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How to choose a mortgage lender you feel comfortable working with.
I tell people working with your mortgage lender is like a marriage! You are a team and have to feel comfortable enough to be honest and have good communication with each other. In this video I give my questions you should ask your mortgage lender before and during the mortgage process.
💥 Bonus 💥 I also include my top three tips to help make sure you get to a smooth, on-time closing–which is what we all want, right?!
Here is a link to download my Home Loan Finance (Long) Checklist to help you prepare for the mortgage process: Home Loan Finance Checklist
Watch On YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rr02xrodhU
Because I'm doing this all day, everyday, and you're trying to live your life right? And buy a house, which is hard 'cause you're juggling both, so extra things like that, if your loan officer would do would be really, really helpful and could save you time and money.
Hey guys, I'm coming to you from the kitchen today, but don't worry. I'm not gonna cook for you. I promise that is not something you would ever want. I'm gonna stick to mortgages. So let's get started.
Today's video, we're gonna talk about what should you ask your mortgage lender.
I am Stephanie Weeks, and this is your one-stop shop for anything and everything mortgage education. I drop new videos every Tuesday and Saturday, so please hit the bell to be notified and be sure to like the channel and subscribe.
Why should you listen to me? Well, I have helped thousands and thousands of customers with their mortgage financing, over the last 17 years, I wrote a best-selling book called "Mortgage Peace," and I've been recognized in the top one percent in the nation for loan officers in production for several years run. And as of 2019, I've also been recognized in the Scotsman Guide for Top Originators.
So what are the top three things that you should ask your potential mortgage lender?
Number one, ask them what their process looks like. Explain their pre-approval process and what is involved in that. Ask them number two, will you be dealing with them directly from start to finish? And if not, how many people can you expect to be communicating with you through the process? Number three, be sure to ask what loan types they do. What if they don't do rural development and that's gonna be your best fit? Not every lender actually offers every loan type. So make sure that you ask that as well.
Those are my top three questions that you should ask your potential mortgage lender. So now that we've covered the top three questions, let's break it down a little further and then what do you ask next.
Well what you wanna know is do they shop rates for you? Meaning, do they have one bucket that they're pulling from and shopping, or are they shopping multiple servicers for you? That can make a difference on the rate options that they have to offer to you. The other thing that you wanna do as well, is ask them about their communication through the process. Will you be getting updates? What I find is the most difficult in mortgage lending is the lack of communication. You're wondering like, did they get my documents, did they not? Did they like 'em, did they hate 'em? Who looked at 'em? What's goin' on? What's happening next? What do I do, what do they do right? So you wanna ask them about their communication and updates through the process so you know what's going on. Another thing that would be great to ask as well is you wanna ask them do they shop title companies for you, do they shop home insurance for you? Just different things that they can do as a courtesy. I shop home insurance and title companies for clients. I have no ownership in any of those companies. I don't want ownership in any of those companies. I get no referral fees for any of those things. It's just a courtesy. Because I'm doin' this all day, everyday, and you're trying to live your life right? And buy a house, which is hard 'cause you're juggling both, so extra things like that, if your loan officer would do would be really, really helpful and could save you time and money.
So you know the top three questions to ask, you know the things that follow up from there to ask. Now let's fast forward a little bit. They have told you that your best option is whatever.
You're pre-approved, what is your next question? What loan type is it? Why do you feel like that loan type is the best for me and my scenario, and how long I'm living in the house, and the information that I've given you? That way, you understand the program that you're getting and the why behind that. It really just, gosh guys. I mean, knowledge is power, but really, applied knowledge is power. And loan officers are human, okay? We're trying to look into your life and wonder what's gonna happen, and what do you want, and what do you like, and what do you need, and looking into the future, and all these things. So we could miss something. If you actually communicate with us and say
"Great okay, that's great for the pre-approval."
"That's great for that type of loan."
"Kinda talk me through why you picked that for me."
That opens up a great line of communication that can only help the both of you have a better transaction together. All right, you know the top three questions, you know the follow-up questions, we fast forwarded to now you're pre-approved, and what do you ask then and open those lines of communication. So my final piece to this puzzle today is that you want to then go to the next step further to ensure a smooth and on-time closing, right? Because that's what we all want, a smooth and on-time closing.
So here are a couple of quick tips to help you with that. Number one, your loan officer is your advocate. They're like your attorney taking you into court and the underwriter's gonna be the judge and the jury. So you wanna be completely honest and communicate very, very well with them. That's the first tip.
The second tip is have patience. You know, guidelines are changing insanely right now. And I remember one year, many years ago where we had over 365 changes in a year. That's more than a change a day. That's a bit for us to keep up with, right? So sometimes we don't have instant answers to the questions. We may have to go look them up. We may have to talk with them an underwriter. We may have to call Fannie, Freddie, Jenny, via we might have to call them directly if the guidelines are not clear, and we're trying to get that answer for you. So definitely, definitely please have patience with your loan officer. The other thing is, if they ask for it, they need it. Listen, time is money. And I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure we can all agree that nobody wants to do unnecessary work. If we have to ask you for something and then ask you again and then ask you again, and then you argue with us about it, listen, I'd rather not ask for the item. So if the item has been requested, there's very likely a reason for it. So just be compliant. Remember, we're all a team and we're all trying to get to the same end goal here.
My free download for today, and I'm gonna drop the link in the comments below. But my free download for today is home financing checklist, the long version. It tells you what you can expect on the lengthy side of documentation to produce. Not the short version, but the longer version in case you might need extra documentation. And then it also goes into explaining some things about why the documents are needed and also tips to make sure that you provide it the right way. If you have enjoyed the video and if you feel like you now know how to pick the best mortgage lender and what to ask, give me a double thumbs up in the comments. Let's use our emojis today. And let me know what you think, thanks. I hope you guys enjoyed the video. I hope that you subscribed to the channel. I hope that you shared it with some friends and family. And I hope that you've maybe left me some comments because I love them.
You could even direct message me as well. Let's connect on social media.
My Insta is _therealstephanieweeks. And I'm gonna drop some links to a couple other videos here that you can check out as well.
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