11/12/2025
I'm seeing this and hearing from other mortgage friends that this is happening more often....
You get someone pre-approved.
They go under contract.
THEN they shop lenders.
Which leads to point #1:
When that clock starts ticking and you're looking around your house at all the crap you've got to pack.
The stress level starts to rise.
Most people don't make their best decisions when they're stressed out.
I'm not saying that's you. Just most people.
🫶 So with love, if you want to lower your stress, shop lenders BEFORE you go under contract.
Let's get back to this story, shall we?
This is the first time this gal is buying on her own.
In the past her ex handled all this stuff.
So she starts shopping lenders after going under contract.
Since she used my pre-approval and we'd built a good relationship she was kind enough to send me the other fee sheet so I could do an apples-to-apples comparison for her.
Now at a glance it looked like it would be $500 less for her. 👍
BUT they were missing about $2,500 in fees. 👎
They are a 1-800 company who isn't familiar with our area and lowballed the government fees and didn't include any HOA fees.
As you can imagine, they got the boot.
Then like freakin' whack-a-mole another she's got another quote.
Again at first glance it looks good, a couple hundred dollars less than mine.
BUT here's the deal.
Us mortgage people only control certain fees.
So we did a side-by-side of those fees and wouldn't you know I am $2,500 LESS.
👋 Bye Felicia. Cause who doesn't want to save $2,500?
With all that being said, if you work with a mortgage pro who you feel like you can trust make sure you give them the chance to review these quotes so you get a true apples-to-apples.
Because you might not be looking at a great deal, just a lowball estimate.