The role of the Mortgage Lender on the real estate "Dream Team"

This epidsode launches season 2 with an interview with Lynn Whitefall of Supreme Lending.

Understanding the role of the other professionals in a real estate transaction, helps us provide better service.

Lynn will detail the role of the lender and how we can all work together to provide the best experience for our buyers and sellers.

Transcript

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Welcome to real estate. Common sense. I'm your host, Lisa Spencer international trainer and real estate coach and author of the book real estate common sense. After you've mastered the basics of launching your real estate business. It is essential to partner with other professionals to ensure a smooth transaction for consumers. You are the conductor of a real estate train that needs to glide into the closing station right on time. Your ability to coordinate and facilitate the functions and roles of many other professionals will determine if buyers and sellers feel like their journey was a luxurious scenic ride or like having a seat on a runaway train. How can you find the perfect partners and create a dream team of professionals that will support your clients and your business? Season two of real estate common sense is dedicated to interviews with top professionals. They will explain their role in the real estate transaction and how we can work together to provide the best experience for buyers and sellers.

1:03

Today I'm going to start with one of my favorite lenders. And her name is Lynn Whitefall. Lynn has been in lending for over two decades, and she leads the Gulfstream team. They're focused out of Fort Lauderdale, but do a lot of loans throughout the state of Florida. And she's always been committed to growing in and around the The lending business. I love the fact that she always wants to impact our experience in a positive way. So, Lynn, welcome to Real Estate Common Sense. And I'd love for you first to share with me what company you work with and why you love working with that company and what makes you a better partner for realtors. Thank you. Thank you for having me, Lisa. It's my pleasure to be here with you today. I work with Supreme Lending. I've been with Supreme for, 10 years. I'll be going on my 11th year in March, and I couldn't imagine working anywhere else. when I came to Supreme, It was very clear to me that they were very much aligned with the same values that I have as far as serving people and serving our clients and making a good impact in the industry, and just putting our clients first. So, you know, previously, it was hard to get. People in the industry on the other side of the desk to understand the importance of closing on time and honoring a contract date and making sure that we take into consideration the needs of the client 1st. So, when I came here, there was just such a pleasant surprise and it's just been a beautiful ride since. Wonderful. Well, I appreciate that so much. And one of the things I always talk about when I'm working with agents is how to ask people for pre approval. And in my opinion, there's only one way to ask that. And that is to ask your consumer, have you spoken with a mortgage lender to confirm your purchasing power? And I think that's just a much more powerful way to help Clients go get their preapproval. Now they can answer. Yes, I have one. And then you can just say, well, could you share that with me? Because that'll really help our process along when we do find the house you love. And so it's a really great question to ask people. And I found that it It really sets the stage for the rest of the relationship. So I try to do that really first in my very first meeting with them. So help us understand how the pre approval process works with Supreme Lending. Sure. So I have a little bit of a different take on the pre approval process than I think traditionally, because A lot of the time buyers, they start, most buyers today start online and unfortunately there's a lot of misinformation out there. So the first thing we want to do is always make sure that a buyer has access to the right information. We find that when a buyer has access to the right information, they can make a confident decision. They can move through the process more fluidly and have a lot of confidence. So, you know, the first thing to do is to start with working with someone that you feel you can have a conversation with that is open to questions, and that will be a partner to you as a buyer throughout the process that you don't feel like you're bothering them when you call because there it is a process where we're only in each other's lives for a short period of time, and we need to be able to serve that buyer in a way that's They know they have the right information so they can act quickly should they find a home that they really love. We always say there's no pressure to get started, but when you are ready, we want you to have every tool possible to make a quick and accurate decision so you've got a competitive edge in the marketplace. so we say start with a preapproval where that means to us a proper preapproval is done where a buyer provides an application. We either take that over the phone, meet in person or online, whatever works best for the client get we gather the information we need to verify the information on the application because. That's what an underwriter is going to do. So for us to be able to give a buyer confidence and have them know that they're shopping in the right price point with the right payment, we want to verify everything upfront so that there's no question when they get into underwriting, if this is going to go through or not, we're not playing games in the sense that we're just throwing stuff in there. We know when we submit a loan, the likeliness of it closing is very high because we've. done the due diligence. If we have questions, we bring it to an underwriter. We want that pre approval to be solid so the buyer again has a high level of confidence. We believe that every time a buyer has that, there are five things that they need. If they've been properly pre approved, they've been, they've