When choosing a lender, know what kind of loan you need and what programs are offered by a lender. Your real estate agent should be able to help you with this. There are many different lenders and many different products:
If you are a first time home buyer there are products through government agencies. To broker these loans a loan agent must be certified through that agency. There are programs through the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) and in California there are programs through CalHFA.
Are you a teacher, Firefighter or Police Officer? There are both a Federal programs and CalHFA programs.
Are you self employed? Then you will need a lender who can either do no income verification (almost unheard of at this time) or understands how to work with Schedule C’s and 1040’s
Buying an investment property with more than 4 units? This is considered a commercial loan and requires a commercial lender.
There are other things to consider when choosing a lender. I believe that one of the more important factors is their communication skills. To get the best loans you have to ask questions, lots of questions. How well do they answer all those questions? Do they get back to you in a timely manner? Are they accessible? Always talk to more than one lender to compare both loan programs and their communication styles. Talk to them about your situation and see if you get specific answers. They all want to sell you something, but do they have something you want to buy? Are they truly knowledgeable about the different programs offered? Let your Real Estate agent know what you think of the lenders you talk to. We want to know when someone is not giving a high level of service or if you have found a new name to add to our personal lists of recommended lenders.
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