once was - dont get me wrong your Realtor will tell you that it is but from what I have seen that is for their own comfort and isnt as much a concern for the buyer. With banking technology the way it is you do everything through email and fax so it doesnt matter if the LO is your neighbor or on the other side of the country. Look at all things when loking for an agent to handle your loan. Look at costs - rate - and dont forget to calculate in the quality of the LO. Having faith that they can get the job done is worth more than a little as the whole process is very stressful. Many banks/brokers will hire anyone give them a little training, expect to get a couple of loans from their friends or family and then hope that they figure it out. The problem is if you call a bank you dont know who you will get or what their experience is. You may get lucky but you may not.

Good Luck with the search

Brian

Re: Lender hunt is on! Overwhelmed...

Anonymous — Thu, 20 Feb 2014 17:04:28 GMT

I'm early in the process as well. I stayed away from online (I need to be able to talk in person) and I also stayed away from big banks. I'm going FHA so I started googling the lenders listed and sent emails out. Depending on the response I set up meetings. My realtor recommend a few. One of his lenders pretty much gave me the same rate as one I found but he was more thorough. I'm not 100% committed to one just yet but I say start communication and how they respond and answer questions to see if they will meet your needs.

One lender I contacted would take two days to respond to me. She didn't make the cut. The company had good reviews too. Oh well. Her loss

Re: Lender hunt is on! Overwhelmed...

Anonymous — Thu, 20 Feb 2014 20:37:36 GMT

I would not recommend Lending Tree.

I fell for it one year during a refinance and all it was is a way for Lending Tree to make money from lenders. The rates were very high, and I had to refi to get away from the lender.

This was about 10 years ago, so maybe thngs have changed, but Lending Tree is simply a sales tool for them, not for you.

Good Luck.

Re: Lender hunt is on! Overwhelmed...

ezdriver — Thu, 20 Feb 2014 20:40:50 GMT

Having the ability to look your loan officer in the eye is important in my opinion. A local loan officer has more to lose than an online or out-of-two source. In the "good old days" when there existed an extensive set of mortgage options, it made sense to chase the product offering the best fit. Today, all the available products make up a relatively limited menu. It is not about products and rates anymore as it is about service. If someone contacts companies like Lending Tree thinking those are lenders, then that person can benefit greatly from local, face-to-face servicing by the loan officer.

Re: Lender hunt is on! Overwhelmed...

fot1 — Fri, 21 Feb 2014 01:01:43 GMT

I highly recomemnd going with someone local.. I started with an out of town lender and eveything took 3 days.. Switched to a local lender and was so glad I did...

Re: Lender hunt is on! Overwhelmed...

Anonymous — Fri, 21 Feb 2014 02:40:41 GMT

My mother is our real estate agent and we started by asking her which loan officer to go through. She gave us three and we spoke with them before deciding on the right one. I agree with those above who say it's more about service than numbers.
If you have access to real estate agents, ask who they would recommend, because chances are, they will steer you in the right direction. This process is stressful enough without having to deal with an email occasionally updating you. Work with someone who will communicate in the time and fashion that works well for you.
Once you find the right LO, the process will become much clearer and less stressful

Re: Lender hunt is on! Overwhelmed...

axxy — Sun, 23 Feb 2014 18:37:26 GMT

But if you don't have any local lenders you like, and want to go with a big nationwide company, how do you choose which?

Re: Lender hunt is on! Overwhelmed...

Anonymous — Sun, 23 Feb 2014 19:34:16 GMT

I am working with a lender that is two states away from me. We have done our business solely on the phone and through email and I don't regret it at all. I tried working with a local lender and it was terrible. Her communication was a joke, especially compared to the lender that I decided to go with.

Re: Lender hunt is on! Overwhelmed...

Anonymous — Sun, 23 Feb 2014 23:02:20 GMT

My two cents worth is to ask your friends and family for references for an lender. We are moving to TN at the end of this next week and at the end of Jan got pre-approved with a national lender based out of GA. Once we actually met our realtor and looked at houses we ended up going through a local lender. It is a mortgage investment group that does everything in-house, knows the area, knows the appraisers and our LO is highly rated among most of the realtors where we are going. He matched the rates the other lender was offering, so we just felt more comfortable going with someone who knew the area. It didn't hurt that the company he works for has been the number 1 lender for THDA homes for the last 10 years and is the largest independent providers of single family homes in TN. Meet or talk to several lenders before making your choice, we talked iwth the other lender and liked him but at the end of the day were more comfortable using a local lender who has owrked with our realtor.

Re: Lender hunt is on! Overwhelmed...

edcampbell613 — Mon, 24 Feb 2014 13:49:32 GMT

With the "Big Banks" you can have major appraisal problems.

With the local lenders they usually have a list of appraisers that know the market area.

The appraisal is the "KEY" to the entire loan.

Now if you are buying a Homepath home, then you can use a major bank as no appraisal is needed for a standard Homepath transaction.

Re: Lender hunt is on! Overwhelmed...

ezdriver — Mon, 24 Feb 2014 19:50:38 GMT

axxy wrote:

But if you don't have any local lenders you like, and want to go with a big nationwide company, how do you choose which?

Use the same criteria to evaluate local lenders as you would non-local lenders. The only component that would be absent is the ability to have a face-to-face meeting should you so desire.

If I may ask, would you shed some light on reasons for not liking any of your local lendeing sources?

Re: Lender hunt is on! Overwhelmed...

BrianB_The_Loan_Professor — Mon, 24 Feb 2014 20:54:30 GMT

Someone neds to read the stickies at the top of the page

Re: Lender hunt is on! Overwhelmed...

StartingOver10 — Mon, 24 Feb 2014 20:58:14 GMT

I have notified mods of violation of ToS.

The links will be deleted. Thanks.

Re: Lender hunt is on! Overwhelmed...

Anonymous — Mon, 24 Feb 2014 21:10:44 GMT

I apologize about that everyone.

Re: Lender hunt is on! Overwhelmed...

StartingOver10 — Mon, 24 Feb 2014 21:20:46 GMT

James, why don't you edit your post to remove the link before the mods get to it this afternoon?

Re: Lender hunt is on! Overwhelmed...

Anonymous — Mon, 24 Feb 2014 21:23:04 GMT

Will do... thanks again!