Las Vegas Lenders

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Quite often I am asked about which Lenders to use in applying for a purchase mortgage on a piece of Las Vegas real estate. The answer is complex but is based on two types of Lenders; the Mortgage Company and the Mortgage Broker.

It is important to mention that know matter whom you choose to be your lender, your mortgage loan will almost always be packaged and sold on the secondary mortgage market. What this means is that the company you take the loan out with will generally sell the loan to a different company that will take your payments. Unfortunately you have no say in who gets to buy your loan and must adapt based on the servicing lenders character, ethics and business practices. In resent years some lenders have posted huge profits through applying questionable tactics concerning late fee's and interest increases due to changes in the borrowers debt ratios, FICO scores or even being late on an unrelated bill. There are ways to avoid such charges but we will leave that for another article.

Pick a loan company that is going to be easy for you to communicate with and get documentation to. If you have access to a fax machine or internet document scanning capabilities, this can be anywhere in the country. But if you live out of Nevada and don't have a fax machine or internet document scanning capabilities then you need to find a mortgage officer close to your home.

Make sure that the lender is licensed to make loans in Nevada. Lenders are required to License with the State of Nevada in order to make mortgage loans within the State. You don't want to find out weeks into escrow that your lender can't make a loan to you in Nevada and risk loosing everything.

Pick a loan officer that will handle your file personally. Sometimes the person taking your application passes your package off to a system of people and has no control after it is out of their hands. Your application can then get bogged down in the processing center which can cause you untold grief. You need one person to call if you have a question or need to talk with them and they should have the power and responsibility to move your application through its needed steps to closing.

Mortgage Companies

This group of lenders can include your banks, credit unions. Also included are the large national mortgage companies such as Country Wide Home Loans, CTX Mortgage, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Washington Mutual, GMAC Mortgage, etc.

These are the old guard of the mortgage business. They are the more conservative and generally offer only their own internal programs. They generally do not offer any outside lenders programs. Some of these companies are very slow to process your loan and can exceed the normal 30 day escrow period. It is important to stay in touch with your lender and make sure they are processing your application in a timely manor in order to avoid possibly loosing your earnest money and your prospective property.

Some of these lenders offer a wide variety of loans. As an example Country Wide offers over 30 different programs.

The Mortgage Brokers

A mortgage Broker offers many companies loan programs. They have the ability to shop the mortgage industry for you and offer you the best programs available to Mortgage Brokers. They are a service oriented business who make their money processing loans and selling them to various lenders. Once the loan is closed and funded they have completed their obligation to you.

The advantages of a Mortgage Broker are that they as professionals can offer your some of the best loan packages available and very often beat the rates at your bank.

The disadvantage is that they can also shop the programs and only offer the programs that bring them the highest commissions. Now to be fare to mortgage brokers, I have seen some that are very ethical and some that are offering rates higher than the Banks and yielding much higher commissions.

Another disadvantage is that some Mortgage Companies process Mortgage Brokers loans at a slower rate in order to encourage customers to their mortgage centers. This can usually be worked around by a good mortgage Broker who does some volume of business with the company. Ask the Broker how many loans they have done with your prospective lender before committing to them. They may not tell you the company who is going to fund your loan, but they should tell you the number of loans they have done with them in the last year. Remember the more volume a Broker does with a company the more power he has to move your application through their system.

Then I recommend contacting a reputable Mortgage Broker such as Desert Valley Mortgage or Republic Mortgage here in Las Vegas and check their programs.

Which Lender is right for you?

It depends, if you have a long standing record with your bank or another mortgage institution you should first check with them about their programs.

But you should always shop at least three different Lenders. I have often seen a Mortgage Broker save a client thousands of dollars from the quote their favorite Mortgage Company gave them.

The bottom line is, shop for your loan just as you would an automobile or the real estate your going to buy, shop and compare. It will save you many thousands of dollars.

Questions to ask a Las Vegas real estate Lender

When talking to a mortgage lender/banker prior to making an mortgage application, you may find it helpful to ask the following questions in order to make an informed decision.

1.  Are you a full time lender rep or mortgage broker?

2.  How long have you been doing loans full time ?

3.  How many loans do you do in a year on Las Vegas real estate?

4.  Based on our situation, what is the best mortgage for us? Why?

5.  What is the most popular loan you offer?  Why?

6.  How long will it take you to process and close the loan?

7.  About your . Rates.....Terms.....Fees . are they all negotiable?

8.  What are your standard fees?

9.  Are there any special fees on Las Vegas real estate?

10.  What is the longest rate guarantee you will give?

11.  What if rates go down during this lock-in period?

12.  What does it cost to lock-in an interest rate?

13.  Will this loan be sold on the secondary market or will it be placed in your portfolio? 

14.  What is the difference to me?

15.  If private mortgage insurance (PMI) is required, at what point can it be eliminated? 

16.  What is the procedure for eliminating private mortgage insurance?

17.  What is the up-front charge for private mortgage insurance and what is the renewal fee?

18.  Should we include it in our mortgage or pay it in advance? Why?

19.  What is the process we will go through, between the mortgage application and the day our home purchase closes?

20.  When does the mortgage servicing department pay the property taxes to insure the income tax deduction for that year?

21.  How many months worth of property taxes and insurance are required for the reserve account on our Las Vegas real estate?

22.  If obtaining an adjustable rate mortgage, describe how and when the loan can be converted to a fixed rate mortgage and what charges will be involved? 

23.  Will another appraisal be required?

24.  If obtaining an adjustable rate mortgage, what is the margin, index, and anniversary for adjusting the payments?

25.  Is the loan assumable?  Under what conditions? Can I pay off my loan early?   Is there a penalty?  Can I pay extra on my loan?  How is it applied?

26.  What do you need from us to get our loan approved?

27.  When is the house payment due and when is the late fee incurred? What is the late fee?

28.  Do you have any concerns about our ability to get a quick loan approval on our Las Vegas real estate?

29.  How long do we need a "Finance Contingency" to be in our offer to purchase?

Note!!! Each credit report that you get will reduce your FICO credit score. This includes almost any application for credit, even rentals and cell phone applications. If you plan to shop lenders, have your credit checked by the one you are most likely to use then take a copy to the other lenders.  If you use someone else, they will have to run another credit report. Please feel free to contact me for a reference to a quality lender.  Leave me your name, e-mail and phone and I will have them contact you.

Oh, by the way, if you know of, or talk to, a friend or relative who is considering buying or selling Real Estate, please let me know so I can offer them the same valuable service I give to you.

Welcome to the adventure of buying a home. If you want an experienced professional on your side,  call: Max Schmidt (702) 334-2200

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Prudential Americana Group, Realtors®
Max Schmidt P.C. dba Max Schmidt
Broker/Salesman
871 Coronado Center Dr., suite 100
Henderson, Nevada 89052
(702) 334-2200