Why "Mortgage Broker" Isn't a Dirty Phrase

In today's real estate market you hear more and more everyday that you need to work with a direct lender, not a mortgage broker.  People say that brokers don't close on time, brokers take advantage of customers, and brokers are too expensive.  The truth is, none of those are true.  In today's market brokers have a huge advantage...we work with multiple lenders and have multiple options.  What if you're working with Bank of America direct lending, and they can't do your loan because your loan to value ratio is too high?  Do they just turn your loan down?  Working with a broker he can take your loan to someone else.  Maybe Bank of America can't do it, but someone else can.  Another example would be your debt ratio being too high for Wells Fargo direct lending...but again, maybe a broker has a lender who would love to take your loan when Wells Fargo is ready to deny it.

Another benefit to working with a broker is rates and closing cost.  As a broker, I can shop your loan to multiple lenders, and see who has the best rates.  Same thing goes for closing costs.  One of my lenders may be slightly cheaper than another, and in this market, who wouldn’t want to save a few hundred dollars in closing costs?  For instance, I’ve had to compete with direct lenders multiple times, and more often than not, I was able to quote better rates because I have more options at my disposal, or I was able to quote the same rate, but at a lower cost.  Just recently I was competing for an FHA Streamline loan with a direct lender.  While our rates were the same, he was charging one point, I was at 0 points.  It was a no brainer, the borrower took my loan, which had the same rate, but was 2,500 cheaper.

Brokers have a lot of benefits, we're able to get better rates, lower costs and have a lot more flexibility in our guidelines.  Next time you're shopping for a mortgage, make it a one stop shop by working with a local mortgage broker.

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