So, you seem to enjoy the first episode of Tough Love, so welcome to the second one, and this one might get a little bit gnarly, yeah, gnarly. First of all, if you like the channel, hit like. If you haven't subscribed and would like to, hit subscribe. It's not just mortgages on this channel anymore, guys; it could literally be anything. But today, today we are gonna get real about how people are selecting a lender all wrong, and I am gonna get so blunt, and I'm gonna be honest. I have danced around this for years because I've been trying to be nice and not offend and, you know, make sure that you're presenting all options, Jennifer, you know, all the stuff that you're supposed to do as a professional. Well, that's not what the Get Tough episodes are about. The being tough episodes are about the true truth, the no, the absolute here's how it is from my perspective.
Okay, so if you're new to this channel, I've been a lender for 15 years. I've been one of the top-producing lenders in the country for the last four. I'm currently ranked number three in the United States for VA loan production, number one female, and just so you know, that number three for VA, I actually did the most loans; they just had higher loan amounts. Okay, I talk about what I know and I don't. So here we go.
You are rate shopping all wrong, my friends. Oh my God, not all of you. Okay, so first of all, there's a lot of you guys that get it, but there are some people where literally I'm on the phone, and I'm like, you are doing this all wrong; you are going to get screwed. And I can't say it that way, so I have to dance around it, right, because you never want to offend anyone. I don't want anyone thinking, wow, she's a real [bleep], no one wants that. But at the same time, as a professional, right, I'm sitting there going, this is a car crash, and I try to gently say, this is why it's a car crash, and you know I get the pushback of, oh well, I've done my research, cool, it's great that you read a couple blogs and articles; I've been doing this for 15 years, so what would I tell a family member?
Okay, luckily my sister's A lender, so she knows this as well, but guess what, guys, guess what fun fact, I have three other sisters, that's right, there's five of us. I know, anyways, so the three other sisters that are not a lender, what would I tell them? First of all, I would say, guys, let's say it's a loan I don't do, okay, because look, that's the thing, one lender shouldn't do all loan types; it's just you can't specialize in down payment assistance, USDA, construction, renovation, conventional, FHA, VA, jumbo. A lender who says they do all of that is a red flag, okay, that's, we'll just do this in red flags. Red flag number one, no matter what type of loan you're saying you want to do, bridge loan, they do it, bank statement loan, right, that is a red flag. I can tell you right now, I specialize in a few things, VA, FHA, conventional, and then for Jumbo, we tag in my sister who's the jumbo expert. Okay, that's it, that's, that's, that is all I do. I don't do renovation, I don't do construction, I don't do bank statement loans, I don't do non-qm brokered loans, right, I don't do down payment assistance in most cases, very narrow. Okay, so red flag number one is the lender says they can do anything you bring up a loan; they say no problem. Okay, I know the top lenders in the country; I have tea with them, okay, and I can tell you right now, none of them do everything, none of them, not one, not one does all loan types, not one, so that's a red flag, red flag number one, the lender will do any type of loan you want.
Okay, so let's say my sister, let's use Danny, Danny's gonna get her first house, and Danny's like, okay, Jenny, you know, let's say she can't use me for some reason, I want to get this loan, a USDA loan, right, I don't specialize in that. The first thing I would say to Danny is, I would say, Danny, we gotta find you a specialist, that's number one, number one. I wouldn't say, Danny, let's go shop rates, I would say, Danny, we need to find the best USDA lender in the country that we can find, period, right, that's step number one, who does this loan a lot, who is one of the best lenders in the country. And you may go, Jen, why does it matter if they're the best? It matters if they're the best or one of the best because they see a lot of scenarios, right, that's the thing, what makes my VA business so good is that in order to close, let's say, 500, 600 loans, I have to see 2,000, 3,000, 4,000 loans, so looking at all of those situations and scenarios, that's all these opportunities I have with that product, right, to go to the underwriters and say, hey, I haven't seen this before, let's talk about it. Lenders who do a lot of business see more ideas, they see more situations, and they have more solutions, right.
