So you have fallen in love with a house. You’re now serious about buying the home or refinancing, and you need a good mortgage lender on your side. Where do you go?
The first step is to ask friends, relatives, and trusted colleagues for referrals. Ask these people what they liked (or didn’t like) about their lender. Make sure to ask a diverse group of people for referrals to get an idea of similar experiences. For example, if you ask a wealthy client who has lots of rental property and has built a strong business relationship with their lender, it is likely that lender offers them the best possible rate and services the client exceptionally well. If this is not your case, take that into consideration.
Referrals are a great place to start because most of the time past clients have no monetary incentive to give a good referral. They do it because they honestly liked their lender, and felt they did a good job for them. Likewise, you can also ask your Realtor or appraiser for referrals. It is likely they work closely with one or two lenders they trust.
With the Internet and other technological advances these days, we are often inundated with information overload. Type in “find a good mortgage lender” in an internet search engine, and thousands of mortgage lender’s numbers will come up. While the internet can be a good tool for researching rates and fees, I would not suggest using it to find a lender.
The lender you use should be local to your area. Meaning, you should be able to physically meet him or her in their office at an accredited lending facility. A local will have more expertise in your market, and will offer greater accessibility.
Most importantly however, the lender you chose should compliment your buying experience, and make you feel as informed and comfortable as possible. There are lots of lenders out there, so you can afford to be picky.
If you don’t like his or her attitude, rates, fees, office, or hair-do for that matter, go find a lender that you do like. Shop around until you find one that offers you everything you are looking for both emotionally and financially. You will need to provide the lender with sensitive personal information including your income, assets, and liabilities. Thus, they must posses a high level of competence and professionalism.
