Arizona Mortgage Rates for August 29, 2008. (BK-0907309)
Mortgage Related Tip of The Week: Finding a Great Loan Officer
Last week, I attempted to answer Susan’s question of “Is it easier to get a mortgage at a small bank or a larger one?” and started my answer to her question by stating:
In my opinion, the single most important factor in getting the right loan for your needs at the best possible price is your loan officer.
After sharing my first tip, I promised more tips in coming weeks. So for all those of you who waited on the edge of your seats for Tip #2 on “How To Find The Right Loan Officer” series… here goes…
Tip #2: Ask the first loan officer you speak with to refer you to the best 2 loan officers they know.
When you speak with the first loan officer that one of your Realtor friends referred you to about your situation, at the end of your conversation, ask the loan officer to refer you to 2 other loan officers who they think are “the best in the business”.
Asking a loan officer to refer you to their competition will tell you a lot about them. Did they refer you to a loan officer that turned out to be great? That speaks volumes about them. Did they refer you to a loan officer who was green, wouldn’t call you back or just somehow turned out to be less-than-stellar? That too will speak volumes about the way the first loan officer does business.
In my experience, the truly great loan officers know other truly great loan officers — and all of them are so busy that if they lost a client to one of the other great loan officers, it wouldn’t bother them a bit. Almost all great loan officers are customer-focused, so the only thing that generally seems to matter to them is “was the customer taken care of” — regardless of who “wins” the deal.
This is a tip that apparently very people know of because I rarely, rarely see it done. When it is done? I have yet to see a situation where the customer didn’t benefit in a big way.
So as a quick recap — When shopping for the right loan, start by looking for the right loan officer and we now have two tips to help you find a great loan officer:
Tip #1: Ask for a referral from a Realtor that you personally know and like.
Tip #2: Ask the first loan officer you speak with to refer you to the best 2 loan officers they know.
Coming next: Tip #3!
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