Let’s talk Lakes Region community lenders. Who you choose as a lender can impact the outcome of your home buying process. I’ve included information on all 3 types of lenders so you can make a choice that makes the most sense for you.
Retail Banks
Retail Banks are the ones you see on every street corner, grocery store, and ATM. These are the banks where you deposit your money, pay your bills, and cash your checks. The benefit of using one of these big banks is that they often have the best rates.
However, these interest rates usually come at a cost. Retail banks have a long way to go to improve their customer service experience, response times, organization, and speed during the buying process. You typically will not find loan officers working on nights and weekends, either, which means that they might be understandably MIA when you need them the most.
There is also a chance that you’ll have multiple people managing your account, which means there’s no single point of contact if you have any issues. These factors can create slow response times and have the potential to create confusion during the transaction when buyers need clear answers and need them fast.
Online Lenders
Online lenders are the ones you see advertising on banners at the top of your Google searches when you start looking for a home loan.
The benefit of using an online lender is that they usually have pretty good rates. In addition, they’re super fast when it comes to delivering pre-approvals.
Speed is their appeal, but there’s a reason why they’re so fast…. Online lenders are like factories. They deal with cookie-cutter loans really well, but if you need extra help or have special circumstances, they probably won’t be the best option for you.
Direct Lenders
These are the ones that are a little harder to find; they’re usually local, familiar with our market, and work with a lot of local realtors.
As a result, they have a wide range of products for buyers and know what it takes to get an offer accepted in this market. The benefit of working with a direct lender is that they use an approach that includes listening to your specific needs and concerns.
They will sit down with you, go over all of the loan options available to you, and help you choose the right program that will be most beneficial to you and your unique situation.
In addition, because they are the one point of contact regarding your loan, they will typically make themselves available on nights and weekends – when you need them most.
The only disadvantage of working with a direct lender is that they aren’t always the ones with the lowest rates. Sometimes, they are, but usually not.
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If you’re looking for a list of trusted lenders that our brokerage has worked with, along with other information to help you in buying a home, fill out the form below for my free Buyer’s Success Guide.
