Mortgage Episode #1 - What to consider when choosing a lender.

In today’s world, home buyers have more options to finance their home than ever before. It’s not just the traditional banks and credit unions, it’s online lenders and mortgage brokers that seem to “POP UP” everywhere. What should people be looking for when they are trying to find a lender for the largest purchase of their life?

You can watch this episode on YouTube here.

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Transcript

Sean:   0:03
Hi. I'm Sean Fedorko, the host of Your Money Counts a Marquette Savings Bank podcast. Today we're gonna talk about what to consider when choosing a lender. Home buyers have more options to finance their home than ever before. We got traditional banks, credit unions, online lenders, mortgage brokers, and they seem to be

Sean:   0:20
seem to be

Sean:   0:20
everywhere. Well, what should people be looking for when they try to figure out which lender to use for the largest purchase in their life to help us answer that question? We've got some of the staff from Marquette Savings Bank here with us today. But before we get information from them, we want to know who they are. So in a little bit called know your banker, they're gonna introduce themselves, and they're gonna tell us. Ah, favorite movie. A favorite movie

Trisha Snook:   0:47
for me to start.

Sean:   0:48
Go for you.

Trisha Snook:   0:49
All right. Tricia Snook, the manager at the Sterrettainia street office and, uh, come from a big sports family. So I think I would have to go with Remember the Titans.

Michael Kitts:   1:00
Sports ball? Yeah. Michael Kits. I am 920 Peach Street office, in downtown Erie and I'm the Assistant Branch Manager down there. Um, you know. Tough question.In honor of Kirk Douglas I think I'd go with 20,000 leagues under the sea. Oh, wow. Very cool. Classic. Good call. Okay.

Kelly Pratt:   1:20
I'm Kelly Pratt and on the branch manager at our Vernon Township office in Meadville. And I'm gonna have to go with a chick flick. One fine day one. Michelle Piper.

Michael Kitts:   1:33
George. Oh, George Clooney. Yeah, he's cool. Okay. Like the perpetual bachelor George Clooney, Hip rides, motorcycles. I'm done. Okay. Not bachelor anymore. Don't anymore. No married two kids. Really? Wow.

Sean:   1:45
I have a cut up. Okay. I gotta listen to our

Michael Kitts:   1:47
podcast. He's been all right. Good. Well, we're gonna talk

Sean:   1:51
about lenders. Um, and I guess the first thing that kind of want to know is, uh, when we you know, me or anyone my age kind of walks in tow, start talking to someone who's gonna lend us a huge amount of money. Um, do I get to talkto one person, or do I have to talk to many like, what? Am I getting prepped for here?

Michael Kitts:   2:12
Well, um, you know, at Marquette it is one point of contact, and I guess somewhere here, to me, that is you know what separates us from? You know, your online bankers. And, you know, you're you're brokers that air here, you know it is one. Contact your questions from day one toe year number 30 when you're paying your house off. Um, you know it is that same contact we process. You have questions. You know, it's my number that you're calling or Tricia's or whoever your loan officer is. Why is

Sean:   2:45
that important? Why is it important to me? Why does Marquette choose to do that? Because, of course, I think, And other institutions, right? You call the number of the bank someone. Maybe it's an online lender and you get the person who answers the phone kind of makes sense, but, you know, here in eerie, I can drive over to the stair a teeny branch and can talk to you any time I want to read. I presume you work full time and you're there Me on 9 to 5 regular hours, I could drop in and ask the question.

Trisha Snook:   3:08
Banker's hours air no longer. 9 to 5.

Sean:   3:10
Oh, what a banker's hours.

Trisha Snook:   3:12
They vary from branch to branch, but we are there later than five on numerous occasions. Well,

Michael Kitts:   3:16
that's good to know, too. Okay, so Saturday and Saturday? OK, there's no such thing as bankers. Hours doesn't, But

Trisha Snook:   3:26
it's important because, uh, you know, like Mike said, it's the biggest investment you're probably going to to make in your lifetime. Ah, and there's nothing worse than having to explain your situation or, uh, over and over again. Stance is right to tell a different puzzle, right? Sometimes in two days Ah, we get to know you on. To be honest, we get to know your family. There have been people that I've done loans for their sisters for Hey, you worked with my parents, and now I'm coming back to Marquette. Or how many times have we heard my parents got there first? Mortgage with Marquette before you were born, right, Right. So market has really been a staple in eerie because we are local, and you always will have the continuity with being able to come in and know who it is that you're talking to. You may have done a mortgage for them 10 years ago when now they're ready to expand in. Maybe by a larger home s o that one point of contact is is great.

