https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlwMg75TFug
Summary for Buyers: Three Signs to Dump Your Lender
As a buyer, it's crucial to know when to walk away from a lender. Here are three key signs:
Additional Tips:
In summary, if you encounter any of these issues with your lender, don't hesitate to find someone who better aligns with your needs and respects your home-buying journey.
Three signs you need to dump your lender. That's right, three signs. Okay, so first of all, I am a lender. I'm licensed in 48 states to do loans. The first thing I'm going to tell you before we get into these three things is, you guys can save yourself a lot of heartache and a lot of pain by doing one simple task. Are you ready? And I'm going to use myself as an example. So, let's say that a real estate agent says to you, "Hey, you should use my favorite lender, Jennifer Beeston." Okay, and you're like, "Okay, that sounds cool." Before you even call that lender that your real estate agent just recommended, you're going to do this. Are you guys ready? Get your phone, open something else, you're going to go to Google. That's right, "Jennifer Beeston, Coral Springs lender reviews." That's right, you need to check the lender's reviews. I cannot say this enough. Most of the times, when someone's calling me about a lender that's problematic, I look them up, and they have zero reviews. Zero. Okay?
So, look, it's really hard in this industry to have zero reviews. Either you're a ghost that doesn't do a lot of business, or you're not good enough that anyone ever wants to say something nice about you. Both of those are not good for you, the buyer, because remember, the lender works for you. So, who do you want working for you? A ghost, or someone who's so like, uh, no one's ever written anything nice? Or do you want the lender where you have all of this reference material of how they do business? Okay, so you're going to go and see if they have reviews. If there's no reviews, I don't care what your real estate agent says, they might just be cocktail buddies, toss them out. Just toss them out. And if you go, "Well, Jen, I looked up the company they work for," guys, it does not matter the company that someone works for, it matters who the person who's signing the name on your loan application is. It's the Jennifer Beeston that's going to be helping you; that is who matters. Okay? Because I'll tell you right now, I work at Guaranteed Rate Mortgage, we're one of the 10 largest mortgage companies in the country. There are some of the best loan officers in the country there, like proven, ranked, all of it. But there's some crappy ones too. I'm sorry, it's true, there are, right? It doesn't matter how great a company is, they're going to have thousands of loan officers, some are good, some are bad. So, don't look by the company, look by the loan officer. Okay, let's move on. Let's go to the three signs.
Number one: They make you feel bad about yourself. Yes. Now let's talk about this. Money, debt, all of that has a lot of emotional baggage to it, with many people, right? You know, up until my 30s, I had so much emotional baggage around money, guys, I can't even tell you. You know, went through the whole bad credit thing, was totally ashamed and embarrassed. Like, I remember the first time I went to get a car loan, the guy was so mean, and it was so unnecessary because it's like, I knew I didn't have great credit, but like, do you need your face rubbed in it? No, okay. And there's some lenders, even if you have good credit, even if you have money in the bank, even if, even if, even if, they make you feel lesser than. Okay?
Now, like, if you guys are like, "Oh God, I have questions, but I don't even know who to ask them," I do have a calendar link in all of my videos. If you guys watch my videos, you know this. I have San, Andy, and Alyssa every single day. I pay them, guys, so that they will answer every single question you have, whether you're working with us or not. Like, we can't talk about what other lenders are doing, if you're like, "Well, my lender said this," you know, some of it we can, but like, you know, to some extent, it's like, if you have basic questions, they're there to answer it. So, you never want anyone to make you feel lesser than or stupid. That's number one.
Number two: They don't call you back, and they're not responsive. So, let's set some realistic expectations. Should they call you back within 10 minutes? No. If you're working with a, you know, a good lender who's busy, they're not going to call you back within 10 minutes. But they or someone on their team are going to call you back same day. And if you're writing an offer, they're generally going to be getting back to you within two hours at the latest. Like with my clients, I always say, "Please text me if you're writing an offer, tell Jen, tell Sam," because we want to make sure we get that letter to you as quickly as possible. Because there's no way you're going to get into a house, there's a lot of hand signals here, if we're dilly-dallying. Okay? And if you're like, "Oh, it took my lender three days," guys, your lender is out of the game, and you should dump them. Now, there is no reason it should take a lender three days to get you a letter if you're already approved. Okay?
Now, look, if you're like, "Well, I filled out the application three days ago, and I just gave them my docs 20 minutes ago," that's not fair. I'm talking about if you're fully pre-approved by this lender and they are ghosting you, that's a problem.
