Mortgage Broker Told Me I Need to Find A Property

[zaer]

Before I can Get a Good Faith Estimate?? True? So, I am not feeling to confident in my broker. We are in the process of buying our first home (no money down - save your pre-judgements, please). He has all of our information (full docs, good credit, etc.). I simply want him to to tell us what our options are based on our situation (full doc info). First, he told me that we needed to find a property BEFORE we formally apply for the loan. OK. Now, we found a property and put an offer in today. Is he (the company) legally obligated to give us a good faith estimate in 3 days? On top of that, I am wondering if it is too much to ask for him to (based on our full doc info) give us three or four finance options. For instance, I am leaning towards an 80/20 to avoid PMI. Or, minimally a 30-year fixed, 100%. I suppose I just might not trust him. If YOU put an offer on a home, what is your understanding of the next steps to be with the finance piece (aka, the broker)? Please help. Thanks.

[mel s]

There are two different ways to do this. You can get pre-approved for a loan. That would tell you how much you could borrow, and probably the payment amount.

The good faith estimate is going to tell you the closing cost and various information on a specific property.

[coolmommy]

It's true that they don't normally give you good faith estimates until you have a contract. He should definately give you financing options-that's his job. If you don't like him them move on there are plenty out there! It's nice to have someone you enjoy dealing with because you will likely call on them again ;-]

[kendrickflorida]

I always prefer to get all info first(at least an idea) before wasting time looking or commiting to him. You're not going to get a true GFE about everything until you find home, but an idea wouldn't hurt(programs, est. costs, pre-qualification, ...) But I'm not going to badmouth a broker.

[glenn]

Whatever estimate he gives you will have to guess at the homeowners insurance until you arrange that. Now that you have found a house he should be able to plug in those property taxes and any HOA fees.

There may not be 4 options that work for you. But he should be able to talk with you about some options.

Pick a loan officer from recommendations from friends that have used them recently. The rates are real competitive. If you don't like this guy then use someone else.

[ose e]

I am a loan lender who offer loan to people that are in need of money to start up their business and who also need loan to pay off their debt. So if any one of you is interested in any loan do contact me at peterson.loaninvestment@yahoo.com

Thanks

[Suzy_305]

Not to dis your current broker but if you're not getting a good vibe from him then move on to another broker. I am a Mortgage Broker and yes you can get a GFE before you find a home just take into consideration that it is not accurate because you're loan amount, rate, taxes, insurance & hoa fees will change when you do find the home you're looking for. Some Brokers will argue and say "why will I go through all that trouble of doing a GFE on a loan amount that is not accurate".

Now regading the rate and payments issue: every broker works differently but when I have a client I usually offer them several options (for example: 2/28, interst only, pick a pay program, etc, etc) so the client doesn't say that he was stuck with a payment that he didn't like or agree to. I would have never suggested for you to place a contract on a home before first giving you an idea of what your payments would be like. But since you have already done that then you either need to work with the current broker or find another one. Just remember that everytime you go to a new broker that broker's office has to re-pull your credit through his office and he has to pre-qualify you with his lenders.

Go with your gut feeling! Good Luck!

[Pansy C]

Try going to this site, they have lots of information about this sort of stuff.

[capellancf]

Yes he is legally required to give you a good faith estimate within 3 days, this is required so that you get an estimate of what your costs will be and give you a chance to shop around.

As far as loan options, ask him about different programs and payments. Maybe he is only willing to do what you ask him and he is not going to go the extra effort to analyze your situtation and see which loan program might be best for your situation.

Once you've put in an offer and its been accepted, let your mortgage broker know so that he can finalize with you which loan program you want and lock in the rate.

Good luck.