Sean:   4:27
What's one of the things I think is interesting. And any time you're doing dealings in business, um, or you have these exchanges, these interactions, these purchases thes service is where there's a lot of trust involved. Is a huge amount of money involved here, you know, trust. If you're gonna be working with me for, like, 20 years like chances are rid of build up a lot of reports. You don't want to lose my business. You're the one who's gonna talk to me over the whole term of this this loan, this mortgage, Um, and I think that the, uh, context that you have about the ear community, the context you might build up about individuals, their families, whether they're coming back for a second or third loan, or whether now the kids are coming back for a loan or a sister or a cousin or a friend. Um, you know, if I refer somebody to mark cat or tow any kind of service provider, I want to know that if I refer them to you, Trish, they actually get to talk to you. They don't get handed off to somebody else, right? right. Makes it much more comfortable for me to build a rapport and to feel like I can work with you over the long term. Especially, you know, if I ever run into questions or you run into problems with with my home or or, you know, with the payments that I have to make on my mortgage, You trust me. So you know, when I come in and I want to talk about that somewhere in

Michael Kitts:   5:41
the area, you use the word report. You know, I think you know, we like to release. I like to relationship, I guess is is the word that, you know, it is It is long term. It's not short term. I am not. Ah, here is ah, broker. Or, you know, an online banker that is here working for commission on Lee. And I need you to sell. And I need you to closed on this house. Now, Now, now, Now, um, you know, for us, it's ah, process. It's our job. It's Yeah,

Kelly Pratt:   6:10
you know, and then we're not We're not pushy, you know, We're not like he said, you know, we're not trying to get that closed. Um, for our benefit we're doing it for you. Yeah. So

Sean:   6:24
what you had said, Mike, you're not You're not pushing to get the clothes. Are you? Alluding to the fact that it may be takes longer with Marquette because of this sort of dedication to one on one interactions? Or can you move Justus fast?

Kelly Pratt:   6:37
No, no. We can move Justus fast.

Trisha Snook:   6:39
We move at your pace.

Michael Kitts:   6:40
I dare say faster. Everything is here. It's, you know, we're in the same. You know, It's not a different state that's looking at you. It's, you know, everything is down. You know, we're headquartered downtown 9 20 Peach Street. And, you know, we're the only headquartered institution in town. It's, um, you know, been here for

Kelly Pratt:   6:58
the decision made here and not

Michael Kitts:   7:03
yeah, in four big

Kelly Pratt:   7:04
cities or out of state. Or, you know, in Kentucky all the decisions are made, you know, even for Crawford County loans in Erie County.

Sean:   7:14
So that would mean when you say my loan was processed, it was, like, decided, worked on, evaluated here,

Michael Kitts:   7:23
right? All right, here you're buying the computer screen. That's that's how they knew you

Sean:   7:27
Well, but so I could fill out an application for a mortgage online with Marquette. I can use my computer screen. Does that go wherever man's computers or

Trisha Snook:   7:37
whoever you choose in the drop down box? Somebody here? Yeah. It goes to one of the local loan officers. You actually choose who you want that to go

Sean:   7:46
through. So do you. The online application process doesn't go to some service that Marquette hires to like and to respond to that.

Kelly Pratt:   7:52
Now,

Sean:   7:53
it'll actually arrive in your inbox if I wanted to. Trish, which means

Michael Kitts:   7:55
that I

Sean:   7:55
could fill it out online. But, you know, Kelly, you might give me a call back. Okay? So even even online is is local with Marquette. Exactly. Right. So, uh, but others, of course. Do you get their mortgages online? Um, a friend of mine got their mortgage online. Uh, and the later they found out sort of had to change who they made payments to, because after the mortgage closed, the mortgage was sold. You know, one bank had sort of completed that transaction, but then sold that debt or that mortgage toe. Somebody else. Can you explain what that means? What does it What does it mean when my mortgage or my loan is sold to somebody else. How does that impact my experience?

