ShortchangedbyShortcuts?

Shortchanged by Shortcuts?

Know where you’re buying. Spend your time wisely, so you’re not putting in offers that you have little chance of winning!

Second, pick the right lender. We covered this earlier, and now is when choosing the right lender can come home to work in your favor and choosing the wrong lender will work against you.

As soon as you place an offer, contact your lender (or have your agent do it) and have them call the listing agent for the property.

Why? You want the lender to “talk you up” to the listing agent, reiterating your pre-approval and credit worthiness.

Consider this scenario on a house with multiple offers: The listing agent gets a call from a lender, “Hello, I understand that the Smiths put in an offer on your listing, and I want you to know that I personally have been working with them for the past several months. They’re fantastic and are completely qualified for this loan. I have absolutely no question about this loan going through, and in fact, it’s already gone through underwriting. I’m happy to answer any questions you may have.”

It’s standard practice for good listing agents to call every lender prior to presenting offers to the seller. By having your lender call the agent first, you stand out. You’ve made the agent’s job easier.

It’s a little thing, but do enough little things right and the big things fall your way. Plus, if your competition’s lender makes this call to the listing agent and yours does not, well, you might stand out, but not in the way you want.

This is one more reason I cautioned you against picking a big bank as your mortgage lender when you were getting pre-qualified. Using a national bank, or worse, some internet-based lender, for your loan, will place you at a disadvantage compared to buyers using a local lender. By using a local lender, you’re greasing the wheels toward both getting your mortgage and – most importantly – getting the house! A good listing agent will steer their seller toward the buyer who is best positioned to close the deal quickly and on time. In fact, when I’m the listing agent and my Making an Offer | 109