Protecting My Clients Interest Rate
The question you should be asking a loan officer besides ‘what’s your rate – what’s your fees’, is what is the rate going to be tomorrow.
My Rate Alert technology gives me real time data tracking of the mortgage backed security bond market to see if rates are trending up or down. If rates are trending up, we can lock before the mortgage bank can adjust the rate or pricing. If trending down, we know to float the rate and wait for the mortgage bank to adjust rates/pricing lower.
Comparing Mortgage Rate Quotes is Challenging and Time Consuming
The four biggest challenges consumers face when shopping or comparing mortgage rates:
==> Comparing apples to apples. Lenders make all kinds of different assumptions when quoting rates….If just one variable is different, your rate quote is VOID…..it’s useless. Why? Because LLPA’s may be the reason you will not qualify for the lowest interest rate.
==> Honesty of the loan officer. Think about it…does some kid working in a call center in Michigan have a reputation to protect? They have a quota of phone calls to make each day and often fall victim to the ‘yes man’ approach to sales. They tell you what you want to hear to keep the transaction moving to a point you won’t back out. You would be shocked at how often they under-quote rates in hopes that you will submit a loan application and pay for a ‘deposit’ or appraisal and then realize their rate is no better, or often higher, than other lenders.
==> Loan officer knowledge or experience. If I had a dollar for every person who chose their lender after ‘shopping’ them by rate who then ended up getting denied, often after paying for an appraisal and home inspection, I’d be a rich man. Loan officers are famous for 3 things….submitting loans that don’t qualify, not answering phone calls, and ‘misquoting’ a rate that sounds too good to be true.
==> Getting accurate or real time quotes. Information you see online, in ads, or hear on the radio are often 2-4 days or even weeks old! Admit it….the sole purpose of paid advertisers is to bait you into calling them, right? Most rates you see advertised purposely neglect to mention the rate is for a short fixed period (3, 5, 7 years) or they quote 10-15 year fixed rate loan programs which have lower rates than a 30 year fixed program.
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