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benefit of using a broker in contrast to a bank for re-financing?

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December 23 2008 - Valley Stream
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Answers (12)

Profile picture for NY Mortgages
It is all about choice and to be able to have your financing best reflect your plans and goals. Arguments can be made that a broker offers more choices than a bank. In this day and age there are fewer portfolio lenders and I believe you can receive the best of both worlds by dealing with a Mortgage Banker. Mortgages are their sole purpose and have access to a full compliment of products and since they are the funding source they should maintain better control on fees and rate locks.
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December 26 2008
Profile picture for DebtFreeDave
Whoever give you the best rate and fees is the best.
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December 24 2008
Profile picture for pmcfadden
I believe an outfit that can act as both a banker and a broker gives you the best of both worlds. Brokers have been undergoing a lot of scrutiny lately and, while, in theory, they're able to get you the best loan for your situation, I believe a company that has all the resources is the best one for you. I hope this helps!

Paul
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December 24 2008
Profile picture for mortgagewithme
The most obvious answer to this question is available resources. In dealing with a bank, whether large or small, you are limited to the programs that the particular lender offers and at their terms. A broker has the option of shopping around your unique situation to a number of different lenders in order to find you the best possible deal. I have worked for a retail bank, a mortgage bank, and am currently a mortgage broker. I can tell you that I have more flexibility on price and products than any banker and I will always beat the best deal a bank has to offer. 
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December 23 2008
Profile picture for Barry Dalton

NETS,

Brokers are not the "middle man". Even if a Bank is a seller/servicer to the agencies - they still have the need for an origination channel. Whether it is their own retail banking division or through third party (Broker, Lender or another Bank). Originating and processing a mortgage require resources and certain fixed overhead in each market. Some banks and lenders prefer not to maintain this presence in each market, in lieu of relationships with other banks, brokers and lenders, which enable them to purchase the newly originated loan.

So to create the perception an individual can do better by eliminating the middle man is like saying - drive to detroit and visit the factory to pick up your next Caddy.

Happy Holidays!

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December 23 2008
Profile picture for yaegermike
NTETS..You are pretty far off. Banks, in most cases charge more than brokers do. In fact, way more. Brokers have margins that they set and can therefore drop to compete with banks. I have never lost a loan to a big bank and have on a regular basis taken loans from other large banks.

Brokers dont "push" any loans. They sift through various loan products to match to what a client needs. Brokers don't make ANY money on the type of loan the borrower gets. They get paid on the fees they charge.
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December 23 2008
Profile picture for DebtFreeDave
A broker has to disclose yield spread.  You can see what they are making off of you.  With a bank they don't have to.
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December 23 2008
Profile picture for pattishawgo

It really depends.  Tammy is talking about brokers in relation to a retail bank (think large national banks), because these banks only have one set of rates.  Local banks, however, are generally correspondent lenders and they take more responsibility for your loan being a sucessful one (not going into default).  Like a broker, your loan would get sold on the secondary mortgage market and local banks/lenders have access to a large range of products.  Their pluses are that you files are usually processed and underwritten in the same location, no matter where it might end up (much like a large national bank).  Plus, if your loan defaults the bank has to buy it back many times, whereas it doesn't effect the broker in the same way.  This important distinction is why smaller banks/lenders are oftentimes able to offer better rates than brokers.  All this detail might not matter to you, so let me say this:

My advice is talk to a few people, but definitely make sure you are getting good faith estimates and hold your lender to them.  Have them describe everything on the estimate line by line until you understand it.  A lower rate can be a higher priced loan when masked by massive fees.

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December 23 2008
NTETS, I don't push ARMs, I don't even like ARMs and have probably only closed a handful.  To think that a bank doesn't get paid for what they do, is inaccurate as well.  Most, if not all, banks charge an origination fee also.
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December 23 2008
Profile picture for Mr Caveat
true, but the brokers do get paid for what they do(%, just like agents) and they do favor pushing the banks favorite loans(arms), and all those resources they use to price lenders are available to you, go to bankrate.com and at least compare those banks with your broker's. sometimes you can skip the middleman, choose the bank yourself and get the loan that way. doesn't  always work, but explore the possibility anyway
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December 23 2008
Profile picture for Mr Caveat
true, but the brokers do get paid for what they do(%, just like agents) and they do favor pushing the banks favorite loans(arms), and all those resources they use to price lenders are available to you, go to bankrate.com and at least compare those banks with your broker's. sometimes you can skip the middleman, choose the bank yourself and get the loan that way. doesn't  always work, but explore the possibility anyway
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December 23 2008
Merciful, brokers have more lender resources available to submit your loan to in order to get the best rate and fees, whereas a bank does not.

Good luck!
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December 23 2008
 

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