gone over the different loan programs that would be best suitable to them. They know which program to choose and what the advantage of that program is. The 2nd thing they need to know is what type of property are they looking for? Because not all loan programs and property types go hand in hand. So we need to connect it and make sure that there's no, there's an alignment there. The 3rd is what is the payment and how is that payment broken down? Because not only does the. Buyer need to know this information, but their agent needs to know that information so they can effectively create a good search for them and show them properties that stay within that payment range. What are the association fees? What will the future taxes be? What is the insurance on a property like that? Do we need to get an insurance quote first just to get a good idea where they are? You know, the whole payment. The fourth is how much cash do they need to close the down payment? The closing cost? Do they have? All of that ready. Do we know where it's coming from? Is it sourced., The underwriters are looking for money to be sourced. We need to make sure it's coming from an acceptable place. The fifth is the purchase price. So we actually end with the purchase price, not start with the purchase price. And I find that when we start where we start with the loan program and move our way into the purchase price, a buyer has a very clear financial picture and they could take action with confidence. Lynn, that is so important. And I just want to recap. So it's more than just what's on the pre approval letter. And I have received pre approval letters from Supreme Lending and other lenders. And sometimes the pre approval letter just states, here's what they can afford. Here's my phone number, and it's on letterhead. The experience with you is you go through these five key features, the program, property and the property is very important because if I'm looking for a condo or a single family home, the price point is going to be very different because of the HOA fees and maintenance fees and then the payment. Of course, we're going to have to review the payment. What is included in that payment? It's really important. And I've seen so many loans fall apart over cash to close. They didn't understand that they had to bring what they had to bring. They thought, Oh, I just have to bring my 3 percent deposit. They didn't realize there were these additional closing costs. So I love the fact that you cover that with them. And then that helps us come up with the best purchase price. And again, for our listeners, it's really important to work with a lender who is going to do this extra due diligence up front. There are lenders that are going to just give you a piece of paper to shop with, but it's going to be problematic as you get down the road. So always work with a lender who's going to do this due diligence in the beginning. And thank you, Lynn. I've worked with you, and I know that it's a perfect process. Thank you. And my pleasure. So what does the ideal communication with a realtor look like from your viewpoint? Because I know some realtors that are listening are new to the business. And we have this conditioning. Oh, I don't want to bother people. But we also don't want to let a problem as the as the saying goes run to trouble. And so, we don't want to let things, um, Sit in a pot and stew. So what does ideal communication look like, from your viewpoint You know, from my viewpoint, when I work with a partner, a real estate partner, I want them to know that they can trust the information that they've been given and they can use it effectively. And my job is to communicate that clearly to a realtor so that they can then take that information and serve their client best. So when we're communicating and we're in a relationship, because it truly is a partnership, especially as we're going through the process and we're, we're assisting and supporting a client through their home purchase process. We need to make sure that the The agent and I can communicate in such a way where they are getting the assistance they need on a daily basis. If there's a new property that they need to run, we don't want the agent to just assume they have information. Work with us, call us, let us know what property they're looking at, and then we can, send a more specific illustration to that property. You know, sometimes we start at a certain place with a purchase price, a payment, and so forth. We go through those five things, and maybe the buyer can't find anything exactly in that specific criteria, and we have to modify. Do we go back to the table? Let's modify. Do we need to increase the price? Do we need to change the payment? And work till we get, where we can provide the clarity to the client, and we can find the right property for them. So I find that the best way to communicate is for me to stay in my lane and provide the financial information that I know I'm providing well, and for the agent to stay in their lane and trusting me and me trusting them. I find that then the agent, it kind of takes the pressure off of the agent and providing information that they may or may not have access to immediately. And it gives us the ability to maintain a really solid relationship. And I believe in the end. Build the trust of the client because then they know they've got a good team working for them. When we flip flop and go into each other's lanes, it, you know, it can get a little mucky for the client. So I feel like when we're true professionals and we respect each other's positions and professions, we can really help and assist a client and come together as a team to better assist. Wow, I love that you mentioned that because that is something that I found frustrating over the years that I've been a realtor. All of a sudden, the lender saying, Hey, did you see this property? And of course, I know they can't afford it. Or even though the lender is saying that, oh, this, they can afford it. I know that they've shared with me. They don't want to go to the maximum of their prequalification. They know that they're going to be having to pay for private school for their kids next