Okay, now let's say you filled out an application, and you've left them five voicemails and you've sent them four emails, and they haven't returned your correspondence. Dump them, dump them, guys. You need to remember, like, look, there's no reason if someone called me five times and left a message, that's important. Because sometimes I'll get, like, the rare - I don't want to say psychopath - but I'll get someone who calls me like nine times in a row, and I literally see it coming up on my phone, and I'm like, I'm on another call, like, you know, I'm still on the phone, right? Like, please leave a message and someone from the team will get back to you quick.
Um, but the key to all of this is that, look, your lender should be getting back to you Same Day at the latest, okay? At the latest. Now, if you're thinking about buying a house in the future and it's the weekend, I think Monday is fair, okay? If you're writing an offer on the weekend, like, a lot of people are surprised by this, but on the weekends, I'm the person - it's me. So if my clients text me on the weekend, and I always prefer text over a phone, just because, I feel like, with the voicemails, like, sometimes I get them, sometimes I don't, so I like text because I can always see it there, um, I'm the one that does the letters. You know, I might be at Target for an hour or so, but if it's a Saturday, I make sure I get back and I get them a letter because as a lender, it's my job to help you get in a house, okay?
So, you need your lender to be responsive, and if you go, well, I think they're just too busy, guys, I am one of the busiest lenders in the country, seriously, for real. And my team and myself get back to people. So, if they're like, well, I do so much business, well, they need to hire more staff, then. It's that simple. But you shouldn't be the one that's punished by their lack of, uh, either efficiency, follow-up, or follow-through. And I just want you guys to know, a lot of times, we'll have people call us, and they'll be like, yeah, this lender, they're just not getting back to me, it's been months, I've been trying to get pre-approved, but like, I'll email them, and they just don't respond, and I'll look up the lender - they do no business. They do like three deals a month. There's no reason they're not getting back to you, except for the fact that they're not good at their job. So that's a red flag.
Um, oh, I'm gonna have more than three. Oh no. The third one's lack of transparency. Really important. So, if someone's giving you a pre-approval letter, they should be talking to you about rates, and they should be giving you a loan summary. So, with the way that my team works, okay, and there's different paths, but basically, let's say your application comes in, we get it structured, if it's super clean, you get a letter and a loan summary, and then we're generally underwriting it, but they're getting you on my calendar, so that I can go through that loan summary with you, line by line by line by line. But it's never like my team's just sending a letter and being like, best of luck, you know? And sometimes, people are getting pre-approval letters that don't even have rates, so they're like, okay, I'm pre-approved for 400, but they don't know the payment, they don't know the rate, they don't know which branch closing costs, they don't even know if they have a down payment. They know nothing. The lender just gave them a letter and was like, go shopping. That's not good, you know?
With every single client, once they're fully underwritten, because I do like a fully underwritten pre-approval, if you guys have watched my other videos, I spend 20 to 30 minutes myself on the phone, going through line by line. Here, how do you feel about this payment? Are you comfortable? Let's talk about your debt-to-income. I want to talk about what the underwriter said about you. Tell me what's going on with your real estate agent. This is what lenders should be doing, okay? It's that simple. There's no excuse not to have these conversations. For you guys to be educated and empowered buyers, you need to have these conversations about your debt-to-income, about what to expect with payment, about what the variables with payment are, right?
Because a lot of times, people go, oh, the lender said it would be like 2200. Okay, is that the principal and interest? Does that include taxes and insurances or mortgage insurance? How does that break down? Are they charging you anything for that rate, you know? Of course, that rate's probably not locked, you know, what are the parameters of all this, how does all the money work, you know? And we see a lot of lenders who have a lack of transparency for two reasons. Number one, well, probably three: Number one, they don't know better. They were never taught that people need to have this information. They think their job is just to issue a letter and then wait till you come back and that you should be educated enough that you should know all this. I know that, like, as a first-time homebuyer, there's no way you guys are going to know all this, even as a second or third buyer. You're not going to know this stuff unless someone, a lender, went through all of this with you at some point. It's not something you're taught in school.
Number two, you know, and I've talked to other lenders about this, and they'll go, you're crazy, Jen. And I'll be like, why? They're like, you're giving them rates, you're giving them something to shop you with. And I'm like, guys, if they want to shop, it's their right. And look, the rates aren't locked, and I talk to everyone about how these loan summaries work, what my actual fee is, what other parties' fees are. So at least if my buyers shop me, they're doing it in an educated way, okay? And the third one, once again, they do not want that rate on the pre-approval because they think you're going to shop them off of it. Now, guys, do they have some realistic concerns there? They do. They do. And here's why: your rate on a pre-approval is not locked. It's very rare that it would be. So if you, you take a pre-approval from letter A, lender A, and it was on July 8th, and then you're talking to lender B on August 1st, and you're comparing the rate on the pre-approvals, you are shopping wrong, right? Those rates aren't locked, they're not from the same day, it's not an apples-to-apples comparison. It's like comparing a banana to a pear that's been sitting in the fridge for two months. What? It doesn't make sense, right? So that's what their concern is, and why they don't do it, but there should be a conversation, you know?
