Does your mortgage need a Designer label?

As a mortgage broker  I can go to any mortgage lender in the market and there are a lot of them.  But there's one thing I find so strange.  Women, way more than men, don't feel so comfortable with "off market" lenders.

Off market or non-bank lenders are typically lenders that use alternate sourced funds to lend on mortgages.  For example there are a couple of lenders who use the Teachers Pension Fund or OMERS for their mortgages.  They are called "Mortgage Backed Security" or "MBS" lenders and they are essential in the market place for keeping rates competitive.  I wrote about them in a previous post.

When I consider a MBS lender for a client I have to be very particular.  The rules for using this money are a little restrictive especially on the pre approval.  Once you have a pre approval there is very little wiggle room to increase the amount or change closing dates once rates increase.  To explain what I mean would take all day and frankly you wouldn't read it.  You'll have to trust I know what I'm doing.

But here's the thing I don't understand.  Most times when I give my clients the option they usually want a well known lender.  Typically one of the "big five" with a recognizable logo.  It's not that I see anything wrong with that but I'm often curious as to why.  I would never talk anyone out of their decision because after all that is why I started Mortgages for Women.  I know better!  At the end of the day your mortgage needs to be about what you can manage and I guess there is some comfort in knowing your lender is "out there". 

Still, I would love to hear your feed back.  I've been doing mortgages for over 25 years and I think I'm a little desensitized to what it all means.  To me it's all debt and I would never myself shy away from an non-bank lender.  I'm looking forward to reading your comments on this.