Trisha Snook:   8:37
A term we probably used in the mortgage industry is serviced. So who's going to service your mortgage when it's once it's in place? Ah, and servicing basically means who do you make your payment, too? If you have chosen to include taxes and insurance in escrow as part of your payment on a monthly basis, who do you send those bills to? Ah, who do you call when you have a question that, hey, some reason my tax bill didn't get paid, so the servicing is us helping you through the next 10 2030 years of payments? Who do you call when you have questions? And with those online broker or online lenders and brokers here in the area, you can you can bet it's gonna be sold probably, too,

Michael Kitts:   9:20
before the ink is dry

Trisha Snook:   9:21
right 2 to 3 times. Probably even more than that, it could be sold the day after you signed all the paperwork.

Sean:   9:28
So if it gets sold two or three times, does that mean I have to change two or three times who I'm writing? Checks? Direct

Trisha Snook:   9:33
who you're writing your technique you

Kelly Pratt:   9:34
will contact. You have questions, right?

Sean:   9:37
But with Marquette, it'll always be you.

Trisha Snook:   9:39
You walk in the door and you see the same person that probably originated and helped you with your loan.

Michael Kitts:   9:44
I think I have 367 months more to work and, you know, mortgages Air 360. So I'm there for a 30 year right now. So eso every more start my start, my mortgage

Sean:   9:58
with you. You're going to be there. Utilitarian

Michael Kitts:   10:00
end, very end. This is good to know.

Sean:   10:02
Okay. Um, so you know, you mentioned something. They're actually I want to come back to Trish. You had said escrow. Uh, could you define that? What was what is that?

Trisha Snook:   10:13
Escrow is basically us budgeting for you, for your taxes, your real estate tax, property taxes and your homeowner's insurance. So instead of when you get your real estate tax bills, do you have to write a large cheque to pay them? You bring those bills into Marquette on a monthly basis. When you've been making your mortgage payment, we've been setting aside 1/12 of that amount. So when those bills come in, you bring him to us, and we take the money out of your escrow and pay them for you.

Sean:   10:43
Okay, So part of my mortgage can be what the bills are eventually going to be for my taxes and insurance. So I The difference is I could rewriting my check to pay for my mortgage than a check to pay for my insurance and then check to pay for my taxes. Or it can have that all handled by the bank. And I just write one check to our cat and escrow is the service that takes care, paying those other things. Yes, sir. Bronco, set it and forget it. Okay. Yeah, I like that.

Michael Kitts:   11:13
Yeah, I said it in for Ron Popeil. Just aged yourself again. So,

Sean:   11:20
uh, you know, while we're thinking about kind of this escrow this this additional expense that I can build into my mortgage to make things a little easier, a little more efficient. Um, there are all kinds of other costs, right? So it's not just the money you need for the house there. Other things. How do we get an estimate of that? How do I know what all of those different costs are gonna be is there, like

Kelly Pratt:   11:43
somebody had a for a cost testament that we complete for you and we can do numerous ones and we can update them. But it just gives you, ah, the idea. Or it gives you an estimate of what the closing costs would be based on that particular just the purchase price. How much you're gonna put down what term you're going to go with, what the interest rate is gonna be, whether you're gonna escrow your taxes and insurance? Um,

Sean:   12:15
yeah. Is that like a 50 page document? One that's a one page that's just one sheet. So I get this cost estimate sheet. One sheet of paper tells me all of these things, and this is one of the things you mentioned that that was an interesting you, uh, can work up all kinds of different scenarios. So

Kelly Pratt:   12:36
numerous for people

Trisha Snook:   12:37
right now they have your mind on. Yeah, the purchase price will be or even what house they're looking. Everything can change. And we have people that call right all the time and say, you know, that one house we talked about it's not gonna work out. Can you run this scenario if we look at this house instead

Sean:   12:50
is a fee every time, you

Kelly Pratt:   12:52
know, And you know we can We can save those, um, And then I can, you know, I don't know if you guys do, but, you know, I'll usually save those two that customers folder, and then I've got all that information that we talked about, and then I just go back and plug in the different dollar amounts, um, and email them to him. Are they want to stop in and pick it up?