That's the thing, lenders make good money, it's true, and the least we can do in order to earn our keep is educate you guys and make sure you're comfortable with the payment, make sure you're comfortable with the closing costs, okay? It's that simple. And the thing is, this, I always tell my buyers, guys, if your offer doesn't get accepted, ask to be in second position. The reason I say that is because the number one reason people cancel once they get in contract, meaning the sellers accept their offer and then the buyers cancel, is because they weren't prepared for what the rate was, the payment would be, or closing costs. Yeah, that's the number one reason people cancel, and it's all avoidable if your lender does these steps up front. Okay? It's that simple.
So, the last one, I'm just going to throw in there, and I've got a lot of videos on this, I could probably keep on going for days, you know, look, like my veterans especially, guys, you need to watch out for people who don't know VA. Like, regardless of your loan type, all of you need to make sure you're working with someone that actually knows guidelines. It's rarer than you think, but the other real big red flag to me that I would tell you guys is, if they talk to your real estate agent more than they talk to you. Yeah, so if you find out that you're pre-approved because the realtor says you can go shopping now, and the lender didn't talk to you, it's a red flag, okay? A lot of real estate agents and lenders have really tight relationships, and sometimes it's a benefit, but I think sometimes the water gets really muddy because the lender thinks they work for the real estate agent. But the thing is, guys, we work for you. We work for you. Your lender should be communicating with you.
If your real estate agent is collecting your loan documents and they're having all these conversations, and you just trust them, you are setting yourself up to be taken for a fool. So, the lender needs to be communicating with you, and if they don't have time to communicate with you and they'll only communicate with the real estate agent, once again, dump them. If you get anything from this video, and I know it's long, but if you get anything from this video, I want you to know that, regardless of your financial situation, you should be treated with respect.
Okay, now, if you're yelling at people and you're trying to commit fraud, and you're a nuisance, you know, you might get someone who gets trussed with you. I get terse with people when they're trying to commit fraud. I don't play that game, right? But if you're like, "I just don't have a ton of money," or "I'm a little unsure of this," you know, I see so many people where I'm like, "You qualify, this is good, we're gonna get there," and I get so excited about it, and they've just been smacked so hard by just other people who are just mean, and that's not the way it should be.
Okay, here's the thing, guys, we work for you, so please remember that. For all the crazy people who want to commit fraud, this does not mean I'm gonna be nice to you. But for everyone who's scared about like, "I don't want a lender to be mean to me," "I'm a little embarrassed about this or that," guys, we will take great care of you. Don't be embarrassed. I promise, it's not going to be bad. I've been exactly where you have. If you had terrible credit, I was there in my 20s, it was... I know every emotion you're going through.
So, look, guys, uh, just a quick video, probably like 15 minutes long. Anything you need, reach out. Remember, uh, book a time on the calendar. Sandy and Alyssa do that all day, every day. That's it, that's all they do, they answer your questions. Uh, give me a call, okay? Generally, Sandy calls back during the day just because I'm on the phone a lot. If it's a special situation, you just say "Beast and only," and I'll be the one that calls you back. Shoot a text, you guys have my cell phone number, this is not hard. And if you're like, "I'm ready to get pre-approved," fill out the application, the team will start working on it, but I hope that you guys don't end up in a toxic lending situation, and I hope that these red flags help you. Thanks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQVVC9MT5CI
1. Avoidance of Fee Transparency
When you reach out to a lender, one of the first questions you should ask is, "What is your lender fee?" If the lender hesitates or diverts the conversation away from this question, it's a major red flag. A reputable lender who offers competitive rates and fees will be transparent about their costs.
For instance, at my company, we have a lender fee of $1440 on most loans (except VA loans, where it's waived). We proudly share this information upfront because we believe in transparency.
2. Reluctance to Discuss Interest Rates
Interest rates play a significant role in your mortgage, and you should have access to this information from the start. If a lender tells you they can't provide rate details until you're under contract, be cautious. This lack of transparency could indicate that their rates are higher than the market average.
A trustworthy lender will discuss the current market rates, products they offer, and any rate-lock options available to you. Remember, you deserve to make an informed decision, so don't settle for vague answers.
