Thursday, January 20, 2011

Mortgage saavy - It's up to You!

I've processed a lot of mortgages in the last week.  Some good, some tricky, and some were amazing.  Let me tell you the story about an amazing mortgage success story not to brag because it had more to do with the client than it did with me. 

Last June a young lady came to my office because she was thinking of buying a house.  She had been out of university for 4 years and was working in her field of study.  She was happy with her job, had decent car almost paid for, her student loan was under control and she had managed to save some money for a down payment.  We filled in a basic application and I told her what information she needed to get together for the lender.  A few days later I had all her information in my office and got her a very complete pre-approved mortgage.  The only thing the lender was waiting to see was her offer of purchase and a copy of her MLS listing.  We discussed her price range, the type of property a bank would have no trouble lending on and we discussed condo vs freehold. 

Over the next several months my client's pre-approved mortgage sat in a file waiting for her to find a perfect home.  Every time the mortgage rates changed we notified the lender and they adjusted her rate giving her a new extended time line to buy.  The lender's policy was to hold the rate for 4 months and every time we adjusted the rate we extended her deadline.  Because we had done such a good job on her pre-approval the lender was willing to do whatever it took to help the client. 

This week my client found the perfect house, made and offer and within minutes of sending me her final information had a mortgage and was able to sign her waiver.  No hassle, no nail biting, and no conditions. And the best part of all - a five year mortgage at 3.49%.

My point is this.  If you want a perfect mortgage you need to be a perfect client.  And by that I don't mean you need to have a perfectly under control life.  You need to get your information organized.  The more work you do up front the better your pre-approval and the less hassle you have when you make an offer. 

So many times I have people tell me they had such a great experience with the financing and I always say "well, pat your self on the back because you did all the work".  I am just the adviser and it's always so nice to work with someone that I can listen to and they can listen to me. 

No comments:

Post a Comment

Your comments are not only welcomed but encouraged. It is not expected that you will always agree with what I have to say. After all, it's an opinion.