How to Recognize a Good Mortgage Broker
A mortgage broker is not the same as a real estate agent. While real estate agents take care of all of the aspects of buying and selling a home, a mortgage broker specializes in getting a home buyer a good deal on a mortgage.
You may want to get a mortgage broker if you are confident that you can take care of the process of searching for a house yourself, but want someone to help you through the paperwork of getting financing for it. Some people use a mortgage broker in addition to a real estate agent, but this is a move you need to consider very carefully before undertaking it. Some real estate agents feel that bringing a mortgage broker into the deal is an affront to their ability to handle the financial aspects of buying a home. You certainly don't want to end up with a turf dispute in your backfield when you need to be able to focus on getting the house that's right for you at a price you can afford.
If you decide that you need a mortgage broker, you'll want to make sure that you get a good one. A bad or incompetent mortgage broker can actually be worse than none at all, and can actually stick you with a worse deal that will leave you paying far more over the life of your loan. However, a really good mortgage broker can make the whole process go so well that you come out of it feeling good about the deal instead of wondering if you've made a big mistake.
How do you recognize a good mortgage broker? First, it is absolutely essential to do your homework. Find out who is available in your area and learn what reputations they have. Get references from people who have used them to close a mortgage within the past six months, and follow up on those references.
Ask their previous customers how they were to work with in terms of availability and professional behavior. Was the broker on time for appointments, or were appointments frequently rescheduled or canceled? Did these customers feel like their concerns were listened to and taken into account? Did the mortgage broker work with them to help determine what they could afford, or was (s)he focused entirely on getting them into the most expensive house they could get a mortgage for, and thus the biggest commission possibility?
When you talk with the mortgage broker, really listen to them. Don't just listen to hype -- look for the gaps in what they say, the things they leave out or brush over as unimportant, and most of all, be sure to ask plenty of questions. Don't be afraid to ask hard questions out of a desire to be polite or avoid putting them on the spot. The broker should also be able to list available types of mortgages and borrower programs by memory. It is not a good sign when they constantly have to look at their papers to double check things. If they're not up on the business, they could really fumble your loan badly. Your financial future is more important than letting them save face.
Make sure you understand exactly what commissions and fees are involved in using their services. You do not want to get surprised when it comes time to actually close on the mortgage that you will be charged administrative fees by the mortgage broker's office.
By making sure to do all your homework beforehand and knowing exactly what you are getting in a mortgage broker, you can help make sure that you have an excellent experience closing your mortgage.
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