Finding a Lender for your Home Purchase

Relationship with Local Bank or Credit Union

Maybe you already have a relationship with your local bank or credit union. This is a great way to begin your pre-approval process for a home loan. The bank or credit union has a record of your finances, they are local and they know the products that would best work for you.

Friend or Family Referral

Ask friends or family for a referral to a Lender. This is works well also. Friends and family will likely share their stories with you, good and bad. You know the lender or bank they used treated them right and they were happy. This is comforting to know and and you can feel good about working with someone that does not seem like a total stranger. This is a huge decision to purchase a home so you want someone that is highly recommended to help you.

Congratulations! You are proactive and have your pre-approval letter in hand, prior to ever starting your home search on-line, in the comfort of your home. That is great! You can now contact your Realtor or ask the Loan Officer to refer you to a Realtor to now begin your home search!

However, most often people do not think about choosing a lender until they have already began their search for their home or property. They see a house they like on an ad or on-line and they want to see it immediately. They call the agent on the ad or one of the agents recommended on a website and set up the showing. Their first point of contact in beginning the home search is with the Realtor. The problem is they may or may not be approved to buy the homes they are requesting to see. Nothing is worst than a buyer falling in love with a property they can’t afford or be approved for.

Now granted, there are mortgage calculators on most of the real estate and lender sites as well as Zillow and Realtor.com. You can plug in some numbers to determine a monthly payment. This gives buyers the ability to determine a purchase price based on the monthly payment they want. They are not taking into consideration taxes & insurance which can affect what price home you choose. The Mortgage Consultant will take this into consideration. They also will offer you a rate based on your credit score. The mortgage calculators do not know what rate you are qualified for so they will use the average rate for good credit that day.

Realtor Referral to a Lender

Ask your Realtor to refer you to their preferred Lenders so you can begin your pre-approval immediately. Realtor’s work hard to network with Lenders so they can be sure their clients are treated well. It is also important that the Lender and Realtor work well together. The communication between a Realtor and Lender is essential. If any issues or problems arise, they can work quickly together to come up with a solution. Realtors also value the opinion of the Lender when looking for properties for their clients. Especially with products like FHA, VA and USDA. These types of products have requirements that the property must meet in order to be insured and financed. The Lenders are able to look for red flags and know often, before an offer is submitted, that the home qualifies for these types of loans.

Often you will see on the MLS that a property can be FHA/VA/USDA financed. This may not be the case. It is always a good idea to ask your Lender to review the property details prior to putting in an offer to see if there are any details that stand out as an issue for these types of products. Keep in mind, they will not know 100% that the property qualifies. The appraisal is the deciding factor.

Get Pre-Approved

The Lender’s Mortgage Consultant or Loan Officer, will meet with you and ask you to bring tax records for the past 2 years, pay stubs, bank statements and your drivers license. They will start a file for you and as soon as you find a home they will be ready to submit your file to their underwriters.

Click Here for a Checklist of Documents to Bring your Loan Officer

Once your Realtor receives your pre-approval letter from your Mortgage Consultant, your Realtor will ask the Mortgage Consultant what numbers they used for the approval. Basically a scenario.

For example the Mortgage Consultant states they used a mortgage of $200,000, taxes of $3,500 a year and insurance of $1,000 a year. The Realtor knows that if the buyer chooses a property for $200,000 and the taxes are higher than $3,500 a year, they may not be approved for this mortgage. The Realtor will have the Mortgage Consultant run numbers again and determine what you would need to offer in order to make the taxes work with your approval.

Realtors Align with Partners they Trust

Remember, Realtors network every day in order to make sure they have found Partners they trust to work with their clients. One such Partner is a Mortgage Consultants. One that is ethical knows their products well and are a local market expert.

Underwriting your Home Loan

This brings me to the importance of the Mortgage Consultant working closely with their underwriters. The underwriter is who takes all the information the Mortgage Consultant gathers and then verifies everything. They will then give loan approval. This is why it is so important for the Mortgage Consultant to work closely with the underwriter. They can literally take a question or file to the underwriter and ask their opinion. This again is why it is important to ask your Realtor to refer you to your Loan Officer. A good working relationship between a Realtor and a Loan officer is vital. As well as good working relationship between the Loan Officer and Underwriter is priceless. Good communication is everything. So many issues that can be nightmares for the buyer and seller can be avoided because of this relationship between the Realtor and Loan Officer. Working well together ensures your Home Loan goes smoothly with underwriting and before you know it, you are ready to close on your New Home!

Lenders or Mortgage Brokers on TV

We all see the commercials on TV and on-line where you can call or go on line to get approved right away. It is possible and often it works out but I can tell you from experience, especially here in Montana, there are many things that a National Lender that does not also have a local presence, would not know or understand about a property. Your local lenders are experts in the area and in the State. They know what they are doing to help you to get the loan you need for that perfect property.

I absolutely have Lenders/Home Mortgage Consultants I prefer to work with and I do give out several referrals so my clients can choose who they are comfortable with.

One of the lenders I work with is Wells Fargo. I’d like to introduce you to Barry Conger at Wells Fargo. Barry Conger is a Home Mortgage Consultant. He has been in the industry for over two decades, he is a local loan officer and he works when he is needed, not just during business hours. He is very professional and he truly cares about every client. He knows the importance of building a relationship and he does whatever he can to make the process smooth and enjoyable. He specializes in both Jumbo Loans and helping first time home buyers. Barry Conger can help you with all of your mortgage needs.

Wells Fargo is a Nationwide lender, with a local presence. Barry’s office is located in Kalispell, Montana. He has local market knowledge with the benefits of a nationwide lender. Contact Barry today and get started on your mortgage pre-approval! Click Here to Get Started! or Click the image below to contact Barry Conger today!

Help with All Your Real Estate Needs

Let me know if you have any questions. Whether you are looking to buy or sell in Montana, I am here to answer your questions and help you with all your real estate needs! Contact me now!

P.S. Remember to let Barry Conger know I referred you 🙂