Title:
How To Find
Mortgage Lenders In Houston
Word Count:
621
Summary:
How to find the
best lenders
All loan officers will tell you that theire company's the best and provide you
with a list of reasons to back up their claim. But if you run into the same
loan officer years later, chances are good that he not only but works for a
different kind of lender, he'll tell you the new lender he works for is much
better – and offer another list of reasons why.
In the past, most people went to portfolio lenders because they excelled at
closing deals. ...
Keywords:
Article Body:
How to find the
best lenders
All loan officers will tell you that theire company's the best and provide you
with a list of reasons to back up their claim. But if you run into the same
loan officer years later, chances are good that he not only but works for a
different kind of lender, he'll tell you the new lender he works for is much
better – and offer another list of reasons why.
In the past, most people went to portfolio lenders because they excelled at
closing deals. Over time, however, mortgage bankers and brokers have become
more important, and agents have gone along with the changing trend. Usually a
realtor will direct you to a loan officer who has a demonstrated track record
of service and reliability, but sometimes a realtor will recommend a loan
officer who works for a lender with whom the realtor is affiliated.
Sometimes it's more important to choose a good loan officer than a loan
company. A loan officer has two very important functions – they serves as your
advocate in getting the loan approved, handling all the negotiations for you.
Their second function is to deliver quality loans, so you need an agent who's
dependable and ethical.
As for lending institutions, each type of lender has its own strengths and
weaknesses. Quality varies within each branch office depending on the loan
officer, the support staff and other factors.
Different types of Mortgage Lenders
•Mortgage Bankers
A mortgage banker is a lender with enough assets to originate individual loans,
as well as to create pools of loans that they sell to loan investors. Any
company that does this, no matter how small or large the company, is considered
a mortgage banker. Some service the loans they provide, but not all of them
do.
•Mortgage Brokers
Mortgage brokers are companies that originate loans for the purpose of
re-selling them to other lending institutions. The broker establishes
relationships with various companies. Many mortgage brokers that also act as
correspondents, which is how they can be mortgage bankers as well as mortgage
brokers. Mortgage brokers also deal with lending institutions that have
wholesale loan departments.
•Wholesale Lenders
Portfolio lenders and mortgage bankers act as wholesale lenders, serving
mortgage brokers for loan origination. In fact, some wholesale lenders don't
even have their own retail branches, relying mainly on mortgage brokers for
their loans.
•Portfolio Lenders
A portfolio lender is an institution that lends its own money and originates
loans for itself. They're lending for their own portfolio of loans and aren't
concerned about re-selling them right away. Portfolio lenders are usually large
banks or savings and loans.
•Direct Lenders
Direct lenders fund their own loans and can be small or large lenders. Large
banks and savings and loans, as well as smaller institutions, have “warehouse”
lines of credit from which to draw money for funding the loans they give.
Direct lenders are generally (but not always) portfolio lenders or mortgage
bankers.
Banks and savings and loan have deposits with which to fund loans, but usually
use warehouse lines of credit instead. Smaller institutions also have warehouse
lines of credit for the purpose of funding loans. Direct lenders are usually,
but not always, mortgage bankers or portfolio lenders.
•Correspondents
“Correspondent” refers to a company that handles home loans in its own name;
then they sell those loans individually to a larger lender, or “sponsor.” The
sponsor serves as the mortgage banker, reselling the loan.
•Bank and Savings & Loans
Both savings and loans and banks usually operate as mortgage bankers and/or
portfolio lenders.
•Credit Unions
Credit unions are generally correspondents, although if a credit union were
large enough, it could be a portfolio lender and/or mortgage banker, too.