https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJl2HIyLdRk

Understanding the Lender's Process:

• The discussion begins with the importance of having a lender who fully underwrites your loan.
• The goal is to explain the lender's process so that clients understand how things are handled.
• Emphasis is on transparency and ensuring clients feel confident in their choice of lender.

Two Ways Clients Come to the Lender:

• Clients either call with questions and want to understand the lender's approach, which is encouraged.
• Alternatively, clients may fill out applications independently after watching informative videos.
• The lender appreciates questions and aims to provide prompt answers within 24 hours.

Application Process:

• The lender requests clients to text or email their full name after filling out an application to ensure no applications are missed.
• Applications are first reviewed by Jolene to identify any red flags or issues.
• Sam or Jen, depending on their state licenses, subsequently review and contact clients for further discussion.

Role of the Lender in Application Review:

• The lender stresses the importance of a phone conversation to thoroughly review the application.
• Questions asked during the phone review are aimed at understanding income sources, payment structures, and financial situations.
• Assets and employment history are also discussed extensively to ensure proper structuring of the loan.

Fully Underwriting Every Pre-Approval:

• The lender clarifies the commitment to fully underwrite every pre-approval.
• Clients are encouraged to provide all requested documentation promptly to expedite the process.

Introduction to the Processing Team:

• The lender introduces two members of the processing team, Chadwick and Maria.
• Chadwick is described as relaxed and specializing in jumbo loans, while Maria is known for her speed and precision.
• Both team members are highly trusted by the lender.

The Value of a Comprehensive Pre-Approval:

• The lender explains that they prefer thorough pre-approvals to avoid issues during the contract stage.
• A full underwrite helps identify and address potential problems early in the process.
• A stronger pre-approval also makes the offer more attractive to sellers.

Understanding and Preparing for the Home Buying Process:

• The lender offers a comprehensive phone call to discuss closing costs, payments, and other financial aspects.
• Clients are advised on what to expect during the home buying process.
• The lender's approach is to make the process as stress-free as possible.

Recommendation of Real Estate Agents:

• The lender recommends strong real estate agents and emphasizes that they don't receive referral fees.
• The goal is to ensure clients have experienced agents who can help them find the right property.
• The lender believes that a good agent is key to success in the home buying journey.

Team's Commitment and Approach:

• The lender emphasizes the team's commitment to clients' success.
• The team will never pressure clients into buying a home they are uncomfortable with.
• Unlike some lenders, they prioritize client well-being over financial gains.
• The lender's team is dedicated, caring, and treats clients' finances with care.
• They aim to provide affordable services and are willing to go the extra mile.

Closing Remarks:

• The lender invites clients to reach out with questions, whether they plan to buy a house soon or in the future.
• The team is here to help clients make their homeownership dreams a reality.

Today, we're going to be talking about why you want a lender who will fully underwrite your loan and what to expect when working with a lender, okay? So, I'm going to walk you through my team process so that you guys know the way we handle stuff, and that way, if you're working with another lender, you may go, "Wait, what? Where are they?" Or you may be like, nailing it, they're just like Jen, I'm in good hands. Okay, so let's talk about our process.

There are two ways that people usually come to us. Either they call us first because they have questions and they want to know how we're going to look at stuff, which we love. We love answering questions all day. I have actually staffed up even further so that we can answer more questions because I know last year it got a little crazy at times where we were booked out far too much. And I want that. I want you guys to be able to get a hold of us within 24 hours. So, get on the calendar, ask your questions. Okay, we're happy to talk about it because sometimes people will be like, "Well, this is my income. I'm worried about this." Okay, let's talk about it.

The other way is people just fill out applications. So, either someone's talked to us, and they're now filling out an application after the conversation, or they've watched a bunch, excuse me, of my videos, and they're ready. They're filling out that application. Okay, cool. So, the application gets filled out. I always ask everyone, I say, "Hey, look, can you text or email me and let me know your full name and that you filled out the application?" The reason I do that is because I want to make sure we're not missing any. Because sometimes what will happen is an application will get diverted to the wrong person. Tech is not perfect. It's really good, but it's like, for instance, if you just went to the rate.com website instead of my specific link, you could end up with our call center, and I don't want that happening. Also, sometimes people literally type in the wrong lender but they think they're going to get me. So, that's why I always want to problem solve as quickly as possible.

