Welcome back to Your West Cobb!○ I’m MaKay Swanson, and I am lucky to live, work and play with the wonderful people of West Cobb County.
○ Today’s topic is How to choose a home lender.
○ Having been in real estate for 21 years I’ve worked with a lot of Lenders, some work endlessly to make sure everything stays on track, they answer their phone no matter when I call and they Leap Tall Buildings in a single bound. Others seem to find problems to bring our transactions to a screeching halt before the ink on the loan application is dry.
○ I’ve seen sellers reject offers and escrows crumble to pieces because the buyer chose the wrong lender. So it’s really important to choose your lender wisely.
○ THERE ARE 3 TYPES OF LENDERS IN THIS WORLD…
■ Big Banks
■ Online Lenders
■ Direct Lenders
○ Big Banks
■ Big Banks are the ones you see on every street corner, grocery store, and ATM. These are the banks where you deposit your money, pay bills, and cash checks.
■ The benefit of using a big bank is they are familiar. You’ve likely been a customer for years and that makes the idea of heading to your local bank less intimidating. Their published interest rates are very competitive, however, these interest rates usually come at a cost.
■ The pitfall of working with the big banks is often when it comes to customer service, response times, organization, and speed. Big banks usually don’t work on nights and weekends. They also have multiple people touching your account who may not even be in your time zone, which means there’s no single easily accessible point of contact when things go array. These factors not only create slow response times, they also have the potential to create confusion during the transaction when buyers need clear answers and have hard deadlines.
○ Online Lenders
■ Online lenders are the ones you see advertising at the top of Google when you start searching for a home loan.
■ The benefit of using an online lender is that they usually have decent rates and they’re lightning fast when it comes to delivering pre-approvals. Speed is their appeal.
■ But there’s a reason why they’re so fast…. Online lenders are like factories. They deal with cookie cutter loans like a champ, but if you need extra counseling or if you don’t fit neatly into their wheelhouse, then they aren’t the best option for you.
○ Direct Lenders
■ These are the ones that are a little harder to find, but they’re usually local, familiar with our market, and work with a lot of local Realtors®. As a result, they have a very informative and balanced view of the best loan products for buyers and what it takes to get an offer accepted in this market.
■ The benefit of working with a direct lender is that they take a consultative approach. They will sit down with you, go over all of the loan options available to you, and help you choose the right program that is going to be most beneficial to you and your unique situation. And since they have a vested interest in closing your loan, they will typically make themselves available on nights and weekends – when you need them most.
■ The only disadvantage of working with a direct lender is that they aren’t always the ones with the lowest rates. Sometimes, they are, but not always.
○ If you’re thinking about buying a home, start with a good lender who can help you determine your buying power and what programs are available to you.
○ Because I’ve been in business in the same market for over 20 years, I have developed a list of Lenders that I have worked with. I know the way they work and the way they deal with clients and how they handle the issues that come up along the way. I always provide this list to my buyer clients and recommend you speak to at least a couple of different people, because if you relate well with the people you work with you will have a much more stressfree transaction.
● Are you thinking now may be a good time to start a dialogue with a lender? Are you confused about who to call or where to start?
● I can help you through the process. Just send me a message or text me at 404-993-4474. No pressure, no sales tactics, just the help and guidance that you need!
○ Thank you so much for joining me today, I’ll see you in the next episode!!!
