How to Reach Out to Lenders

[Kevin Gamboa]

Hello all,

Hope everyone is well and safe. Me and my girlfriend are in San Diego, CA and plan on buying our first home. We will begin reaching out to lenders soon, and I wanted to know how we should go about that.

What is the most efficient way to reach out to as many lenders as we can to see what we qualify for?

What documents should we have ready and how should we present these documents?

Are there any red flags that I should keep an eye out for in terms of predatory behavior?

[Jon Lallande]

Thanks for the shout out @Donald E Appleberry! 

I agree with Donald. Anytime you put in your information on a landing page your contact information will be sold to companies across the country. Unless you're having a hard time getting pre-approved, you shouldn't need to call 10-20 lenders in order to find one that you like. I would look online for good reviews and ask your agent for a referral. You want your lender to be communicative and to have a vast amount of lending knowledge. I would pick a few that you like based off of that.

As a rule of thumb for W2 employees there are a few documents you will need;

• Most Recent 30 days paystubs
• W2's for the past 2 years
• Most recent 2 months bank statements (all accounts)
• Last 2 years filed tax returns

In general, there are a lot more laws in place to protect borrowers against predatory lending than there were 12 years ago. Make sure when you are deciding on financing you aren't only looking at the interest rate. A lender might be able to get you down to a 2.75% rate but they are charging you $20,000 in discount points. There are also other lending fees that you can compare once you get a loan estimate. As long as you pick a reputable lender, you shouldn't have a problem finding someone that has your best interest.

Hope this answers your question. Feel free to reach out if you ever need anything!