In the end, it will always be your choice of which company
you want to hold your mortgage when you purchase a property. So far in 2014, I
have witnessed the multitude of problems that can arise when a client chooses
the absolute cheapest option for a mortgage company, including some crazy
closings that were longer than they had to be only because of that choice.
In instance one, the closing documents that were to be
signed at the closing were not the same documents that the client had approved
less than 24 hours before. The documents had completely different loan term
payment lengths, different monthly payments and information that had nothing to
do with the closing. When we finally got the bank on the telephone, their
answer was simply that there was nothing they could do, that was the way the
documents were put together and they had to be signed that way. Even my client
pointed out the absurdity of it all, the bank refused to budge – all in the name
of saving few dollars a month.
In another instance, the bank created documents with the
wrong address. All of the title documents and other legal documents had been
prepared correctly and approved by everyone, including the bank. It was only
that morning, mere minutes before the closing, that the bank realized that they
had made a mistake in the address (merely a typo). Because of their typo, the
bank required that all of the documents needed to be redone and they did not
wire the funds for the closing until the following day – again, all because of
their own mistake and in the name of saving a few dollars.
These two examples reminded me of the importance of shopping
around for a good mortgage rate, but also doing your research on how the
company operates and if they have a good reputation or not. While you may save
a few dollars down the road, going with a fly-by-night loan company can cause quite
a few headaches when you try to purchase that first home!
For more information on real estate closings, or to set up a
consultation, please call my offices (718.568.0221 or 908.698.0417) or visit my
website (AndrewMAyers.com) to schedule a consultation.