3. Refusal to Provide a Breakdown of Closing Costs
Understanding your closing costs is essential for budgeting and making informed financial decisions. If a lender tells you the closing costs are a certain amount but refuses to provide a breakdown, it's a red flag. This lack of transparency can hide additional fees and charges that may surprise you later.
A reputable lender will gladly provide a breakdown of closing costs, allowing you to see where your money is going. Don't hesitate to ask for this information to avoid any unwelcome surprises down the road.
In conclusion, before you commit to a mortgage lender, consider these warning signs. Transparency, especially regarding fees and rates, is essential when making one of the most significant financial decisions of your life. If you encounter any of these red flags, it might be a sign to explore other lending options.
Remember, your financial well-being is of utmost importance, and you have the right to work with a lender who values transparency and provides you with the best possible terms.
If you're looking for a competitive quote and a transparent lending experience, please don't hesitate to reach out to me at 707-478-0637. My team and I are here to make your mortgage journey as smooth as possible.
Thank you for taking the time to read this guide, and I wish you all the best in your home-buying journey.
Signs Your Mortgage Lender Has High Fees and High Rates
Hey guys, these are easy, easy, easy to spot, and I'm gonna tell you how to spot them in this very quick video. So first, let me tell you a story, okay? So last night, I was sitting there with my husband, and he had told me he was really excited. He was going to be talking to this personal trainer that would do remote sessions for him, like this whole health plan, you know, really get into shape. He's at an age where it's really important to pay attention to your health; otherwise, you get a bunch of diseases. Great, okay, cool.
So I said, "Oh, you know, he's telling me about it. He's like, 'Yeah, it sounds really good,' but..." and I'm like, "But what?" He's like, "It's really expensive." And I'm like, "Oh my gosh, how much is it?" It was $800 a month. Eight hundred dollars a month for a remote trainer! And I'm like, "How the hell did you even get in that conversation where you sat on the phone with this person for 40 minutes if you knew it was that costly? I know my husband; there's no way in hell he would pay that. That's like a house payment in many parts of the country! That is crazy—a remote trainer for $800 a month? Hell to the no," right?
So he goes, "Oh, you'll love this," and he shows me the email chain. So my husband had asked not once, not twice, but three times before he got on the phone with that guy, "How much he charges." Every single time he asked, "How much do you charge?" The guy would turn it around to, "Oh hey, Mark." So my husband literally said, "Okay, and how much are your services before we get on the phone? I'd like to know how much your services are." The guy goes, "Hey, Mark, do you have time to watch a five-minute video?" And he sends him a five-minute video and a Calendly link to get on the phone with him. And my husband's like, "That video was great, but you know, I just want to be really clear. How much do you charge for your services?" And he goes, "I can't wait to talk to you, Mark," and he sends him a Calendly link again.
Now, my husband is a former trader, okay? He kind of loves this stuff; he does. He loves the game of it because he thinks it's fun. Also, we got a lot of good information in that call. But yeah, so here's the red flag for you guys because you guys are like, "How does this tie together?" It's really simple. If you call me and you say, "Jen, what's your lender fee?" I will say it right now: my lender fee is $1440 on every single loan, except we waive it on VA. $140, that is our lender fee. We don't have a bunch of junk fees; that is our lender fee on every loan but VA, and we waive it on VA. Now, that wasn't too hard for me, was it? So why are some lenders so cagey about their fees, guys? It's because they're like the gym guy. They know their fees are not competitive; they know that if they don't get you far enough down the road where you don't have a choice, that if you hear that fee, you're gonna go, "Whoa, that doesn't seem right."
So if you're constantly like—I always say with any lender, even if you love them or whatever your situation is with them—a great test that you can find out where that lender is in the market within the first five minutes is you say, "What is your lender fee?" If they divert away from that, they're not in the market; they're not competitive. Because a lender that knows they're competitive will tell you their fee upfront. A lender who's trying to hide from you that their fee is higher than the market, that's why they're trying to hide it, right? Why would you hide if your lender fee was competitive? Why wouldn't you want to scream it from the rooftops?
Yeah, so that's the first sign. Now, the second sign is rates, same thing. Now, rates do change every day, and I say that to people too. People call me; they'll go, "What's your rate today?" And I'll be like, "Guys, you know, I need more information. There's not one rate for the whole day. Let's price this out." And we actually have an app as well. Um, if you guys want to know how to go to it, because otherwise, I get a bunch of text messages I respond to all of them, sometimes it's a week, and I feel terrible.
