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How loan originators survived a cutthroat mortgage business in 2023

Housing Wire

In his 20 years in mortgage banking, no year has compared to 2023 in terms of difficulty, said Ben Cohen, Guaranteed Rate ’s managing director and a top-producing loan officer. It was another brutal year, pushing loan originators to work longer hours, close loans faster while diversifying their mortgage product offerings.

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Overcoming the challenges direct-to-consumer lenders are facing

Housing Wire

Josh Lehr: Pre-pandemic, online home buying existed, but over the last year, shopping online for mortgages became much more popular and convenient as meeting in person with a loan officer was not an option. HousingWire: How have trends around direct-to-consumer lending changed over the past year?

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The fight to standardize educational training for LOs

Housing Wire

The raison d’etre is the same whether you work as a mortgage loan officer at a depository bank or an independent mortgage bank – originate a purchase mortgage or refinancing for a client. Loan officers working for depository banks are not bound by the same requirements. Regulations to oversee them all.

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How 2020 exposed a greater need for collaboration between real estate agents and LOs

Housing Wire

Successful agents, brokerages and loan officers of the future are going to rely significantly on technology to find, nurture and engage with buyers and sellers while also playing an expanding role as personal advisors in all things related to mortgage, insurance, moving, renovating and new home transitioning.

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Pre-Approval Makes All the Difference When Buying a Home

Keeping Current Matters

You may have been told that it’s important to get pre-approved at the beginning of the homebuying process, but what does that really mean, and why is it so important? Pre-approval from a lender is the only way to know your true price range and how much money you can borrow for your loan. offers for sellers to consider.

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Why Is It so Important to Be Pre-Approved in the Homebuying Process?

Keeping Current Matters

You may have heard that pre-approval is a great first step in the homebuying process. So, before you start shopping around, it’s helpful to know your price range, what you’re comfortable within a monthly mortgage payment, and ultimately how much money you can borrow for your loan. Pre-approval from a lender is the only way to do this.

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What’s the First Step in Buying a Home? Your Answer Here

Realtor.com

Here are more step-by-step home-buying details, including information about down payments, closing costs, mortgage rates, pre-approved mortgages, and more. Step 2: Qualify for a home loan or loan pre-approval. Consider this pre-qualifying step akin to getting a full medical checkup before you train for a marathon.