So, as soon as I get that, I send it to Jolene on the team. Every single morning, Jolene's in California, but she's on her computer probably 6:30, 7 A.M, sometimes a little later, 7:30 A.M. She logs in every single application and the corresponding State. And then either Sam or Jen reviews the application. The applications they're reviewing is based on the states that they're licensed in. Very important. Okay, I love mortgage licenses, as you guys know. I'm licensed in 48 states now. Look, if something comes through and it's incredibly complex, I'm going to be involved immediately. Immediately. But generally, what's going to happen is, you know, Jolene looks at the application upfront just to see if there's anything glaring like, you know, is there a red flag here so that she can let the other gals know? The other gals call you. Okay, so important, guys. I can't. I was thinking about this as I filmed. I tried filming this before, it was too long, but a lender giving you a pre-approval without ever talking to you on the phone, that's a really bad idea. Applications are not perfect, and there are so many guidelines that go into how we calculate income that you really need to go through that application over the phone. It's something that my business is built on. You know, I can sit there and go through an app, and when I'm going through an app, the questions I ask, you know, sometimes people are like, "Whoa, Jen, I'm asking everything the underwriter is going to ask." I'm, I'm trying to puzzle-piece together in my head how I'm going to structure your file. Okay, and that's what a good lender does. A good lender goes through the application line by line by line. "Hey, I see that you say you make five thousand dollars a month. How do you get paid? Is that hourly? Is it commission? How are you paid?" Right? Very important. You know, because you're like, "Why make five grand? Why does it matter?" It matters with commission. You need it to your history. If it's a combination of base, bonus, and overtime, we have to do a two-year average on bonus and overtime. If it's hourly and it varies, we have to do. There's a lot of rules into it. So, the reason we're going through that application on the phone is not to annoy you. It's because we're trying to figure out how to structure the loan properly. Okay, assets, same things. "Hey, I see that you put you have XYZ in this account that's twenty thousand dollars. Your down payment's 50. Where's the other 30 coming from?" Right? Questions like that. We're problem-solving, you know, we're looking to see if there's anything. If you have been at your job for two years, we're talking about that. If it's less than two years, we're talking about that. We're having conversations, and the reason is we're trying to make sure we properly structure your loan from day one. A lot of people assume, "Oh, well, the lender, if I just send my pay stubs and stuff, they'll figure it out." Maybe, maybe not. It depends on the lender. A lot of this stuff, the way it gets served up to an underwriter will depend on whether or not you get the loan. You know, and I'm sure there's probably someone in the comments who can attest to this. I've been on the phone with buyers, you know, during those calendly times where you can book to talk to us, and I'm, I'm literally working through, okay, this is when you're going to apply, you know, be prepared to write a letter of explanation about this, this is what the underwriter is going to find confusing, this is what we have to approach, I'm going to need this, this, this, and this, okay? It's based on a five-minute conversation, and the reason I'm doing that is because I know that if I get specific things, I can make the loan work. But I know without those specific things, it's going to be brain damage. And that's what happens, you know, if you're working with a lender who's not properly structuring upfront, you end up being one of those buyers where you're like, "Oh my God, and then they asked for this, and then they asked for this, and then they ask for this, and it's constantly peeling back the onion, right? And then they wanted this, and that, and then they denied me," whereas it's like if at first you look at the picture and you know how to put the puzzle together, right, you have a much better chance of success. So, we go through the application with you to make sure everything's correct. Then we ask for documentation to verify everything. Everything gets checked out. We fully underwrite every pre-approval.

Now, if you say, "Jen, I don't want to do the work. I want a weak pre-approval," okay, but you know you're not fully underwritten, that's fine. We're fine. You know, we often do that while we're doing the full underwrite. We'll give you a basic approval. Okay, I still like to do the full underwrite just because, you know, we really started doing them heavily about two years ago, and it's surprising some of the stuff that comes up where you're like, "Whoa, like people not filing their tax returns but giving us tax returns, that's like a thing," you know? And I would rather have that come up when you guys don't have money on the line because when you have money on the line, it's a problem. So, fully go through the app, right, get the documentation, re-request the documentation, then you go to our processor, either Chadwick or Maria. Chadwick is our chill, relaxed guy, you know, really ties into jumbo, um, great guy. And then you've got Maria who we jokingly call the Terminator because she is mission-focused. She's been in the loan industry since the dawn of time. She is incredibly fast, but she is very much, here is my list, get it to me now. Right? So, you've got two very different personalities, both are amazing. They would not be on my team if they weren't, but they, you know, I would trust them with my loan. Like, they are great. So, they get it all put together, you know, we always ask, please get them whatever they need as quickly as possible. The reason they're asking for so much stuff is because we do a full underwrite of your file with an underwriter, and sometimes people will be like, "Well, this other lender approved me without all this." Cool, like they gave you a half-assed pre-approval. Congratulations. That lender is not putting as much time, energy, or effort into you. We're putting more time, more energy, and more effort into you so that you have a better end product.

