Broker versus Lender

Over the years I have had many people ask the difference between a mortgage broker and a mortgage lender. The answer can be complicated. Long story short if you are working with a quality loan officer the answer is not much. We here at Choice Finance have the best of both worlds. A mortgage lender can be quicker at times with preparing the final documents and underwriting. Not always though one of my clients came to me because Bank Of America told her that it would be 90 days until they can process an application on her purchase. I did it the same day. Large direct lenders will shuttle you between departments for each and every service they provide you. At Choice Finance, you have one contact and one only for every aspect of your loan from start to finish and that would be me and me alone. The level of service that you receive at a smaller company simply can't be matched in my opinion.

Another problem with direct lenders is most often they work for example Met Life which means they can only sell products that Met Life offers. If the loan is denied by Met Life that means you start over with someone new from the beginning. If the loan is denied by a mortgage broker like Choice Finance we can use another lender to close your loan. It's not preferred that this occurs but in today's mortgage market it happens more than it ever did. You don't start over with us just a new bank. We also know which banks prefer which types of loans, some lenders are aggressive on FHA ARMS for example and other want conforming jumbo that have been increased in high cost area's such as Montgomery County, MD and the surrounding counties in Virginia. It's not one size fits all these days for banks, very often a scenario is rejected by several banks before we find one that actually wants the loan. Remember banks appetite for loans these days is drastically reduced from just a few years ago.

That brings me to the greatest reason to use a broker versus one lender; RATE!!
I checked recently with BB&T and very recently with Prosperity Mortgage which is a division of Wells Fargo and Long and Foster here in the DC area. Using their assumptions today's Prosperity Mortgage was offering 6.25% with one point on a $440,000 loan.
Choice Finance is 5.625% with no points. So right off the top we are $4,400 less in fees.
The difference in monthly payment is $177 per month, $2,124 per year and if you live there for 30 years the difference is an amazing $63,720 out of your pocket over the life of the loan!! In fact we beat them across the board on every type of loan they had listed. I also noticed that rates didn't change on their site for a week even though we had at least 10 prices changes both good and bad. Makes ya wonder.

Fact is more often then not you can save money by shopping around a few different lenders but make sure you know where you are shopping; ie lender versus broker. Take a look at this site. http://www.choicefinance.net/mortgage-rate.htm

Again Choice Finance has both options available for you. We can underwrite and prepare the documents in house if that is the best option. Remember it is only an option we are using that for you because it makes the most sense and has the best rate not because we have no other choice.
It's the same story over and over, most people default to what is the easiest path, sometimes not what is in their best interest. Everyone claims the best rates and great service, no one ever says they will give you a high interest rate and have excessive fees. If only it were that easy right? My advice would be to use a personal referral but not everyone has that type of connection. Also even if someone does make that personal referral how do you know he wasn't taking advantage of the person that referred you? Talk to a few loan officers, get all the numbers from a few sources and then I would ask for referrals. Our are posted right on the web but I could always let you speak to a few if you really wanted to do so. You can find our at http://www.choicefinance.net/testimonials.htm

I hope this explained some of the differences between the various types of lenders. If you have any more questions just type them in or email me at brent@choicefinance.net

Thanks,
Brent