So if you go to the app store on your phone, okay, whether you have an Android or an Apple, um, go to the app store, look for Guaranteed Rate, and then look for the GR Loans app. Download that, pick me as your person. I'm available everywhere except for Rhode Island and Utah, okay? For there, they'll assign you someone. You guys can run rates all day long. It's gonna show you where I am with rates all day long. It is totally transparent.
So if you're working with a lender who's like, "Uh, well, you know, until you're on contract, I can't tell you what the rate is." Hmm, well, you could tell me what's going on with the market. You could tell me where you are today. You could educate me on where you are, what's been going on in the market, what to expect, if you have any lock-and-roll products. I mean, I do that every day, right? They could do that. But a lot of times, what they'll do is they'll say, "I can't talk about rates till you're in contract." And the reason they're doing that, again, is because, guess what? They're not competitive.
Now, beyond that, there's a move that, whenever a client says, "Well, they sent me this," and actually, someone was telling me the story the other day, and I was like, "Oh yeah, your lender is sketch, like, sketchy, sketch, sketch." The lender told them the closing costs were going to be $17,000. Now, that did include the down payment; it was an FHA loan. And they go, "Okay, cool, can we get a breakdown?" That—I mean, and the lender goes, "No, I can't give you a breakdown until you get into contract." And they're like, "Well, wait, how did you get to seventeen thousand, then?" That's a fair question. Seventeen thousand—like, how did you get there? Can't you show me how you get there? "I can't do that until you're in contract."
Now, they were talking to us as well. So they're like, "You sent us over a loan summary that broke everything down with estimates. Why can't they?" Because they don't want you to see their fees, that's why they can't, right? They're either super lazy, or they don't want you to see the fees. And then they showed me the rest of the email: no rate, just a payment. And, you know, that's another trick. If a lender is selling you the payment and not talking about rate, it's because their rates are high. Yeah, I mean, look, it's an old lender trick.
Back in the day, I used to go to all these different—like, never in person, but I'd be on these conference calls, right, where top lenders would be talking about how they grow their business, how they manage their clients, and once in a while, you get a lender where what they were charging was a lot, and people would go—you know, usually it's me, "Hey, hey, how the hell are you getting away with charging that much?" And the answer is: sell the payment, not the rate. People will always remember their payment, but they're not going to remember their rate.
So, whenever you have someone trying to sell you the payment and won't talk about the rate, it's because what they're charging you is higher than the market. Okay, so you really want to watch out for those flags.
So, number one, if they can't tell you what their lender fee is on the first call within the first two minutes and they try to dodge the question, red flag. Number two, if they won't tell you what their rates are, how the market's working, what to expect, what products they have—like, do they have a lock and roll where you lock your rate while you shop? Once again, red flag. Two red flags on that. Either they're just totally out of the market, or they're out of the market, and they're lazy, or they're just lazy. That is not what you want in a lender.
What you guys have to understand is that before you're in contract, we're in the courting stage, yeah? It's like a date, right? This is like the first date, the second date. So if they're already being lazy, right, like if they show up to the date—this is—I'm going to make—get some hate on this—Phillip, first date, right? Do you show up in sweats? No, no, that's once you're married, guys. Once you're married, you wear the sweats. So if they show up to the date in sweats from day one, do you think it's gonna get better once you're in contract? No, no, they're gonna be asleep on the couch, eating popcorn, staining their face. It's not gonna be pretty. So you want to avoid that upfront.
And then the third, and I think I said there are only two, but there's three, they're selling you the payment, and they're not talking about the rate. Such a red flag. Such a red flag. If I ever had a lender doing that to me, knowing what I know, I would be like, "Whoa, did your company jack up the margins? Like, why won't you talk to me about rate? Like, nice try, but I don't see that." You know, look, the lenders that I work with, they'll talk about rate. I love talking about rates. I love talking about what's going on in the market because this is a big purchase for you guys, and you need to understand what's going on in the market so that you can make the best decision for yourself.
And the last thing, look, if they're saying closing costs are going to be XYZ, but they're saying they can't give you a breakdown, once again, they're trying to hide those fees and rates from you. The only time a lender tries to hide fees and rates is if they know they're more expensive than the market. Little fiery video, pretty quick, but I hope it's helped you guys out. Watch out for those red flags. If you guys want a competitive quote, always call me at 707-478-0637. That is my cell phone; you will get me. Or sometimes, a list that picks up my messages when I'm on the phone, but my team quotes out all day long. We're very transparent. Download the app, check out the rates there. We're here to make it easy for you guys. But watch out for those three red flags because we want to get rid of those lenders in the industry. Okay, thanks for watching.