As a real estate agent, your primary job is to help your buyers find the home they’re looking for, at a price they can afford.
But the job doesn’t stop there, by any means.
Agents are also responsible for helping clients through the entire buying process. From the initial search to scheduling tours and home inspections and, ultimately, attending the final closing, real estate agents are there through it all.
An agent can’t do it alone, though. Along the way, they also must recommend other industry professionals and services —people like home inspectors, contractors, home warranty providers and, you got it, even mortgage lenders.
In fact, the latter might be the most important recommendation an agent will make in the entire home buying journey. After all, the lender will determine how much the buyers qualify for (and what type of property they can afford), and they’ll be a part of their lives for many years to come—as long as they own the home.
Needless to say, the lender recommendations you make are crucial. If you want your buyers to be successful homeowners – not just now, but even decades down the line—offering them the right mortgage options is the way to do it.
Do you have great lenders and loan officers you can recommend to your clients? If not, here are 6 ways to spot a stellar one that’s worthy of your buyers:
- Plenty of loan options. Not every homebuyer—or their financial situation—is the same. You need to give your clients a lender with options… something that can fit any need or financial limit they may have. That means offering fixed-rate, adjustable-rate, refinancing, and even FHA and VA loans.
- Easy, one-on-one service. Securing a mortgage is often difficult and overwhelming—especially for first-time buyers. The mortgage lender you recommend to clients needs to offer top-notch, one-on-one service that can help when things get hard. Call centers, rehearsed scripts and playing phone tag just won’t cut it.
- Convenient loan management. Don’t lock your buyers into 30 years of hunting down coupon books, signing checks and buying stamps. Recommend a lender that gives them full visibility of their loans—and their payments—digitally and easily. If they offer automatic payments or direct debits, that’s even better. Make homeownership as easy as possible for your buyers!
- A prequalification process. Having a prequalification process is important for both you and your buyer. For one, it ensures neither of you is wasting your time—that yes, indeed, the buyer does qualify for a mortgage and can begin the home search. It also gives the buyer—and you —more guidance in the home search, telling you what price they can afford, as well as what size property and what location may best fit their finances.
- Convenient application process. In this day and age, buyers don’t want to have a face-to-face meeting for every step in the application process. They want to fill out their application online, connect with their loan officer via email and, if possible, even sign and submit documents digitally. Pick a lender who can offer these conveniences for your buyers. It will speed up the process and make securing a mortgage infinitely easier.
- Great reviews. Good reviews are the true mark of a great mortgage company. After all, who better to assess a lender’s service than someone who’s been through it already? Check with the Better Business Bureau, as well as Yelp, Google and Facebook reviews before making a recommendation, and always make sure they come highly rated by previous customers.
Recommending a great mortgage lender is a huge responsibility for an agent. Send your buyers to Guardian Mortgage Company, and make sure they’re always in good hands — from the very beginning.