Sean:   13:15
Well, so as we talk about costs, you know, one of the cost that everybody considers is interest rate. So, you know, some people are shopping around. That's their priority. Maybe they're looking for a lower interest rate. Do you get a lower interest rate with a broker and online lender with Marquette? Kind of Where? Where would I look for that?

Trisha Snook:   13:33
I think that if you kind of narrow down with it with the brokers in the online where you're gonna find is there not the final bank that is doing the financing? So they're the middleman, so they're going to find a way to work in some of those, Uh, there's obviously cost associated with that. They're gonna find ways to work in those fees. So I think if you really give a market a chance on you compared our rates to their rates, you're gonna find that we're very competitive, very favorable in being the same, if not lower. So I think the big thing is, just ask for it. Ask for a cost estimate from them, and then stop in and see us. Let us help you compare apples to apples,

Sean:   14:18
right? So immense. Good point. The The broker is a broker. You know, some other bank is actually putting up the money for the loan. And so the broker's got to make money for that service. And even though there may be, ah, lower interest rate, that interest rate may become with a fee associate ID,

Trisha Snook:   14:35
right? I gotta work it in there somewhere.

Sean:   14:37
That's what you're what you're looking for when you want to compare me. What Marquette's charging for their fees and service is you wanna compare kind of with that? Brokers charge again. If we get that sheet from an online broker or if we just, you know, read about it, we could come in and talk to you and maybe compare a little bit about what the options are going with Marquette for someone else. So is there Is there anything else that differentiates? Um, you know, Marquette relative to kind of online lenders And why? I think this is so interesting. Such an interesting question is, um, you know, we live in a time where I might buy all of my products from Amazon. I never see the warehouse, right. I never see the sales person who sells it to me. So a lot of people are pretty comfortable using online service is so people are comparing so they can understand the differences. How else might you juxtapose You know, the experience someone's gonna get with an online lender and experience someone's gonna get with Marquette?

Michael Kitts:   15:30
I think a handshake goes a long way face to face from saying yes, I'm here. You're gonna get a warm greeting, and I'm gonna offer you a cup of coffee or a bottle of water is a good coffee. Uh, you can't be. Yeah. Okay. Great. Oh, seats that. Yeah. I want to get the good coffee, but, I mean, that's that. That means a lot. This isn't a short term item. You know, Amazon can, you know, trust me. There's boxes at my house to, um you know, But it is. This is a oh, it's all short term. Hey, this is where I got my kleenex box. You know this the houses here, it's here. Long term. It's, you know, it's a 30 year mortgage,

Kelly Pratt:   16:08
and it's kind of like what you mentioned with, Ah, you know, when you do it with another like a broker and then they turn around and sell your mortgage.

Michael Kitts:   16:21
That's the last time you talked to We're

Kelly Pratt:   16:23
here. We're here, you know, like you said for the for the long run, for the long haul, for the 30 years that 15 20 years.

Sean:   16:29
So that's the big differentiator. The big differentiator is, you know, online. Uh, the interests of the person provided me that mortgage is to get it and then sell it. And I'm really worried about what happens after that. Um,

Trisha Snook:   16:45
they've moved on to their next customer at that point.

Sean:   16:47
So the big advantage was Marquette is you're interested in making sure that for the next well, the entire term in alone for 30 years. But I'm taking care of. Because a relationship, a

Kelly Pratt:   16:58
relationship, you're our customer. I

Trisha Snook:   17:01
think that one thing I've had customers actually say to me when they've come in is you know, I did this online. I was just I was sitting watching TV. I searched the internet. Was looking at what online options I had didn't even realize that I actually put an application in, like, they kind of mask what they're asking for. And

Michael Kitts:   17:20
he called me four times already

Trisha Snook:   17:22
and right, I literally hit, submit in. My phone rang. And they haven't stopped calling me since then and then come to find out it actually was broken out to four different banks and their credit was hit and that now they've got all these people calling him that. They said, you know, I could have four people from the same institution calling me within 10 minutes of each other, because it is that it's that hard sell because they you're a number, and then they're gonna move on to the next person. Ah, so you just want to be careful with that online that you do realize that once you hit that submit button there, you're kind of obligated, and they're they're going to stick with bugging me until until they get an answer from you. Where's with Marquette? You know, it all runs at your pace. When you have a question, you call us when you want an answer, you stop it and you see us.

