Real Estate Information Header

Real Estate Investing: How to Choose a Lender


To become a successful real estate investor it's vital to have a long-term relationship with a good lender. Having a flexible lender who knows your needs and objectives can be the difference between success and failure in your investment career.

Choose several lenders to begin with, and then interview all of them. Ask friends, other investors, and realtors for referrals. Call all of your potential candidates in the same week, so you'll have identical criteria for comparing their rates, fees, and programs.

Instead of trying to fit into a lender's program, interview your lenders by finding out how they can accommodate your needs. Here are a few questions to ask:

1. What are their requirements for middle credit scores and income?

2. What are their standard loan costs? These include things like points, processing, underwriting, documentation preparation, filing, and credit report fees. Can you add these fees to the loan amount?

3. Is there a required holding period before you can resell the property? Are there prepayment penalties when you flip your investment properties?

4. Do they require mortgage insurance? If so, what is the minimum percentage you'll need to put down in order to avoid having to purchase that insurance?

5. How much can you finance, and can you finance fixer houses? How much down payment would be required on such houses?

5. Can sellers help with the loan costs, and to what extent?

After you've interviewed your potential candidates, make your choice according to the programs that fit your needs, as well as from the feeling you get from that person. Do they seem as if they'll be easy to work with from a personal standpoint? Since you're hoping to use that lender again and again, it's important that you feel comfortable with them as a person as well as a source of financing.

A good lender wants your repeat business and works hard to find the right loan for each transaction. They may even be able to help you locate potential investment properties. Finding a great lender is a crucial component for your ultimate success as a real estate investor, so choose carefully.

(c) Copyright 2004, Jeanette J. Fisher. All rights reserved.

Professor Jeanette Fisher, author of Doghouse to Dollhouse for Dollars, Joy to the Home, and other books teaches Real Estate Investing and Design Psychology. For more articles, tips, reports, newsletters, and sales flyer template, see http://www.doghousetodollhousefordollars.com/pages/5/index.htm


MORE RESOURCES:

Earthtimes (press release)

Michael Robertson Joins McGuire Real Estate
MarketWatch - 29 minutes ago
Robertson joins McGuire from Intero Real Estate in San Carlos, CA where he was a Realtor. Raised in Carmel, CA, and a resident of San Francisco for many ...
Realtor.com Traffic Surges in July, Surpassing Real Estate ... StreetInsider.com (subscription)
Realtor.com Traffic Surges in July, Surpassing Real Estate ... MarketWatch
all 15 news articles


SEC fines California hedge fund manager $100000 in real estate ...
Los Angeles Times, CA - 10 hours ago
Mark JP Boucher of Portola Valley helped raise the money by falsely claiming the investments were secured by real estate when one company never owned ...
Hedge fund manager settles fraud suit San Francisco Chronicle
HF Manager Fined for Shady RE Deals Markets Media (press release)
all 7 news articles


Investors Real Estate Trust Announces Increase in Regular ...
FOXBusiness - 17 hours ago
Investors Real Estate Trust's Board of Trustees also declared today a distribution of 51.56 cents per share on the Company's Series A Cumulative Redeemable ...
Holloway Lodging Real Estate Investment Trust Announces Changes to ... Canada NewsWire (press release)
all 12 news articles


Nanette Real Estate H1 pretax profit rises
Forbes, NY - 6 hours ago
LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Nanette Real Estate Group NV said its first-half pretax profit rose to 5.2 million euros from 3.7 million euros last year on ...


Cityscape USA to Feature Emerging Market Exhibitors from Top Real ...
Earthtimes (press release), UK - 3 hours ago
Nakheel, an exhibitor and Cityscape USA’s investment sponsor, is one of the world’s largest real estate developers. Their exhibition will highlight landmark ...


Investors United School of Real Estate Announces Rev. Medgar L ...
eReleases (press release), MD - 5 hours ago
28, 2008 — Investors United School of Real Estate, headquartered in Baltimore, MD, today announced its new addition of Rev. Medgar L. Reid as their Director ...


Real estate Q&A
Belleville News Democrat,  USA - 33 minutes ago
(Dr. Thomas Musil is the director of the Shenehon Center for Real Estate in the Opus College of Business at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis. ...


Miami Daily Business Review

Real Estate
Miami Daily Business Review, FL - 2 hours ago
That means a sharp uptick in evictions, a boost in work for real estate lawyers and greater strains on the legal system. The volume of all evictions filed ...


JD Power Offers View of Real Estate Market
Daily Research News Online, UK - 29 minutes ago
In the US, JD Power and Associates has conducted its first syndicated study of customer satisfaction in the real estate industry. ...


Edmonton eclipses Cowtown as top real estate hot spot: expert
Edmonton Sun,  Canada - 9 hours ago
1 spot on a list of the Top 10 Alberta towns for real estate investors. Don Campbell, president of the Real Estate Investment Network, released his Top 10 ...
City real estate No. 1 Edmonton Journal
Edmonton best bet for real estate investment 660 News
Edmonton tops Calgary for housing investment Canada.com
Canoe.ca
all 7 news articles

Real-Estate - Google News

General Real Estate Information HomeHome ContactContact
Real Estate Information © 2006