One Stop Shopping is good when you can buy your toiletries in the grocery store.  I like to buy my body lotions and hair products while picking up my eggs and fruit.  Do I really want to get my house and mortgage financing in the same office?  Not sure?  Don’t do it.

My motto is: do one thing and do it well. If you go to a specialist, you want to focus on the specialty. Realtors sell houses. Realtors have decided that the mortgage broker makes a chunk of change on the deal and they want to get into the action. So, recently they have become licensed mortgage brokers, bought a broker or set up a desk in their office from an outside mortgage company. They direct all potential buyers to the in house loan officer under the guise that they know you, your deal and can help put the whole package together for you. Why go anywhere else when they can help coordinate the deal for you under one roof.

More than likely they have some flunky that was selling shoes the week before sitting at a desk doing pre-qualifications. More than likely the real estate broker is getting a piece of the mortgage commission. Even more likely, the real estate agents are pushed to send all buyers to this loan officer- good or bad. Lastly, I safely say, the real estate agent is getting a bonus for all loans closed through the in house guy.

I just got off the phone with a client that went to the in-house mortgage company of a large national real estate company. They were quoted a rate, given another, charged two points. Too late have to close got screwed! Sorry!

Another story to reveal: A friend of mine, who is a successful real estate agent in Manhattan, worked for a boutique real estate brokerage with an in-house loan officer. It was mandatory to go to this loan officer. If the buyer went somewhere else and the deal fell through for any reason, the agents were blamed and harassed for not keeping he mortgage in house.They quit.Too much pressure!
Remember apples and creme rinse not houses and mortgages.

Don’t say I never warned you!

– Dale Siegel