As a Realtor in New Hampshire referring a client to a good mortgage broker can make or break a deal.
With so many options out there, how do you choose a mortgage broker? What should you look for? Well here are my top reasons on what to look for when choosing a mortgage broker or lender when buying a house in NH.
So let’s dive right in and take a look at the top 5 reasons to choose a mortgage broker and what makes a good mortgage broker.
- Availability! You want somebody that you can call at 10:00pm at night and they will answer the phone for you, same goes with the weekend when you will most likely be looking at houses. You won’t get this service with those big online vendors, I won’t say any names here!
- First Time Buyer Programs You want a mortgage broker that has access to good mortgage programs. For example, some lenders don’t have access to the New Hampshire First Time Home Buyers Programs that I recommend to clients.
- You will also want to find a broker who can do credit repair, they will be able to recommend, for example, that you pay off X credit card for $554 and this will increase your credit by 13 points. This will bump your credit score to the next bracket and decrease your interest rate thus saving you a ton of money long and short term. Especially for this big brackets like 700 make a big difference.
- Experience. Using an experienced lender can really help. Let me give you can example that happened to a client of mine recently. In our search for a home we were looking at a home that was a good rehabilitation candidate and planned on using a 203(k) loan. While the client was qualified for a regular FHA loan, they did notify the lender that they were pursuing a 203(k) rehab loan through the FHA. When it came down to making offer, that is when the lender actually did the research and found out that my client did not qualify for what they originally. Why? Because the lender lacked experience especially with rehab loans and did not realize the the debt to income requirements for this program were different than a regular FHA loan. The debt to income ratio can be pushed up to 57% for a regular FHA Mortgage while the 203(k) mortgage can only go up to 50%. This lack of experience essentially lost the client the house.
- Interest Rates. This is one of the most important factors to consider. The lower the interest rate you get the more home you can afford and the lower your payment will be. Find a company and mortgage broker that offers good rates and this will save you a lot of money long term.
- Closing Costs. Do your research and find a broker that has competitive closing costs. I’m not talking about your escrow costs here, but the actual charges from the lender. Watch out for “Junk Fees” as Credit Karma calls it. “Junk” or “garbage” fees are excessive fees tacked onto your mortgage. Fleming notes that some lenders try to pepper their closing costs with so-called commitment fees, which are oftentimes not legitimate. If you see a fee that seems excessive or out of place, such as an application fee or mortgage rate lock fee, you should press your lender for more details. They also wrote up a nice article to reference on all the fees to watch out for in a closing here.
Those are the 6 main points that make a great mortgage broker in my opinion. If you would like a good recommendation and are planning to buy a home in New Hampshire, give me a shout! I love referring people to my network, and using the Realtor’s preferred lender(s) is a great way to guarantee the service you deserve. Realtors have already developed those relationships and know exactly what to expect.
Get in touch with me by sending an email to: Pat@nhlistingservice.com or you can reach me here Patrick Flaven
