How Do You Decide On A Lender?

[Nina Ricci]

I'm looking to purchase a home in the Philadelphia/South Jersey area, and I'm wondering how everyone has come to decide on a lender that's right for them for a mortgage? I'm looking to get pre-approved ASAP, and have especially been looking into the 203b and 203k loans (depending on the house, of course) for lower down-payments.

In which way do you recommend embarking on my search process? Do you recommend any lenders from experience?

[Charlie MacPherson]

@Nina Ricci Be sure your lender does their homework BEFORE giving you a pre-approval.

There are still some who give out pre-approval letters that aren't worth the paper they're written on.

At a minimum, your lender should have you submit bank statements, W2s, tax returns and pay stubs.  That and a credit report means that your pre-approval is probably good.

When representing a seller, I always vet the buyer's lender by investigating this before accepting an offer.

As a buyer, if someone gives you a pre-approval without all this documentation, (sometimes called a pre-qualification), neither you nor anyone else involved has any idea whether you can actually buy a property or not.

I've seen this in person back when I was newer in the business.  I never let it happen again.