Let's go back to the USDA example. So, Danny, we find her a specialist who that is what they specialize in, USDA, that is number one, number two, you may go, well, what about rates, Jen, what about rates? Okay, fair, now in Danny's case, I would probably find two lenders that specialize in USDA that I could verify do a lot of USDA, and you guys may be like, oh, how do you verify that they have a badge that says they do a lot of that. Guys, go to Scotsman's Guide, it's that simple, you can go to Scotsman Guide, they rank lenders, the individual lender, that's the thing, it's not about the company, because there's going to be at least 10 people that are like, oh, I'll go to this big call center, they do a lot of loans. No, it's the individual lender, it's the Jennifer Beeston in the chair, you guys can go to Scotsman Guide and see who specializes in that type of loan, okay, great. So we find two specialists for Danny, great, at that point I'm going to get her pre-approved with both, okay. Danny's pre-approved at what time am I comparing rates and fees when Danny's in contract, okay. When Danny's in contract is when I'm really going to drill into, hey, what is the best rate you can give me today, let's talk about your fees, because here's one of the mistakes that people make, let's say that lender A, on, I'm going to compare them both the same day because look, if you guys aren't comparing lenders within the same hour, you are wasting your time and you are wasting their time, it is not a comparison. How do you compare a fresh banana to a banana from last week? They're not the same, they're different, so you have to compare lenders in a market like this, especially within an hour window, okay. But I know as a lender that lender A and lender B, A may be better a month before Danny's in contract, but when Danny's in contract, B may be better, sorry, try not to sneeze, okay. So I am going to talk to lender A and B right before I'm in contract, like when I'm writing that offer, I'm going to reach out to both and say, hey, you know, where are you at with rates today, okay. Now look, let me be very, very clear here, if Danny and I really like lender A and lender B, we're like, I'm just gonna go with lender A, I am, I am, and here's why. If lender B can save me an eighth of a percent, but they suck as a person, I don't like their team, and I don't want to work with them, I'm not going to go with lender B. If lender B is doing something shady where they're giving me quotes, oh my God, I saw this recently, okay, this is what I saw recently, client was comparing two lenders, and he's like, Jen, they're a little bit lower than you, and he was in contract for a 30-day close, and I'm like, let me see it, and I look at it, and I'm like, wow, I'm like, this is for a 15-day lock, yeah, guys, when you're locking your rate, there's different time periods, and the time period, the shorter the period, the cheaper it is, so I was doing a 30-day lock because that's how long the client needed, this lender was doing a 15-day lock, was the lender gonna close in 15 days, no, no, they weren't, what they were telling the client is, hey, this is where I am today, you know, we'll get you locked up, it'll be fine, when the client pushed back after I told them, hey, like, what, you're gonna wait two weeks and see what the market does and hope that rate's still there, that is crazy, by the way, the market is moving so much right now that a rate you could have in the morning is a quarter percent higher in the afternoon, but this lender was basically preying on the fact that the buyer wouldn't catch the 15-day lock period.
so I'm like, you know what, you need to push back, so he pushed us back, and he's like, hey, like, you know, this is for a 15-day lock, what about a 30? Oh yeah, yeah, we do 15-day locks all the time because that's how you save money, so don't worry about it, let's get you going, and then when we get within the 15-day window, we'll lock you, okay, now look, you guys might hear that and go, okay, look, they have a plan, Jen, what the hell is your problem, you're so feisty and mean, no, guys, that is, that is the biggest sales pitch ever, oh yeah, let's get everything going so you're my hostage, and then when we get about 15 days out, when it's harder to switch lenders, yeah, then we'll lock you, and I'll screw you, that is, that is actually, that is a real-life reenactment of the inside of that lender's head, I'm just telling you, it's true,
Unless a lender can lock your rate right then, it is a rate period, period, period, period, period, okay, so we covered that, we're going to get two experts for Danny, we covered that, if we like one of those experts better, we're just going with them, if we like them better, we're going with them, if we like their team better, we're going with them, life is too short, but I want you guys to remember what was the first thing that we did, experts, experts, not Janie who the real estate agent recommended and said is a real sweetheart, no, no, I'm looking for an expert, right, because here's the thing, people don't do this with lending, and it boggles my mind when I am personally getting a loan, I don't go for rate, guys, I don't, I don't, I really don't, and I know that sounds crazy, I don't like, for instance, I had to do a jumbo loan recently, a couple of years ago, and in the situation that I was doing, I knew the lender who could just slam this shut, knew exactly what they were doing, it was a great rate, but I did know that there was another lender that could do a lower rate, so did I go with that other lender that could do the lower rate, absolutely not, because I know this guy, this guy could slam it shut, why do I want to deal with a headache, why do I want to deal with the unknown, why do I want to deal with a less experienced lender that can't understand the complexities of my situation, what to save an eighth to save a hundred dollars on lender fees, no thank you, no thank you, okay, and look, someone's gonna be like, oh, she's just saying this because her rates must be high, no, my rates aren't high, guys, her fees must be high, no, my fees aren't high either, I'm saying this because I will see people work with terrible lenders, get frustrated and call me because they're trying to save 50 bucks, and it is not the way to get a loan, it's like, think of it this way, if you were, let's say that you got into some court trouble, okay, would you pick the cheapest attorney, would you call five attorneys in your area and see who had the lowest fees, is that how you would pick an attorney, no, that'd be freaking crazy, right, who the hell would pick the cheapest attorney, that's like a path to, like, what, getting everything screwed up in jail, same thing with loans, same thing with loans.
