If you are in the market for a mortgage loan, your best bet is to shop your financing needs across as many lenders as possible to get the best deal and find the best person to help you.
If you were buying a car, how would you go about it? Would you just drive to the nearest dealer and plop down your money? Probably not. Instead, you would research the car you wanted, and then research the dealers. You would look for the best price, obviously, but you would also look for the deal with the best ratings for customer satisfaction. The process works much the same with mortgage financing, but many people mistakenly don’t shop their loan needs.
When shopping your mortgage, you need to talk with different mortgage professionals. You want to know a couple of different things, including the following:
1. Established Business: During the recent hot sellers market, it was hardly a secret that there were a lot of people getting in on the action. Everybody and their brother suddenly became a real estate agent or mortgage broker. There is nothing wrong with that, but you want someone experienced to handle your needs. Ask the company/person you are talking with how long they have been in the business, whether they are registered with the Better Business Bureau and so on. If issues occur during the application process, you want someone who knows how to deal with them.
2. Personal Experience: Again, we are looking at the experience level of the person you are dealing with. Ask them if they own a home. If so, what type of loan do they have on it? Why? The answers should give you an idea of how they view financing, information you can compare to your own situation.
3. Licensing: Always ask if the person is licensed. They should be. If so, get their license number and check it against the relevant department in your state. The online records will often show whether there have been complaints against the person.
When seeking out financing for you new home, it is important to remember that you should shop around. Try to find the most experienced person or company offering the best rates.
Dan Lewis is with Great Western Mortgage - providing
Sacramento home loans for bad credit situations.
