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A Mortgage Broker works as an independent agent who brokers mortgage loans for companies or individuals. An advantage of working as a mortgage broker is that you do not have to meet strict licensing requirements for mortgage brokers. However, the responsibility of finding and acquiring mortgage loans often falls on your shoulders. Mortgage brokers often find and obtain mortgage loans for their customers through referrals from current or past clients. As a mortgage broker, you will be responsible for finding and qualifying potential borrowers for any mortgage loans provided. You will then have to work closely with the borrower to ensure that the loan process goes smoothly and you are able to complete the application with the least amount of delays and hassles.
There are a number of guidelines and lending criteria required for mortgage brokers in order to work in this industry. Most importantly, in order to become a licensed mortgage broker in Canada you must be at least eighteen years old. There are other lending criteria that mortgage brokers need to fulfill in order to become licensed in most regions. Mortgage brokers working with homebuyers need to make sure that they have good relations with their local banker and that they are able to access information from the bank about refinancing options for home loans.
The role of a mortgage broker is to access information from various lending institutions about home loans and to match potential homebuyers with home finance options that match their credit profiles. In most regions, there are multiple lenders that a broker works with. For example, in Vancouver the real estate industry contains many different types of lending institutions including Asian investors, foreigners, first-time home buyers, first-time home sellers, and so on. In addition, in some areas there are government sponsored programs that a broker can take advantage of such as the maple tree funding program that allows a homebuyer to borrow up to seventy-five percent of the value of the property in question. These are some of the criteria that a mortgage broker will need to know in order to find the right type of mortgage for a client. Most brokers work with a wide range of different lenders and will be knowledgeable about which lenders are willing to lend to people with different financial profiles.
The role of a broker involves much more than just finding the right lender to refinance a client's mortgage though. A good mortgage broker will also understand the rules and regulations pertaining to homeowner insurance, appraisal procedures, credit history, debt consolidation loans, and much more. While all of these things may not directly relate to the mortgage that a person is interested in purchasing, a good broker can explain them to a potential borrower and help to guide the borrower through the options available to them. This ensures that the borrower does not get into any trouble when it comes time to pay for their new mortgage.
One important thing to remember when using a mortgage broker is that the lender will always have the final say on any loan decision. A broker is only going to present options to the borrower that the broker has gathered from a variety of different lenders and sources. A broker will never tell the lender what to do or suggest. The lender still has to make the decision and then apply the guidelines that they have decided upon through the legal system.
In order to find a good broker, it will help to do a little research on your own. Talk to friends and family for recommendations and talk to other brokers who could help with your situation. Some good questions to ask include how much experience the broker has and if they are fully trained in all aspects of refinancing. Many of them have been doing this for years and should have developed good working relationships with various lenders. Be sure to ask how long they have worked with the borrower and if there have been any instances where they did not get the loan done on time or with the quality that the borrower expected. You should also look for examples of the work that the broker did for previous clients so that you can see what the quality of the work was like.
It is also a good idea to interview the broker before you choose one. Take the time to ask them questions about their background. Any good broker will have a history of helping borrowers obtain mortgage loans. Make sure to find out how many mortgage loans they have handled and if they went through any problems. You should also find out what type of borrower they specialize in and how long they have been doing this type of lending. Some brokers are able to work with all different types of borrowers no matter what the credit situation is, but others must focus their business on a certain group of people.
When it comes to getting mortgage finance the most important thing for the borrower to remember is that the broker is only one part of the process. The lender will still have to go through the whole legal process, and they will still be responsible for any mistakes that the broker makes. It will help to know all of this in advance so that the borrower does not get stuck with any problems. Once the broker finds a lender to refinance the borrower, the process will move along smoothly until the end.