Why Internet Lenders Are A Lot Like Sea Monkeys

I used to stare endlessly at the ads in comic books for sea-monkeys.

You know the ones.

They typically featured a cartoon of a little pink sea-monkey family, with their castle in the background.

There was also an image meant to resemble my family enjoying staring at my sea monkeys swimming around in a fish bowl. Of course, these sea-monkeys were waving at us.

Who wouldn’t want a pet like that? Heck, not even my dogs never waved at me.

Of course, when I ordered the sea-monkeys, they weren’t at all what I’d imagined. Oh, they were miraculous to watch hatch. But they weren’t pink, didn’t have a castle and most certainly did NOT wave back.

In fact, they were nothing more than shrimp. Brine shrimp.

Internet lenders remind me a lot of sea-monkeys. They promise to deliver lower interest rates, lower loan origination fees, faster closing dates and yet, no matter what Realtor you ask anywhere in the nation, you’ll get the same answer; they almost never come through.

And on the rare occasions when they do, nothing was what it appeared to be.

Most Realtors have a select handful of local loan officers they recommend. Agents get paid nothing for referring someone to a loan officer.

The reason we suggest our buyers work with these people is from experience, we know they can be trusted to tell our clients the truth, work hard to get them the best deal, and help them close on their new home on time.

Again, there is absolutely nothing in it for us to make these recommendations.

It’s easy for a loan officer who’s 1500 miles away to tell you to just hang out for two weeks while they get your loan together.  They can’t see your moving van loaded with furniture out in the parking lot.

It’s a lot tougher for a local loan officer to avoid looking you in the eye.

Or not wave back.