year. So, they've given me a budget, even though the pre approval is higher and sometimes, the fact that the lender is blurring the lines between trying to help them find a property because they want to make a loan. Realtors can step over the line too, Hey, do you know you can get this rate? Well, I don't know. They can get that rate. Because I don't know their credit score and credit scores have such an impact on rate. And so, as a realtor, I should not be quoting rates. I should just be sending them to a lender that I trust. And I certainly trust you. So thank you for that. And then, what are the key milestones? So let's say we get someone under contract and we're working together. How can an agent help you in the key milestones in a transaction so that none of Closing day emergencies happen. Yes. the key milestones, throughout the process, and updating the partners throughout the process with those key milestones, is a very critical, thing where we stay proactive, we like to make sure that As we train our clients to know our process, that those milestones are going to be delivered to them in advance. They don't have to keep following up with us. And we don't mind that they follow up at all. That's not it at all. We just want them to know that they will be getting the information. So it's just kind of like a set it and forget it type mentality. They don't need to worry about what will be coming next. So, As we go through the process, we have a, an email that we sent out, letting the agent and the buyer know, okay, you're pre approved. And then you, you'll be, executing a contract. And then we're going to schedule your appraisal and then we're going to receive your appraisal. And then we're going to get the approval and then we're going to go to your closing disclosure. And then we're going to get into closing and we're going to have a clear to close. There's all these milestones throughout the process that we set up right in the beginning at the time of pre approval so that the buyer knows what to expect to closing and the agent knows what to expect to closing and they don't have to worry about following up again. We don't mind them following up, but we want them to know proactively. We are going to be sending them the updates so that they don't have to worry and think about it. We try to take as much worry away. We try to take as much concern away because it can be an overwhelming process for buyers and we want to take as much of the concern away as possible So they know what to expect and we go over that at the very beginning what to expect to closing And then the agent knows what to expect and as we work with agents over time They just know that those milestone updates are going to be coming proactively rather than them having to chase us for the information, which is I know is a common thing in lending Where the agent feels like they have to constantly chase, the loan officer for information. We do it the opposite. We know there's a commitment date where they trust that we're going to have the commitment on that time, or we're going to communicate with them what's going on. So it's just a matter of being proactive in our communication so that the agent's not worrying or concerned what's going on and they don't feel like they have to chase us for information. I love that. Now, what I can tell you, again, with the experience that I've had as a realtor, is Lynn's process is a little bit unique and special, and that's why she was invited to be on our podcast. What we do run into in these key milestones. As a realtor, we need to be aware of the milestones. And even if you don't have a fantastic lender like Lynn to work with, you need to know that. Ask certain questions of your buyer. Have you submitted all the documents necessary to your lender? Because sometimes people will say something in a pre approval process. Oh yes, I'm divorced. This is something that comes up quite a bit. Well they need to show that divorce certificate and show that there's no alimony or child support or things that are going out and they just think it's something, you know, maybe there's a little shame associated with it, right? So they, they think they can just avoid it. It is a document that has to be provided, so it's important to definitely check in with the lender. Hey, are you getting all of the documents that you need to continue the process? And then, of course, appraisal can sometimes be something that we want to make sure is scheduled after the home inspection because buyers are spending a lot of money in a home selection process, and they don't want to spend, you know, a couple hundred dollars on an appraisal and another couple hundred dollars on a home inspection and then. be out maybe over a thousand dollars and just to say a home that they don't want. So sometimes it's important to coordinate with the lender. Hey, can you hold off on ordering the appraisal? I mean, in the days when we do these eight day closings, which is another reason why I love Supreme because they can close a loan in eight days. But when you're doing that, everything has to move very quickly. If you do have time though, it's important to stage the process so that your buyer is not. putting out more money than they necessarily need to. So always work with the lender, and I love the fact that you are so accessible, Lynn. That really makes me so happy in my process. So can you name three things that an agent should never do in a transaction? Yes, one for me. The main thing is, I believe that you should not present a problem until you have a solution. And sometimes when things pop up throughout the process, not likely, but it does happen from time to time. What I find is that as an agent or even on the lending side as a loan officer, we're professionals and our job is to maintain clarity throughout the process. So when we call someone frantically with a problem, what it does is it creates so much concern and we're dealing with housing. I know everybody, I know that seems so obvious, but housing is such an emotional process when you're buying, especially a primary home or for first time home buyers. You know, I think we need to meet the client where