First-time homebuyer advice, okay guys, something that a lot of people don't realize, but it's actually really imperative and important to you getting into a house, is having your real estate agent and your lender communicate. Okay, now, a lot of times a real estate agent will say, "Oh, you need to use my local lender because I talk to them all the time." Does that mean they'll only communicate with your local lender? No, your real estate agent should speak with any lender that you select. Okay, that's really, really important.
I'm going to tell you something that I've been doing with my team for the last few months, and I'm going to tell you what we're seeing because I think it's very, very interesting. Now, as a lender, why do I want to talk to a real estate agent? Well, if you're my client and I fully underwrote you, I want to make sure they understand what the terms of your pre-approval are. I want to make sure they know what payment you're comfortable with. I want to make sure that if you need closing costs, they know that. I want to make sure they know what down payment you're expecting to put down, and with the purchase price, you're comfortable with. Okay. I also want to find out from them if there's any information that I'm missing, because often, someone will say something to their real estate agent but not their lender, and the other way around. The most successful transactions are when the real estate agent and the lender communicate because your offer from day one will be accurate, and you won't have any of that nonsense where it's like, "Oh well, the lender didn't tell me. Well, the realtor didn't tell me, well well, you know, pass the potato," right? You won't have any of that.
So, what have I been doing? So, recently, what I've been doing is every time we fully underwrite someone or we've issued them a pre-approval, I have Alexis on my team. Once the buyer tells us who the real estate agent is, they reach out to the real estate agent. It is kind, here's why. So, Alexis is reaching out to the real estate agent, and she's saying, "Hey, you know, we just underwrote XYZ. Jen would love to get on a call with you to discuss this. When can I schedule you in?" Okay, and she's scheduling them in. Now, some real estate agents will say, "Yeah, I don't want to do a call," and she'll go, "Okay, do you want me to send you a flyer?" "Yeah, yeah, send me a flyer." That is not the real estate agent that you guys want. Why won't they take five minutes to talk to your lender that you chose, that you went through the underwriting process with? Why won't they take five minutes to talk to them about you, the client, right? Okay.
So, okay, if the real estate agent chooses that option, we will then send them the flyer and we'll CC the client. The reason I'm CCing you guys is because I want you to realize that your real estate agent did not want to take five minutes to talk about your situation. It's a red flag, okay? It is a red flag. And what I have found from these calls is that the better agents, they'll be like, "Yeah, I want to get on as quickly as possible. When can I talk to her?" Every time. It doesn't matter if they're like, and sometimes people go, "Well, maybe my realtor was busy." Guys, the agents who are hopping on these calls as quickly as possible, they do the most transactions. And the reason they're getting on these calls is because they understand that in order for you to succeed, the real estate agent and the lender need to talk. Okay, it's that simple.
Now, okay, so what would a realtor's excuses be for not wanting to do the call? Number one, "Oh, I'm too busy." Well, if they're too busy to spend five minutes with me talking about you and all the work you and I have done together, they're too busy to show you houses, right? Or they're trying to push you to a specific lender, and that's a red flag too. If they're trying to push you to their lender and they won't even take the time to talk to the lender that you researched, that you chose, that you got underwritten by, that's a red flag because it's showing you they don't actually care what your opinion is. It's that simple. They're saying, "I don't care about all this research you did. I don't care that you spent all this time getting fully underwritten. I'm going to push you to my lender no matter what. What else are they going to push you into?" It's a red flag.
Now, look, more often than not, the agents are choosing the phone call. However, there are some that are doing the flyer, and I'm now responding with like, "Hey, we really need to get on the phone," right? To give them that second option. And sometimes on those calls, I'll find out like, "Oh well, I just want them to use my lender." And I'm like, "Yeah, but here's everything that's happened. Here's what we do, you know, we're one of the top purchase teams in the country. Like, it's great you want them to go with your lender. It's good for them to have options and to be able to compare, but like, we still need to talk," right? So, it's really important that your real estate agent and your lender are in communication.
So, we're being very proactive with that this year. You know, we've always tried to talk to realtors in the past, but we really haven't done the accountability and the transparency with the buyers that we're doing now. And I think that's so important for you guys. You know, I'm constantly trying to think of ways to show you what's going on behind the curtain so that you get the full picture. Because, you know, I want you guys to succeed. I want you guys to get a house. But I also want you to not get taken advantage of. I don't want you to be dealing with shenanigans. And the way to do that is to show you transparency as much as possible.
So, that's what we're doing right now. You know, if I'm not your lender, if you guys are working with another lender, you should definitely be making sure that they're talking to your real estate agent. And if the lender says to you, "I don't need to talk to your realtor," it's a red flag. It's a red flag. It's that simple. The real estate agent, the lender, they need to talk. Now, very, very important.
And sometimes people will call me, and they'll be like, "I don't even know what I'm approved for. They just sent it to the realtor. The realtor and the lender just talk. I don't even talk to the lender. I just talk to the realtor." No, no, no, no, no. Okay. The real estate agent needs to talk to you. The lender needs to talk to you. They talk to each other. If they're just talking to each other and they're not talking to you, they are doing the deal without you being involved. You're just the one paying the bill. This is a red flag again. If the lender is not taking the time to go through closing costs, what to expect, what your pre-approval is, what your debt to income is, and they're just telling the real estate agent, "Oh yeah, they're good," or they're telling the real estate, "They need closing costs, they're good, just go," but they're not telling you, that's another red flag. For a successful transaction where you're educated, empowered, you need to talk to the real estate agent, you need to talk to the lender. Both need to educate you, and they need to talk together in order to come up with a plan, okay, that you're involved in.
So, as always, guys, I'm licensed in 48 states to do mortgages. As I'm sure you can tell, I love helping you guys out. Anything we can do, let me know. Text, call, get on the calendar. We'd love to get you pre-approved. We'd love to test your real estate agent. Let me know. Thanks for watching, guys.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYz2nRXUeGk