With the current real estate market being very competitive, there is a ton of mortgage professionals trying to earn potential buyers business. The problem with choosing a lender that your real estate agent does not know is that the real estate agent has lack of control throughout the transaction. From my experience this week, I felt that I had to base this week’s article on choosing the right lender.
I had finally found the perfect home for my buyers and this was the week that we were finally going to close. Normally, closings are the easiest part of the transaction, but I kept running into many roadblocks and mistakes dealing with the lender that my clients particularly choose to use. The first mishap was the lender forgot to attach our file to the wire, so when we got to closing, there’s no money to fund from the bank. Colorado is a table funding state which means you don’t get keys to a home unless there’s money. They also didn’t have figures for us, so we began signing the “I agree to pay this loan” package without seeing any figures on the paperwork. This had taken place on a Friday the loan was supposed to fund first thing Monday morning.
Come Monday morning, the loan did not fund on time, in fact, it didn’t fund until 4pm that day. The settlement statement was off by .06 cents, and the underwriter didn’t like the nationally accepted verbiage for the power of attorney and all documents were required to be resigned by both the buyer and the seller. My clients were supposed to have moved into their new home over the weekend, yet they couldn’t start moving till 4:30 PM that day.
All these events took place because they chose the wrong lender. The lender was a personal friend to the buyers and he had asked to earn their business. This was by far the ugliest close that myself or my team has ever done. All of this could have been avoided had my buyers chose the right lender. Why might you ask? Here are some reasons why it’s best to work with the right lender.
When a lender works deal after deal with the same agent, you learn how each one operates. Getting updates on where the file’s at, getting realistic deadlines that both parties can meet, knowing that both the agent and the lender will bend over backwards to get a deal done. These things only happen when that relationship is there. If there is no relationship, then you’re putting all your faith in someone that hasn’t proven they can get the deal done.
There’s nothing worse than telling your buyer you can’t move into your house when movers have your stuff packed and are being paid for by the hour. There’s nothing worse than having to resign all loan documents a second time because a lender dropped the ball. There’s nothing worse than not being able to fix the problems that my buyers have because it’s completely out of my control. Choosing the right lender can mean the life and death of a deal.
So my advice for future buyers is when choosing a lender, choose wisely. Ask your agent which lenders do they have relationships with or if you have a personal lender make sure they are in constant communication with your agent. It will save you so much time and disappointment in the long run.
