How Do I Know if I Have a Good Mortgage Broker?
Since everyone’s definition of “good” is different, there is no definitive way to decide whether or not your broker is good. With that being considered, however, there are some things that all mortgage brokers should do when working with their clients that are to be considered minimum acceptable standards.
Regardless of the other, more abstract, aspects of your relationship with your broker, if any of the following are missing from your interaction then you should re-evaluate your broker’s performance. Things like personality, customer service, friendliness, etc. are not an integral part of a broker’s performance, they will be left out of this description of required broker practices.
When all things are considered, those intangible aspects may actually be the deciding factors in what broker you choose, assuming of course that everything else is apples-to-apples. So, following is a brief list of things your mortgage broker should do for you in order for him to be considered as actually doing his job:
1. Your broker should be your liaison to the lenders - Any and all questions or concerns you have should be directed to your broker, and he should facilitate open and effective communication between the borrower and any potential mortgage lending institutions. The broker should speak on your behalf, and should communicate your thoughts, feelings, and questions exactly as you present them. He should not interpret or paraphrase when speaking with lenders, nor should he when providing you with their responses.
2. Your broker should present to you in a clear and concise manner all of the options made available to you by various lenders - He should never omit or withhold any offers simply because he is confident you will not choose them. All choices and options should be presented to you for open evaluation and comparison, and the broker’s function is to help you understand the different features and provisions of each loan contract.
3. Your broker should provide you with full disclosure regarding any and all anticipated fees that you will be charged in connection with his services - He should completely and effectively answer your questions and address your concerns with respect to such charges, and should be willing to relay any unresolved concerns or issues about the fees to his superiors, again using your words verbatim and providing replies verbatim.
4. Your broker should present himself as your agent, and therefore should be working to find you the contract that best suits your needs and your financial resources - This should be regardless of his own level of compensation for his work with the various lending institutions. The broker’s own commission should not be a factor in his work to help you choose the best possible loan from the most appropriate lender.
5. Your broker should make himself available to answer your questions or concerns and assist you in whatever way is appropriate, and such assistance should be available within a reasonable time frame - More specifically, if your broker is unable to take your call or address your concern, you should receive a response or update no later than one business day after your initial inquiry was received. If you leave a message on his office voice mail system, you should absolutely receive a reply no later than the close of the following business day.
6. Your broker should provide you with regular and detailed status updates at regular intervals - These communications should ideally come in the form of telephone conversations, and they should be at a minimum frequency of once every week. The goal of these phone conversations is to keep the borrower informed as to the progress of any pending applications, and to discuss any new questions or concerns that may have arisen in the meantime.
By no means are these the only criteria on which a broker’s performance should be evaluated. A myriad of other factors exist upon which a potential borrower should compare and assess his broker’s acceptability. The final determination should be made based on an overall comfort level and rapport with both the broker and the agency he is representing.
It is also important to note that the borrower should research the broker and his agency in order to ensure they are legitimately licensed to conduct business, and to find out if there are any pending or recent consumer complaints. It is necessary for the borrower to be extremely careful when choosing with whom to share personal information, as the prevalence of predatory lending practices has unfortunately increased in recent times.
