How to Choose a Miami Mortgage Lender

Choosing the right Miami (fl) mortgage lender can have an important impact on how your transaction goes. Choosing the wrong type of mortgage company can end up costing you thousands of dollars at the time of closing and what is worst, tenths of thousands over the lifetime of your loan.

Here are some of the things you may want to consider when choosing a Miami mortgage lender:

1. A local Presence - The truth is that you can easily apply and get a home loan online without ever having to see anybody face-to-face. However, when dealing with one of the most important financial decisions you’ll ever make, doesn’t it just make sense to know that if a problem arises you’ll be able to visit the people in person and solve whichever misunderstanding there is?

Also, by being able to get to the mortgage company, you’ll be able to get a better feeling for how the lender works and how comfortable you feel working with the people involved in the lending institution.

Besides, a good local mortgage lender will be more concerned about its reputation and will worry about doing a good job for its customer since most of them operate from referrals.

2. Provides with Important Documentation Up Front - Will your loan adviser provide you with the "good faith estimate" of the loan costs up front? A good faith estimate lets you know what fees are charged. Be wary of any mortgage lender that refuses to give you a good faith estimate up front.

3. Offer Different Options – For example, the lender should give you the chance to lock your interest rate. The interest rate of the loan you're applying for may go up or down between the time you apply and the time you close. That's why you may want to lock in the rate for a specified period, rather than let the rate float until the closing. Be sure to ask the lender if there is any fee for locking in the rate (very common.)

4. Access to Many Different Programs - Many mortgage companies have only access to one source of funds. If this is the case, your mortgage broker would have to “fit” your situation to a prefabricated loan program. When you look for the right mortgage lender, make sure that the brokers have access to many different types of sources with many different programs that can be tailored to your specific needs.

As with most things in life, a source of funds can not be the best for all types of loans. Some specialize in first time home buyers, others concentrate in jumbo loans (large loans) and still others specialize in ARMs.

5. Great Quality Service – Visit the Miami mortgage lender and get a feeling for how they work. If you have any doubts, you may want to ask for referrals.