Do Local Loan Officers Give Better Service
Posted on November 2, 2009
Filed Under Unemployment Will Cause The Most Foreclosures In 2009! |
When the time has come to speak with a loan officer about home financing options is it better to work with a local loan officer or one in a call center based in a different state?
It all depends - do you prefer personal service or a bigger bank to work with.
Without knowing the pros and cons, it would be something that would be easy to mess up — meaning you could use someone that is based in Austin, Texas as your loan officer to buy a house in Atlanta, Georgia and end up having it be a disaster. Or, just as likely — you could use a local loan officer who isn’t competitive with the larger, national lenders.
There is at least one simple thing that you can do to avoid either of these situations — ask around.
A great place to start is to start by asking your Realtor. Chances are pretty good that your Realtor knows some great local loan officers and a few at a big bank too.
After your Realtor refers you to a couple, you will want to speak with at least a couple of them in person or over the phone. It is common to quickly learn that each loan officer is quite different — and we are not talking about interest rates. Some loan officers are clueless and have no idea what they are doing and others are very sharp and super informed. Some make you laugh, some make you cry. Some are easy to work with, some are abrasive. In the end, you want to find someone who you feel will be easy to work with and is knowledgeable about mortgages in general – so the first step is to interview at least a couple so you can compare and contrast.
After shopping for a local lender, you may also be well served to speak with a national lender with a loan officer who works somewhere that is probably out of state. When speaking with these loan officers, the best way to find out if they are going to know about helping someone who is buying a house in your local market is to ask them one question:
How soon can you get the pre-approval to my RE Agent?
If they have no idea what you are talking about, then you have your answer and you can end the interview right there.
The truth of the matter is that it doesn’t matter all that much where your loan officer is located, just that you know what the differences are!
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