Press Release
Weichert Financial Services Eases Five Biggest Concerns About The Mortgage Process
9/21/2006
Morris Plains, NJ -- When the industry newsletter Inside Mortgage Finance sought to identify the areas where mortgage lenders need to improve their business practices, it asked nearly 1,800 real estate professionals to share their experiences.
Recently, Weichert Financial Services evaluated its own performance against those survey findings and, according to Fred Watkins, president, came out “proud of how well we measured up.” He said, “Assessing our procedures point by point, it was gratifying to see that the investments we’ve made both in technology and in human talent have enabled us to overcome every single one of the industry weaknesses cited by real estate agents.”
According to Inside Mortgage Finance, the five greatest concerns of real estate professionals are as follows:
§ Faulty pre-approvals. Mortgage pre-approvals that proved invalid were a major concern. That mirrors an earlier survey which found that 39 percent of pre-approvals from Internet lenders fell through due to lack of proper verification, as did 27 percent from mortgage brokers. By contrast, Weichert Financial Services’ pre-approvals are fully verified and underwritten credit approvals that reliably become mortgage commitments once the home selected is acceptably appraised.
§ Poor communication. Real estate agents also complained of a lack of timely information about loan status. Countering that, Weichert Financial Services recently introduced a state-of-the-art system that automatically sends e-mail notifications at each milestone in the mortgage process, such as when the appraisal is ordered.
§ Closing costs higher than expected. Too often, the so-called good-faith estimates that lenders provide to home buyers turn out to be inaccurate, as unanticipated fees are tacked on. Watkins said that “as a matter of integrity,” the costs that Weichert Financial Services cites at the beginning of the loan process routinely match those charged at settlement.
§ Last-minute delivery of settlement statement. In addition to higher-than-expected costs, many lenders fail to deliver those closing statements the 24 hours or more in advance that real estate agents deem important to their customers. Weichert Financial Services said its year-to-date figures show that 94 percent of its closing packages go out 24 hours in advance of settlement and 81percent a full 48 hours beforehand.
§ Failure to meet closing date. Delayed closings caused by holdups in getting financing in place also concerned agents. Weichert Financial Services, through its Gold Services Program, offers a guaranteed closing that is backed by a $5,000 Performance Guarantee. Any home buyer obtaining mortgage financing, homeowners’ insurance, and title insurance through Weichert is eligible. As of the first six months of this year, the company had met closing dates 100 percent of the time for home buyers participating in its Guarantee program – a record of timely delivery it believes is unmatched in the industry.
An affiliate of Weichert, Realtors®, Weichert Financial Services offers more than 360 mortgage products. Its mortgage specialists, called Gold Services Managers, serve every Weichert office and are available for quick mortgage credit approvals and mortgage counseling.
Weichert has 18,000 sales associates in more than 440 company-owned and franchised sales offices in key markets throughout the U.S. A family of full-service real estate and financial services companies, Weichert helps customers buy and sell both residential and commercial real estate, and streamlines the delivery of mortgages and home and title insurance. For more information, call Weichert's customer service center at 1-800-USA-SOLD or visit Weichert's Web site, www.weichert.com. Each Weichert franchised office is independently owned and operated.