A Good Loan Officer is More Important than the Lender

Working with a qualified, financially astute loan officer can be in many ways more helpful to your pocketbook than partnering with a good lender. Why? Not only do loan officers really get to understand you and your personal financial concerns, but they can also arrange intricate deals and savvy financing options to help seal the deal.

Lenders, on the other hand, may be less interested in the particulars of your situation and more interested in how they are going to come out on top. Since a loan officer gets a commission (in most cases -- exceptions do apply), he or she will want to work with your budget and financials to make the transaction a ?win-win? for both parties.

Specialized loan officers may work with homeowners who have proven delinquent on other accounts. These officers understand the consequences of low credit scores and other risk factors, and they can salvage deals between borrowers and lenders that might otherwise fail.

Often, these officers will work out a collateral arrangement. In this kind of arrangement, the borrower puts up an asset to be borrowed against to secure the loan. If the risky borrower fails to make good on his or her payment obligations, the lender can seize the collateral.

It's important to remember that there are literally hundreds if not thousands of lending institutions out there. If you are unschooled in the logistics and financing of loans, you can easily get lost in the wilderness, so to speak. Uneducated or even semi-educated borrowers can end up racked with high interest rates.

When you work with an informed loan officer, on the other hand, you can connect with more appropriate lenders, who can give you a more optimal rate given your credit history and risk factors. Thus, while you may have to pay out some money to your loan officer to finish the deal, your optimized rate and term payment schedule should more than make up for the amount of money you have to give away in commission.

Forge a relationship with a loan officer -- you should be able to locate and work with the right kind of lender for your situation.