By Brian Teyssier | Brian Sells Pittsburgh

Next is, some lenders are limited by their type of loans. And I’m not going to get into FHA and conventional and all that, and I not so much mean that. I mean there’s doctor’s loans. So in Pittsburgh, we have a lot of physicians that come in and they have physician’s loans. Some lenders don’t do them; some lenders do do them. We have USDA, which is rural. So that’s not in the city; that’ll be out like farmland. So, some lenders do USDA, and if you’re a buyer, you’ll probably know this ahead of time. You probably know this right now, but if not, ask your agent.

And what else is there? Vacation homes, which could be an investment loan; that’s said to be a second home, something like that. Next, you might want to ask yourself, are you in-person heavy? Like, do you want to be able to see your lender in person a lot, or are you online only? Maybe you don’t want to ever see your lender. Maybe you don’t want to ever talk to them on the phone. And that’s no insult to you lenders out there. Maybe just, a lot of the younger demographics. And even myself, I really don’t like to talk on the phone. There’s nothing in my mind that we can’t handle via email. It may take a little bit longer, it may not. I may get your email before I get your voice message. Me personally, I would probably like both. My lender could be savvy online—savvy meaning they text and they email. You can do your application online, which is usually not the specific lender’s doing, that’s the broker house or the mortgage broker they work for would usually supply that tool. And I think just about every lender has an online application process right now.

But I also want to—this is my big sell for my lender, Leslie, who is in Pittsburgh. If you have a problem, something you don’t understand. And you want to walk into that office, sit in front, and have them explain it to you, even though we have Zoom, having a lender that’s in that same city is vital. And I’m going to tell you, lenders– so there’s big lenders out there, right? Not going to say any names, but it may rhyme with “pocket.” And they may not have individual loan officers in the specific city. I’m not saying they can’t close a loan, but we have had some problems because they didn’t know local information. So, I would recommend going with somebody that’s indigenous and local to that area.

All right, the last point I want to make—I did a little bit of research before I did the video just to make sure I wasn’t missing anything. And I’m going to have to actually read this because I’m not going to be able to remember, but I thought it was so good. Anything attached to real estate, you should always get at least three different people. So, if it’s a roofer as a result of a home inspection, three different roofers. If it’s a real estate agent, you should only talk to one, me. Scratch that. Lenders, at least two, right? You probably spoke to your bank, talked to a mortgage broker. Different. I already discussed that. Three would be probably overkill but it’s okay.

Home inspectors, research. You don’t necessarily need to talk to them. You can do all the research on them online. But right here: Why should I shop for multiple lenders? In 2015—I know that’s going back a ways—the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, otherwise known as CFPB, found that 77% of consumers apply to only one lender, one bank, one mortgage, right? By shopping just three different lenders, borrowers could save more than $3,500 in just the first five years. Now, this is according to the CFPB’s research.

So, by applying to several lenders, I know you think that hurts your credit score, but you can apply to multiple lenders during the home-buying process, and it only counts as one hit on your credit report. Again, I apologize, I am reading this, no doubt. By applying to several lenders rather than just one, you can compare all costs and get the best deal. Because I’m going to tell you right now. There are some lenders or some brokerage houses that are going to slide these little fees in there that if you don’t have it laid out on three pieces of paper comparing them, you may miss it.

All right, so anyway, that’s it. Brian Teyssier, this is Road to Closed Quick Hacks. If you have any comments, keep them to yourself. No, just kidding. Comments that have happened in the past that you may want to help other buyers out, please comment below, reply to this column—I don’t know where you’re seeing it—but let me know, and I’ll make sure I get it out there. If you think I missed anything, feel free to let me know. I’d be happy to add it as well. Good luck on your house hunting, and don’t forget to contact Brian Sells Pittsburgh.