they are. If it's an investor, they may have a different level of experience because they've done, they've gone through the process a few times, or maybe they're a first time investor and they need another level of skills that we can meet them. So I think it's really important to know what client you're working with, where that client is in the process and their experience in the process and understanding that getting to know the client's experience within the real estate market. Is very critical And then as going through, as we go through the process, maintain a professional demeanor. Because we can very easily solve problems. I mean, we solve problems all day long, things can pop up. But what happens, I find that a lot of time an agent or a loan officer will call the client with a problem and no solution and just creates an unnecessary bad experience. Because we're going to find a solution. When we have willingness, we can go 100 miles an hour. It's just when when we create a problem with no solution, we're creating concern. And I find that that's the number one thing that creates a client to have a bad experience and unnecessarily. It's really an unnecessary thing when we can get together, communicate and say, here's what's popped up or here's something we need to address. And here are some solutions to that. Which direction do you think we can go in? It provides, first of all, it puts the driver in the power seat. So it gives the buyer the ability to make good decisions for themselves. It gives them the ability to work with us as a team and not feel like they're being spoken to, rather than, being a part of the process. It is their home. It is their money. We want to empower them to make good decisions. So sometimes we just need to guide and give them information, rather than just telling them, Unnecessary issues that are popping up. And I do find that that creates a much better experience than we can handle it that way. Staying calm, having a good demeanor and, and providing good solutions is a critical attitude, I think, in the process of realtors and loan officers. Wow. Thank you so much for that. And I think that is a really key thing, especially for our new agent listeners, always present the solution or multiple solutions so that the consumer never feels that they don't have choice. And I love that approach. So, what are 3 things that you think we should do? What do you wish every realtor would do when working with a lender? You know, again, the number one thing is to stay in our own lane. That, to me, and I don't mean to be redundant with that, but I truly believe it's so powerful. Because when we can trust each other and work with each other and respect our own professions, I think that's just, that's like the number one thing for me. But, you know, we have to earn people's trust for that. That's not something that will happen automatically. That happens over time. So getting to work with someone over and over and over again and learning how they work and how they handle things and to get getting together as a team and providing service in that way, I believe, provides so much value. The second thing I would say would be to make sure that we're providing clear information to a client and that when a client is challenged because they're getting misinformation to not get offended by that because clients are being There's so much information coming from so many different avenues, so many online portals or people in their lives. And then they may come to us and say, well, I heard this, or I heard that. And I've seen a lot of the time agents or loan officers, they get offended by that as if they're questioning the professional agent or loan officer. You have to understand from a compassionate place that buyers are getting information in so many in so many ways from so many different avenues, it's overwhelming. And that's why I say our biggest competitor is not necessarily other people. It's misinformation because we're sometimes competing with the wrong information. So making sure we give our clients the feeling and environment that they can come and speak to us at any time with any questions they have and not making them feel that you're going to be offended by it is a very important tool to have as professionals. It allows them the ability to come to us and speak to us openly and us be able to solve their issues or or clear up whatever misinformation they have. But if we come across like offended, it just doesn't work. And it pushes them away. And I think the 3rd thing is, which is a big thing is not. It's sometimes they're going to speak to other people in the business. And that happens from time to time. And I've seen a lot of agents and loan offices over the years, lose the relationships with clients because when they heard, they spoke to another realtor or they heard, they. spoke to another loan officer, they, get offended by it. And I understand honoring our time as professionals, absolutely. But I tell my clients all the time as a consumer, I'm a consumer, I buy things, I like having other opinions. And the best thing to do is to make sure that they know a client knows that they can come to us even if they've spoken to another professional and we're not going to be offended by it. That we encourage them to do that, because we understand as a consumer ourselves that we, that's how it goes. You know, we're going to look for other opinions. Sometimes when they learn to trust our opinion, the most, they won't shop anymore. But sometimes you have to go through a process. To get them to that point where they know that you can be the trusted advisor that the information they were given may have not been correct or that person may not be looking out for their best interest. And a lot of the times you don't even have to say that when you're serving a client properly, and we're giving them the right information, and they see our commitment to giving them the clear and right information. A lot of the time, it just it just works out in itself where they can see our intent and our intent speaks for itself. It's not necessarily what we're saying. It's who we're being in the transaction that gets them to trust