Things to look for in a mortgage professional.

First off, the days of internet mortgages and 1-800-HOLD-FOREVER are long gone.

I can honestly remember screaming to the heavens in frustration every single time I saw a Buyer utilize a cut rate, working from their basement, inexperienced Loan Officer simply because their website looked cool or they were advertising a really low interest rate. I just wanted to yank the Buyer up by the scruff of the neck, shake them, and ask them why they were trusting all of their personal & private data to someone they never even met? As I survey the battlefield, and most of those guys are now out of business, I feel vindicated that I was correct, but also saddened at the mess they left behind. If you weren’t referred to your Mortgage Professional by family/friend, or they cannot offer you a face to face meeting I recommend running for the hills.

I can honestly remember screaming to the heavens in frustration every single time I saw a Buyer utilize a cut rate, working from their basement, inexperienced Loan Officer simply because their website looked cool or they were advertising a really low interest rate. I just wanted to yank the Buyer up by the scruff of the neck, shake them, and ask them why they were trusting all of their personal & private data to someone they never even met? As I survey the battlefield, and most of those guys are now out of business, I feel vindicated that I was correct, but also saddened at the mess they left behind. If you weren’t referred to your Mortgage Professional by family/friend, or they cannot offer you a face to face meeting I recommend running for the hills.

Check their credentials!

There is a HUGE difference between a Licensed Lender and a Licensed Realtor. Do you get your teeth worked on by the same person that changes the oil in your car? Why would anyone let themselves get talked into using a Realtor for home loans? The Real Estate course has nothing to do with loans, and no where on the Real Estate Exam does a loan question appear. I admit that it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to amortize over a 30 year period, but I’ll bet you could pull the top 50 Realtor into a room, ask them for an honest answer, and every single one of them would say that a Professional Realtor should not be making loans because of the intricate details and how quickly a Buyer can be misrepresented if the mortgage professional is not 100% on their game. Look, my Plumber knows how to unclog a drain, but darned if I’d use him instead of a Proctologist simply because he can save me a couple of bucks.

FHA and VA certification are a must.

Although FHA and VA require the Mortgage Professional to hold the proper certification to write FHA and VA loans, some have found “loopholes” in the system and are submitting their Buyers’ loans to “third party” vendors. All they do is make an adjustment to the job title, restructure payroll, and presto – they’re rocking and rolling. What this means to you is that the person you’ve chosen to represent you, that would later be held responsible in the event of mistakes, actually doesn’t represent you at all and you’ll be left all alone to plead your case if the law was broken. It’s actually rather simple, the FHA and VA both issue a certificate to us as proof that we’re approved to handle that type of loan. Business plans and audits are the way of life when funding these loans, while fraud is not allowed in any form.