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Home » Business And Finance Articles » Mortgage Brokers The Nuts And Bolts

Mortgage Brokers – The Nuts and Bolts

Using a mortgage broker to shop for home loans can make the borrowing process a lot less stressful than doing it yourself. Here are the nuts and bolts on getting a good broker.

Competent Mortgage Brokers

There are a couple of obvious situations where going with a mortgage broker makes perfect sense. If you have less than perfect credit, a mortgage broker is going to be able to open your eyes to numerous loan options a traditional bank would never tell you about. If the idea of handling the mass of paperwork involved in the loan application scares you, a mortgage broker is definitely going to be a savior since they will take on that burden. Still, how do you know if you are talking to a competent broker?

The first issue to address when considering whether to use a mortgage broker is scope. Scope refers to the number of different lenders the mortgage broker works with in home financing. Generally speaking, the more lenders the broker works with, the better mortgage options you will get and, ultimately, the better financing. A good mortgage broker should have at least eight different lenders they work with and be able to go find others should your particular situation call for a special financing package. If the broker identifies only two or three lenders, you need to move on to the next broker.

The second biggest issue is the mortgage broker's knowledge of the lending industry. By knowledge of the industry, the broker should be able to identify multiple lending programs and the various lenders and options for each. For instance, you might ask the broker who he works with and the loan options available for a person with a 580 [poor] credit score. Further, ask the broker if he has arranged funding for such loans before and the specifics of the loans used. If the broker shows a depth of knowledge and starts rattling on about options, you've found the correct broker. If they don't, you haven't.

Broker Fees

Mortgage brokers are paid upon performance. If they don't get you a loan, they don't get paid. The positive aspect of this is you can be the mortgage broker is going to bust their tail coming up with a solution for your problem. The negative aspect is you need to make a determination as to whether the options give to you are good loans for your situation. The commission of a mortgage broker is typically paid out of the loan proceeds, but costs such as appraisals are your responsibility. The broker should have no problem telling you their commission rate on the loan.

If you don't trust banks to give you the best deal or have been turned down by a lender, mortgage brokers are a great way to find good deals. Understand the nuts and bolts of what they do and you are on your way to getting a loan.

And here is another random article you might be interested in...

In Leadership, The Critical Convergence Drives Great Results

The Leader's Fallacy lives! We subscribe to the Fallacy when we believe our enthusiasm with a particular leadership challenge is automatically reciprocated by the people we lead.

If ignorance is bliss then leaders going around blithely adhering to the Leader's Fallacy have cornered the market on happiness.

The truth is, it's more realistic to believe in INVERSE RECIPROCITY: i.e., whatever motivates you, "DE-motivates" the people.

That's especially so for leaders who are trying to motivate people to meet extraordinary challenges.

You'll never know how good you are as a leader unless you are motivating others to be better than they think they are. In that endeavor, you'll inevitably get at least some of the people angry.

Most people are settled into a comfortable status quo and resent being challenged to break out.

But if you aim to lead people to get great results, they not only have to be pushed but more importantly, they must be challenged to push themselves.

They will only push themselves to accomplish extraordinary things for you when they share in your enthusiasms. That sharing is called critical convergence, the joining of your enthusiasms and theirs so they are as enthusiastic as you about meeting the challenges you face. Until a critical convergence happens, you can't get great results consistently.

Don't think the critical convergence will happen automatically. You must work hard to achieve it.

After all, you yourself must be motivated about those challenges. If you're not motivated, you shouldn't be leading. But your motivation is irrelevant simply because it's a given.

Here's what's relevant: Can you transfer your motivation to the people so they are as motivated as you are? And can you translate their motivation into action that achieves results?

Everyone has major needs that shape their thinking and their actions day in and day out. If you want those people to take ardent action for you, you must provide solutions to the problems of those needs so the action you have them take brings them closer to realizing those solutions.

By the way, the critical convergence is not "win/win". It's much deeper and richer. Unlike "win/win", the critical convergence is an on-going relationship process from which flow mutually beneficial expectations and solutions.

Here are three steps you can take to help make a critical convergence happen.

(1) Understand their needs.

(2) Turn their needs into problems.

(3) Have their commitment to your cause be a solution to their problems.

To get the best out of people, we must embrace the best in them. Whenever you need to lead people to tackle important challenges, recall the Leader's Fallacy. Don't be taken in by it. Know that their commitment to your cause doesn't come automatically. You have to earn it by embracing the best of who they are. Take the trouble to build a critical convergence. You'll see a significant jump in results.

2006 © The Filson Leadership Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

PERMISSION TO REPUBLISH: This article may be republished in newsletters and on web sites provided attribution is provided to the author, and it appears with the included copyright, resource box and live web site link. Email notice of intent to publish is appreciated but not required: mail to: brent@actionleadership.com