By Elliott Topkins, Esquire
6/2/11
Earlier this month, I was fortunate to be able to schedule a sales meeting with the sales manager of a local thrift institution. It is part of my business, as a residential real estate attorney, to determine what products are available for my clients who are climbing back into the market and starting to buy homes. This bank places in “portfolio” all of their adjustable rate loans and many of their jumbo and conforming products. By jumbo product I am speaking about mortgage loans in excess of $417,000, which are generally necessary in our Milton and environs market.

The bank has made arrangements to sell “conforming” product in the secondary market. The sales manager informed me that on one day last week, she received an aggregate of 85 changes in the FNMA/FHLMC FHA rules. In effect, her head was spinning. Instead of trying to be more flexible and encourage people to borrow, the FNMA/ FHLMC rules were, in effect, driving away qualified customers. It was her feeling, and mine, that the new rules were “too late” attempts to stop customers from engaging in loan practices which brought on the “subprime” mortgage crisis of several years back. Her bank has been trying to find other investors whose rules are not overly complex or difficult.

Even on conforming loans, the sales manager informed me that her bank was still lending the way it has loaned, rather successfully, for the last 20 years. They try to understand the borrower. They obtain information about the property and the borrower which they deem important. They then make the decision about the loan. They try not to go way beyond their community for loans or borrowers.

The point of this post is this. This is the time for you to consider your local lending institution for your mortgage needs. Their small size and intimacy with their customer base can now serve to be a direct benefit for you. Stop in today to say “hello” to the person in charge of mortgage lending at your local savings bank or cooperative. Check out the loan programs at your credit union. Start introducing yourself and engage the designated person or persons in a dialogue. I have found that people at local banks are far more accessible and understandable, than national banks or mortgage operations or people handing out internet “bargains.” There is that benefit of “face-to-face” contact, which cannot be replicated by an “eight prompt” telephone application Stay close to home. The money is there for you, and the process can be managed much easier when you have a chance to “stop in” for answers to questions concerning your mortgage loan.

(Mr. Topkins is an attorney with Topkins & Bevans, Braintree Executive Park, 150 Grossman Dr., Braintree, MA 02184. His blog can be found at http://realtorsresourceblog.com. His e-mail address is etopkins@topbev.com.)