true or false. Income verification, down payment qualification, employment history, etc., are all investigated. Honest pre-approvals are the backbone of a successful real estate business. A good lender is going to take the time to pre-approve the buyer, not just pre-qualify them. Always insist that the lenders you work with give a pre-approval letter. It’s the only way to give you the most accurate outlook on the buyer and what they can afford. You can’t get that information if the lender doesn’t dig deep to get the accurate answers necessary to make that judgment.
ATTRIBUTES OF A GOOD LENDER
In addition to honest pre-approval letters, there are a lot of other things a good lender can — and will — do to help make your business easier. A superb lender or lending officer will be available 24/7, within reason. Obviously, no loan officer is going to be too happy to answer a 2:00 AM “just checking on the status” call, but you get the point. A good lender will be available when necessary to help you get your buyer approved. For example, let’s say you’re showing a potential buyer a house at 9:00 PM on a Saturday and it’s clear that the property is going to enter a bidding war situation. In a position like that, you need to get the buyer approved ASAP. You should be working with a lender that you can call at that time so they can take the buyer’s application over the phone and move the process forward. You shouldn’t have to wait until 8:00 AM on Monday morning. Good lenders never lie about the buyer’s ability to get the loan. They’re not telling you, “It’s a great deal, a done deal. They’re guaranteed to get a loan,” when there are actually issues. Bad
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