Okay, so experience matters, being an expert matters, great A and B, if we like them both equally, we think they're both great, we think their teams are great, then the day we're in contract, that's when we're going to get an updated quote, okay, what are your fees, what are your rates, because whatever they said a month ago, one lender might be better, that's what you guys need to know, it's not like there's one lender that's always the lowest, it goes in and out of the market constantly, you know in VA land. There's A lender I compete with quite a bit, and there are times where they are just smoking me. I'll tell clients, 'Hey, can you just call them?' Usually, it's going to be in a refi. But then, you know, they'll be killing me for a week, and I'll be like, 'Oh my God, I'm gonna die.' And then the next week, right, the rates are up here because what a lot of lenders do is they drop their rates to get as much business as possible. And then when they're all fed, like, you know, a person at a buffet table, right, they're all fed up, um, they jack up the rates. They can't eat anymore, more. Okay, so you guys need to know that. So if you're trying to compare lenders six months in advance, guys, by the time you're in contract, it's going to change. Okay, experts liking the lenders and then we're going to compare on the day you're in contract.
Okay, so at that point, if you're still like, 'Ah, compare them,' you're going to look at box A. Box A is lender fees. All the other stuff is the same regardless of what lender you look at. Box A is lender fees, and look at the rate, and make sure you check that loan estimate to see if it's locked. If I had a nickel for every loan estimate that's sent to me that the client thinks it's locked and it's not, I'd be retired. I would be done because it's not uncommon for a lender to say, 'You know, you'll say, 'Oh, I want six percent,' 'Oh yeah, yeah, no problem, yeah, let us get that loan estimate out.' It's not locked.
And if you go, 'Wait, you said you'd get me six percent,' they can always go, 'Well, you didn't tell us to lock it.' I'm not kidding, guys. The levels of shade, if you guys have had this happen to you, drop in the comments what has happened to you with a lender because I see the shady all the time. I see constantly people who think they're locked and they're not. I see that people think that they should be getting the rate on their pre-approval, and the lender hasn't stopped to go, 'You know, that's not locked. That rate on that pre-approval is not locked.' Okay, I'm just so sick of bad lenders getting away with these shenanigans. Like, I just can't even tell you.
The 15-day versus the 30-day lock, that was such a load of, for lack of a better term. If you guys aren't used to my salty language, this does happen on fiery videos.
Okay, we've got an expert, we have chosen the team, we've chosen the interest rate. Now what do we do? Are we gonna still go shopping for lenders? No, we're done. You're done, you're done. Stop shopping for lenders. If you do your shopping up front, you don't need to do it at the end. The only time you would be shopping in the middle of the transaction is if you just realized you're getting screwed. Okay, let's say you went with that lender, the 15-day liar. That's what we're going to call them, the 15-day liar, and you're like, 'Whoa, he's telling me now rates are twice what he told me they would be. You know, can you help?'
Okay, at that point, you should be shopping another lender. But if you're doing your research up front. Okay, that's the key. If you're doing your research up front and you're finding an expert with good reviews, with clients saying they had a good experience, you should lock and relax. Stop torturing yourself. Because I like look, I had a client, um, about a month ago and every week, 'Hey Jen, we got this new loan estimate, can you compete with it?' And I'd look at the loan estimate, I'd be like, 'So to clarify, you want a higher rate and a higher fee?' And they're like, 'Oh, what do you mean?' And I'm like, 'We have you locked at this with this.'
Oh well, we just thought we should keep on shopping. No, and every week it was the same. 'Hey Jen, can you beat this?' And I'm like, 'You're doing a conventional loan. This is for an FHA loan. Like, are you thinking you...' They were in contract, guys. They were in contract. It was so destructive for them. Like with me, is it harmful? No, because I'm just like, this makes no sense, please stop, like, stop harming yourself. But the amount of work it takes for someone to get a loan estimate, to go through those semantics with another lender, it's a lot of work and it's totally unnecessary.
So here's the deal, I can't stress it enough. If you are just shopping for rate and you're gonna shop on different days and you're gonna do it completely wrong, I am the wrong lender for you. I am not going to lie to you. I'm not going to sugarcoat you. I am not going to call you and try to win your business.
I am going to sit on the other side of the phone and listen and try to tell you that you're doing it wrong. But at some point, there's nothing we can do, okay, and that's what we see a lot of. We'll see someone go, 'I thought I was getting the best rate,' but then I didn't realize I wasn't locked and now it's this, can you help? Just avoid that. Just avoid that. So I hope this has been helpful. Another episode of tough love, maybe you guys hated this one, but weigh in, you know. And look, I am going to say for buyers and consumers, I do think the odds are stacked against you with rate shopping. I hate to say it, but it's true, the way the industry is set up. It's really hard for you guys to get stuff that's easy to understand that you can make an educated decision on. So if you feel like, 'Oh, well, this is all screwed,' I don't disagree. So you really need to lean on who am I working with because that will be the best indicator of your experience.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlfLLq9lTqE