Should you work with a local lender?

The other day, while on Facebook, I came across a stat that my friend and real estate educator, Jillayne Schlicke had posted in response which surprised me. Her comment was in response to an article she had shared on Zillow acquiring a mortgage company that has licenses in all 50 states.

Of course I asked her if I could quote her and not only did she say “yes”… she provided me with some great commentary that I’m going to share with you now.

Jillayne Schlicke, Mortgage & Real Estate Educator | CE Forward, says:

“The explosive growth of large, non-bank mortgage lenders licensed to do business in all 50 states means loan originators are just telemarketers, often centrally located in one city and they’re sitting at a desk waiting for the phone to ring while the nationally branded company’s ads run on TV and radio.  Once the telemarketer, also known as a “phone officer” takes the loan application, the file is sent to a massive loan processing center, where the real work is done.  LOs are typically new or newer because the pay is low and the hours are long, which leads to burnout.

The other area of growth is very small mortgage broker firms licensed in many states but not located in WA, that send out thousands and thousands of deceptive advertising via U.S. Mail targeted towards Veterans, senior citizens, or anyone who recently purchased or refinanced, trying to get the homeowner to refinance again at a deceptively advertised lower rate.

A smaller area of growth is people who might have gone to college in WA State or use to live here, but have moved to another state such as Idaho, Oregon, California or Arizona.  They still have friends and family in WA State, though they are located out of state. They obtain an LO license to do business here in Washington but do not write that many loans for properties located in Washington. The downside is when companies and their LOs do not do business in this state on a regular basis, our state guidelines, rules, laws, might not be followed 100% of the time.

I highly recommend WA State consumers work with a local, licensed loan originator who is located right here in this state; someone you can meet with face to face, and a physical office you can walk into, if you ever need to.  Purchasing a home and/or refinancing is arguably one of the largest financial transactions in your life, filled with emotion and stress.  If you think you’re gonna do this all online without talking to a human person, you’re lying to yourself.

I couldn’t agree more! Thank you, Jillayne 🙂

 

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