As I mentioned yesterday, I was advised by my Realtor to get a pre-approval from one lender so I would know what dollar amount I’d be working with in my house search and to search for a lender later. I’ve always had a good experience with my bank so I decided to go through them. Looking at their website it said that the loan officer didn’t work at the branch near my office, but at another branch a few miles away. That’s not a problem at all, it just means instead of a five minute drive it would be a ten minute drive.
His posted hours were 8 am – 5 pm, Monday through Friday. I called around 10:30 am and was told he was out of the office but to try back after 1 pm. I called around 1:30 pm and was told that he was in the office, but was with a client. I left my contact information and was called back around 2 pm. I explained that I was an existing customer of the bank, a first time home buyer and that I was looking for a mortgage pre-approval. I was pleasantly surprised that instead of having to produce documents he could take my information over the phone. He asked my:
- Full name with middle initial
- Home address
- How long I’d lived at that address
- Home phone number
- Birth date
- Employer
- Work address
- Contact phone number for my employer
- How long I’d been with my employer
- My annual gross salary
- Any other sources of income
- If I did all of my banking with this bank and my estimated account balances
- Any additional assets such as 401(k), IRAs
It was about a fifteen minute phone call and I was told that it would be about an hour and he would have my application processed. About two hours later I hadn’t heard back and I was leaving the office so I called his cell phone and he told me that he had two clients show up unexpectedly and that he was currently meeting with one. I asked if it would be worth me coming over to pick up the approval today since it sounded like he was running behind and he had previously mentioned that he had an afternoon appointment. He hesitated and I could tell that he was trying to figure out a way to deal with the client he had there and to finish my application all before he had to leave for his prior commitment. I suggested that he finish it tomorrow morning and that he give me a call once it was done.
You could immediately hear the relief in his voice. Don’t get me wrong, I am very anxious to find out how much I’ll be approved for, but I also know what it’s like to have unexpected things come up and to get behind. I want my application processed correctly and would like to be able to discuss the estimated terms with him, so even though I’m very anxious to find out what I’ll be pre-approved for, waiting until morning will ultimately be for the best.