I received a call today inquiring about our services and the possibility of transferring their existing loan to us.  That’s good news right? Well, yes and no, bad news is that they were supposed to be closing on their home purchase today! They received a call last night from their existing lender, one of which claims to have the highest ratings per J.D. Powers & Assoc and that they can “quicken” the process, informed the buyer that they will be unable to close on their loan tomorrow.  They stated that there are additional loan conditions that need to be met, one of which would be bringing more money to the closing.  This would bring the buyer whom originally was putting 3.5% down would now be required to put 8.5%.

I wish I could say this was the only call I’ve ever received with this situation but unfortunately this is not the case, we have been seeing an increasing number of calls with similar situations and the majority coming from the same mortgage company.

As first time home buyers you may not feel comfortable and/or are uncertain as to where to begin your home buying process so many times we may be directed by very popular home buying websites.  Whether it be websites that are credit score companies that monitor your credit, properties for sale, home values (bankrate.com, realtor.com, zillow.com, creditKarma) etc. they will have a link and/or notifications of rates and mortgage companies. What may be of surprise to you is that these links are paid advertisements.  These larger mortgage companies have a vast budget for advertising and are able to place their company on multiple websites.  Because many of us feel they are trusted sources we also also feel that they wouldn’t be on their page if they weren’t recommended, right? Again, unfortunately that is not the case, these companies pay to be recognized on these popular websites.

I wish there was a way that when we click on a referred or recommended company and a “caution” signal flashed or “alarm” sounded when to notify you that this is a paid advertisement AND take it a step further had a signal for “beware” low customer service ratings per Google/Yelp/Bing.  Unfortunately we don’t have such a service so it is our responsibility to take that extra time and do our due diligence.

I always recommend researching a mortgage company AND the loan originator before ever completing a loan application, running your credit and/or sending in your financial documents.  When researching a loan originator they are required to list their NMLS number and are required supply the link to their license registration.  Remember in finding a good lender it goes beyond looking for the lowest rate!

If you have any questions or would like to inquire about our services please contact us.