Citizens Bank
How to be the best mortgage customer
Mortgage financing these days is difficult enough, so how are you supposed to know how to be the best mortgage customer you can be? Be prepared!
Consumers today have access to more lenders than ever before. Figuring out who to use for your mortgage loan requires some homework. Following is some helpful advice from Melinda Williams, Mortgage Loan Officer, with Citizens Bank in Hot Springs.
Williams suggests that you basically qualify your potential lender to ensure the bank has a good history of helping local people and businesses. Your lender should be a known expert who knows every mortgage type and assistance program available. And, the institution should offer a better product, with very competitive rates and fees.
Further, the bank should make it really easy to get a home mortgage loan. Since online lenders have simplified the mortgage application process, you should expect your hometown lender to do the same. During the application process:
Your lender should have online application technology that is easy to understand and simple to use.
Their in-bank physical application process should be easy to work through, and they must have amazingly helpful and friendly people who are available to help you at all times.
The institution must have fast turnaround times on your application. Your lender should communicate the way you like it (in-person, text, email, phone, whatever), with timely updates and transparency.
Based on her experience, Williams says she cannot stress enough the importance of a buyer getting prequalified for a mortgage loan before they engage the help of a Realtor. It makes the entire process less stressful for the real estate agent, the buyers and the mortgage loan officer.
The bottom line: Never, ever forget that you are the customer, and you have mortgage lending options. Don’t settle for whatever mortgage loan you can get at your current bank. Shop around. Do a little digging. Be smart. It will be worth it.
Melinda Williams can be contacted at Citizens Bank, 4429 Central Ave., Suite C, in Hot Springs, or call 501-262-7255. Her NMLS Number is 717467.