us over time. And that's an important part of it. Not getting offended and just allowing people to feel comfortable to speak to you openly as a consumer yourself. I think it takes away the pressure on the transaction. Lynn, that is such great advice, not only as it applies to lending, but just to recap it, you said, we need to stay in our lane. You repeated that. And I really appreciate that because that is something that should come up all the time. And then that you want clear information. And obviously, we need to clarify things in our own mind before we communicate them. And the way we do that is do our research up front. We want to definitely cover, um, anything that they may ask as, as much as we can ahead of time, and then not be afraid to say to a consumer, I'm not a hundred percent sure. Let me look into that and get back to you because so many people fall into the ego trap of having to have an answer immediately. Well, they don't want your answer. They want the right answer. So if you need to take some time to research it, let people know. I'm not 100 percent sure. Let me get back to you on that. And then obviously, that great one, this applies to all areas of life. Don't be offended when people ask you a question. They really may be just curious, but they also do have the right to shop. And do have the right to investigate what's best for them. And obviously I loved what you said. And I think this applies to realtors as well. My biggest competitor is misinformation. And so I want to assure you that I've done my research. I have looked. Up your property and done a thorough market analysis. And this is what I'm coming up with. I'm concerned that if they're coming up with something different, what is the source of their information and just pose that question so that they know they could just be. Working with someone who's giving them a stab in the dark instead of doing the proper research. So, I appreciate those 3 points and we can absolutely use them in real estate. Well, we've really kind of run out of time because I try to keep the podcast to about 20 to 30 minutes. And I notice we're right at that gap. So, I just want to get to know you a little bit more personally. I think it's always good to end, any conversation with anyone in your life. What are you grateful for? Because it's so energizing to talk about what we appreciate about life, about each other, and about, our business. So, what are you grateful for about being a lender? You know, I'm in general, sorry, I don't mean to step on, okay, you know, obviously share what you want and be grateful for anything because I think it's a great way to end the podcast. Thank you. And I love that because I start my day every day with gratitude and I, you know, a lot of the days when I'm writing my gratitude, it's my mindset and, and being grateful for my belief in the industry and wanting to make a good impact in the industry because being in the business over two decades, it does, you know, you go through ebbs and flows, but what I've maintained throughout the whole process is I've never lost the love of making sure that someone has been given the right information to get to a closing and that they can rest assured that they had the right information. That really truly resonates with me because I want people to have a good experience of life. And if they had the wrong information, then a lot of the time they can't have that peaceful experience of owning a home. And I always say you could love a home, but if you don't love the payment, it can create. You know, aggravation in life or frustration in life, and we can really avoid that when we just take the time to do it right. And I'm very grateful that I've never lost the love of that. I truly have a genuine love for wanting to provide the right information and serving people. And I believe it's been the catalyst of my success. Because I, I feel like that in life with other people too, you know, how can I serve people? How can I make someone else's life better? and I, I believe that you have to be selfish at times and take care of yourself because you can't serve, you can't give away what you don't have. So you can't give away, um, clarity if you don't have clarity, you can't give away love if you don't have love. You have to have it first and then you can give it away. So I do take care of myself and I'm grateful that I do because it allows me to be a good wife and a good mom and a good lender and a good friend and a good sister and daughter and I just believe that when we take care of ourselves physically, emotionally, spiritually, we're able to then provide good service to people in our lives, in all areas of our lives, not just work. And sometimes we fall off balance, but getting back there and I am truly grateful for that, that heart and that belief. It's, it has provided so much value in my own life. And I just think that's a perfect way to end our podcast. I hope that you've enjoyed diving deep into how a lender partner can really make a difference in our business. I thank you, Lynn Whitefall of Supreme Lending for being with us. I love how much you're so grateful. You are a good friend. You're a great lender. And I'm really happy that we were able to spend this time together this morning. Thank you. Thank you. I'm grateful for you. I'm grateful for you and thank you for the contribution you make your willingness, your teaching heart is just amazing. We love and we're so grateful that you're on our team Lisa. Thank you so much for everything. My pleasure.

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We hope you enjoyed season two's first episode of real estate common sense. And our interview with Lynn Whitefall, I have a long history with Supreme lending as a partner in the office I led, as a consumer and now as an education specialist that works with Supreme lending and delivering real estate, continuing education and productivity workshops to realtors. You can access suggestions for building your dream team on real estate common sense.com. In our next episode, we'll interview a wonderful professional from the title business. This is Lisa Spencer, sending love and wishing you success.