One common question first time home buyers ask is, "Is it better to get a mortgage through a broker, or should I just do it alone?". The best way to answer this question is by narrowing down the points by which a broker's service becomes useful and disadvantageous.
So what exactly does a broker do? In general, a broker presents you the various loans you can choose from, thus saving you time from figuring these stuff out yourself. However, the benefit of getting a broker's help also relies on how much of a competent broker you are getting help from. So don't just grab the first broker service you get offered, assess each possible candidate and take note of these elements that a good broker should have: number of loans they offer; amount of cash you need to pay them; and most importantly, the reputation that they have.
Brokers' reputations may not be easy to figure out, especially when the recommendation comes from the firm's friends or relatives. However, what you can do is research the firm's or a broker's background online and find out what people are saying about their services. It's not exactly the best and only way to do it, but it sure can help.
Getting assistance in applying for a mortgage will make things way easier for you compared to doing it alone. There are vital information that only a mortgage professional is an expert about. So if you wanna save time learning and figuring out which step is the best one for you to take, getting a broker's service may be a good choice for you.
But in general, a broker can offer you various services that include (but not limited to): comparative market analysis, price appraisal, facilitating the buying process, document preparations, and many more.
If there is one possible drawback in getting a broker's service, it would probably be with regards to the service's costs. The best broker's fee is when it is charged to the lender. Typically, this type of transaction requires lenders to give a commission of around 0.4% to brokers. However, many of the brokers today still require a fee to be paid by the borrowers and this fee can either be a fixed rate or a percentile one. It's worth noting, however, that the brokers can still get a commission from the lenders.
So overall, there are good sides and bad sides in getting a broker's assistance in applying for a loan. In summary, a broker will help you in dealing with your entire real estate transaction, which is good. The only down side is the cost. But if your broker is a competent one with a good reputation, any cash it will cost you might be worth it all.
