Your Lender

A Critical Member of Your Team

In order to be a credible and competitive buyer you need a close relationship with a reputable, experienced, and professional lender. Your lender plays an important role in the entire process of purchasing your new home and is a critical resource at certain points in the process such as:

• Property search – Very early in the process you must confer with a good lender who will help you determine exactly what type of loan and loan amount you qualify for given your current equity in owned property, down payment, FICO Scores, debt obligations, and income level(s). Without this knowledge you will not know the proper price range to concentrate on.
• Offer and offer acceptance – Your offer will be taken much more seriously by the Seller and their agent if you have, at least, a “pre-qualification letter” and, at best, a “pre-approval letter” from a reputable lender. Your lender must be familiar with and have access to your financial information so they can answer questions when called by the Seller’s agent or directly by the Seller.
• Proof of funds during escrow– The standard residential purchase agreement used in California requires that the Buyer provide written “Verification of Down Payment and Closing Costs” within 7 days of offer acceptance. You may provide copies of your Bank Statements (with the account numbers obscured for security) or can have your lender communicate that they have verified that you have sufficient cash (or cash equivalent) on hand to complete the transaction.
• Property Appraisal(s) – The lender will order and check the professional appraisal of the property.
• Loan documents to Escrow – Escrow will work very closely with your lender to provide proof of many “loan conditions” or “funding conditions” which must be met before the lender will order the loan docs to be drawn up and transmitted to escrow for the Buyer’s signatures. The lender must be very proactive and responsive in order to insure escrow proceeds on time and closes as agreed.
• Lender Funds to Close – Once the lender’s conditions have been met and their file is complete the lender will fund the loan and transmit the funds directly to the designated title company who will then transfer title from the Seller to the Buyer.

The loan process is actually much more complex and involved than the brief summary above. Individuals from Escrow, Title, Lender and the Broker/Realtor(s) work closely for weeks or months to coordinate the successful transfer of title of your new property to you.

It will pay big dividends to work closely with a reputable, experienced, and professional lender very early in the “Buying Process”. We can refer experienced and reliable lenders that we know will perform and provide good responsive service and fair and competitive rates.