It happened AGAIN this month.
My phone rang – it was a buyer in meltdown mode.
Let’s call them the Smiths. They were totally freaking out.
The Smiths were pre-approved with one of the big national lenders from out of town (you’d recognize the name). But that was weeks ago.
The Smiths had just days left before closing. Deposits were paid. Moving vans were lined up. Everything was ready… EXCEPT for their new mortgage which was moving along like my kid getting ready for school after daylight savings time.
The real estate agent sent them our way to see if we could make a miracle happen.
Do Out of Town Lenders Offer Something Local Lenders Don’t?
It’s easy to understand why borrowers (and sometimes agents) fall for the marketing promises made by the big national lenders. After all, they’ve got millions of dollars pushing highly polished marketing campaigns.
And, they’ve got all this cool technology. An app. Upload your documents online. Chat with your underwriter.
But are the actual mortgage loans the big guys write any different from the ones we write locally?
Absolutely NOT!
Actually, we believe our loans are better.
Why?
It’s not just about rates or technology. Yes, rates are important and we’ll put our rates up against anyone’s. And technology only helps if it actually works.
What’s more important than an interest rate or gadgets is treating each client like they’re our most important client. That means giving them our full attention and making sure there are no surprises or interruptions along the way.
In other words, closing competitively priced loans smoothly and on time.
But sadly, we often run into clients like the Smiths who started with one of the big, national lenders from out of town and were treated badly, wound up with a rate much higher than they were initially quoted, or never closed at all.
Back to our story…
A Happy Ending for the Smiths
Luckily for the Smiths, Mardi Gras was done and over with.
When they called at 8:00 PM, we took their application, pulled credit, and pre-qualified them that night. We don’t normally do all this at 8pm, but given the circumstances, we did what needed to be done.
The following day, the Smiths sent in all of their documents so we could restructure the loan and issue a full underwriting approval.
In just a few days their loan was ready to close.
Mobile applications are great (ya we got that).
Uploading your documents is sexy (ya, we got that too).
What we don’t have is inexperienced order takers answering phones and taking applications.
Technology is a tool for starting the process and streamlining the experience, not for replacing the need for seasoned professional that know the business, know the market, know the products, and can take a difficult situation and make it work.
And THAT, my friend, is what local lenders like me provide to important people like YOU – our trusted referral partners!