So, if you want to go with Bobby Joe who's not going to ask for everything but then ask for it when you're in contract with money on the line, cool, that's okay. We're not for everyone. We are for the buyer that wants to make sure they are solid before they have money on the line. We're for the buyer who wants to move fast when they're in contract. We are for the buyer who doesn't want any anxiety waking up in the middle of the night wondering if their loan is going to get denied. That is who we are for. That is who we're for, you know? We do the full thing up front so that when you're actually in contract, it's lower stress. That is my entire purpose in lending is to make the lending process as low stress as possible. So, everything we do is based on, if I was buying a house, what would I want? What would make me sleep at night? You know, and I go through this process myself when I am getting qualified for a house. I do it with a different lender because I can't lend myself, and I go through the whole process. And if someone says, "Jen, you know, you qualify, you don't need to be fully underwritten," I go, "You better fully underwrite me. You don't know what I'm hiding." You know, because I think it's a huge benefit. It also makes your offer stronger. So, if only through underwriting, ones for through underwriting you, and I get on the phone, 30 minutes to an hour, it depends on what you're into. Some people really don't want a long call, but I go through closing costs. I go through line by line what to expect. This is what you pay for. This is what's negotiable. This is what you need to shop. This is realistic. This is unrealistic. We talk about it. I go through payments. "Hey, this is what I'm seeing. Where are you comfortable? Should we go higher? Should we go lower? We talk about debt to income, you know, how is this purchase going to affect you overall? If you go up to this price, are you going to be house poor?" We talk about all of that. You know, if you have specific houses you're looking at, we get online, we look at them together, and I go, "Okay, watch out for this, this, and this," or "This looks great," or "What about this? Did you look at this?" You know, it's kind of like having that best friend who's been doing real estate for 122 years, right? Just being your wingman, right? You know, on the lending part, of course, I'm your lender, very professional. Like, this is the way the numbers work. This is what to expect. But on the other side, I'm also your friend who's seen it all, who's going to say, "Hey, look, if I was looking, I would just keep my eye out for this, this, and this," right? We see a lot of stuff. I've seen a lot of stuff over the years. I've seen a lot of stuff and experienced a lot with my own personal purchases as well.

So, we do the big phone call. We talk about your real estate agent. If you don't have one, we're happy to recommend you to one. We do not take any referral fees from agents. We do not get any money for doing that. We do it because we want you with strong, good agents for two reasons. Number one, it's going to make the process easier on everyone, you and me. And number two, you're more likely to find a house. Seriously. We go through everyone we pre-approve, and if someone's with a strong agent, they will find a house within 60 days. Period. We have buyers where they've been with the same agent for like six, seven, eight months. And I have other people working with other agents in the same market finding houses within 60 days that they love and they're happy with. The problem's not this buyer. The problem's that agent. Okay? And look, there's a lot of great real estate agents out there. There are some markets where it takes a longer time to find a house, but you know, sometimes it is just that is a problem.

So, we talk about that, you know, we're here to be your resource, and then throughout the process, you have me, you have either Chadwick or Maria, or Jen and Sam. Alyssa's always there. You've got this whole team of people who are rooting for your success. And the beautiful thing about my team is that we're never going to push you into a house you don't want. You know, if in the middle of the transaction you go, "Oh, I got a report, it's not comfortable, I don't want to move forward," we're not going to talk you into that house. We're going to go, "Absolutely, we'll cancel it. Now, let's talk to your real estate agent, put together a strategy to cancel, make sure you know your EMD, and everything's safe." But you, yes, right?

Whereas there's a lot of lenders where they would try to talk you into the house because they need the paycheck. You know, we are not that team. We do a lot of business; the reason we do a lot of business is because we care. And we're not going to screw around, and we treat your money like it's our money. And we're cheap, I mean, within reason, within reason, right? Um, so I hope this has been helpful. That's our front-end process, that's what we do from the moment you either call us or you fill out an application. That is the process with us.

Questions, comments, guys, get on the calendar, seriously, like we have space. I staffed up for you. We're here to answer all of your questions, whether you're buying a house tomorrow, six months, or three years from now. We are here to make it a reality. Thanks for watching, guys.