Sean:   18:08
Yeah, I kind of like the idea that you know, you you are just coming down the blocking like, Look, man, when we're not going anywhere when you want to come back and buy the house, we'll be here,

Trisha Snook:   18:17
right? Right.

Michael Kitts:   18:19
There's a little flexibility on our end to I think that you're gonna get again. It's at your pace. Hates we need to put the accelerator on because of X, Y and Z. I mean, that's we have the ability to personally, you know? I mean, I know Raiders are. We don't You don't do bankers. Everyone stay late. That's exactly right. Um, you know, or or he, um we're I can't close for ah, few months. Is that okay? You know? Well, yeah, we're gonna honor our rate, and, you know, it's you're not gonna pay a feta. Hang on to that rate after years. 60 day lock in period. Um, you know, there's just a lot of a lot of benefits and perks

Sean:   18:57
and Well, Kelly, anything else that you want to add before we can close out this subject have kind of gotten a good handle, I think on the differences between online lenders and brokers and Marquette

Kelly Pratt:   19:11
just, you know, pick up the phone and give us a call. Stop in. You know, we're hometown bank, and, um,

Michael Kitts:   19:22
we'll take a little pride in that. Yeah, Yeah,

Sean:   19:24
not not anymore. Nothing easier to just fill out an online form. That is Just pick up a phone and call and say, Hey, I heard Kelly or Treasure Mike on a podcast. Can I chat with one of them? He's gonna be famous. Very

Michael Kitts:   19:36
good. That's not shoot for my kids. Yeah, you know, actually, you know, I guess somewhere here, one last it You know that that face to face is a lot can be taken away when you're there, and someone's able to show you while you're in person and break down the costs and what you're doing. There's a lot to be said about, you know, human contact. And I don't know, it's it's against That's kind of my last piece here.

Trisha Snook:   20:04
And I think I just add Yes, Absolutely. The face to face is is gonna be your best bet. I think you're going to get the comfort level that you want. Ah, but if you are that still that person that likes the online experience, Marquette does offer that. So we're not antiquated that, you know, you can only pick up the phone. We do have the option to do an online prequalification. We have the option to do online appointment scheduling. You confined your banker location closest to you through the online service. So we're not stuck in the Dark Ages. You can still do online with Marquette, but nothing substitutes that face to face.

Sean:   20:40
That's a great point. So even if I did wanna have a fully online

Michael Kitts:   20:44
we can provide, you know, I'm busy. I'm used to the Internet.

Sean:   20:48
You could do that, too. I could have all the same conversation with somebody who's here. The community have the same long term relationship. Just be over email.

Michael Kitts:   20:54
You can absolutely do from the same person.

Trisha Snook:   20:56
Exactly. That's the big thing. It'll always be the same person.

Sean:   20:59
Well, and since we're talking about him on the market savings website. You listening at home can go toe Marquette Savings dot banked a scheduled appointment online, either to meet face to face with Mike or talk on the phone with Kelly or send an email to cherish or any of the other loan officers at the bank. I'm Sean for dorko, your host, and I hope you've learned a little bit more about uh, you know what to consider when choosing your lender. Tune into four of these podcasts as you explore the possibility of buying your own home or learning a little bit more about how to be safe by your money and smart behi invested. Have a great day market loan officers are always available to answer any of your questions, either face to face or over the phone. If you want a scheduled appointment with them, go to market savings. That bank you could subscribe to make sure you're always getting the latest episode of the Your Money counts Podcast downloaded to your phone. And please don't forget to write us a review. This podcast is brought to you by Marquette Savings Bank and Equal Housing lender member F. D. I. C.