Leelanau Lender-At-Large even makes house calls

By Pat Stinson
Sun contributor
In an age when you can arrange visits at home or in the workplace with everyone from chefs, personal fitness trainers and massage therapists, inviting your local mortgage lender to join you for lunch in your kitchen or work cubicle doesn’t sound too implausible — nor terribly exciting, if one is to be honest. Shopping for a mortgage loan doesn’t usually tickle the taste buds, stoke the calorie-burning furnace or even release a morning’s worth of tension. What a personal visit can do, says Bryan Borchardt of Bank One’s mortgage loan department, is properly prepare a borrower for loan costs associated with purchasing a home, vacant property or business — one of the largest purchases a person will make in his or her lifetime.

Borchardt, who travels between the Leelanau County Bank One branch in Cedar and Bank One branches in Traverse City and Grawn, is quick to point out that many peoples’ lifestyles and schedules don’t allow for one-on-one meetings, the type of customer contact he prefers. Instead, most mortgages are processed via facsimile, overnight mail service and e-mail. The 10 hours per week Borchardt is on the road these days is spent traveling to branch offices, visiting real estate agents’ offices and attending property sale closings at title companies.
What does a mortgage loan officer do during the other 30 or more work hours per week?
“My time is spent fielding calls, (from customers, real estate agents, Bank One’s underwriting department and title companies), running credit histories, evaluating a customer’s financial situation, letting customers know about their borrowing capabilities, educating borrowers on how much their closing costs should be, helping real estate agents structure purchase agreements and networking with realtors.”
Loans he originates and services through Bank One include primary residences, second homes and vacant land. A separate commercial loan division handles business loans. In addition to conventional mortgages, Bank One handles loans through the Rural Housing Program, FHA and VA for people whose income levels make them ineligible for conventional home loans.
When asked if he thinks borrowers might be more sophisticated today, he nods as he replies, “People rate and price shop, looking at closing costs and interest rates. I’m more than happy to provide costs on paper – it’s required by law to do this – but not all (lenders) do.”
Borchardt recalls a couple of first-time homebuyers, young newlyweds, who received a “good faith” estimate of $9,000 in closing costs from a local lender. “The couple asked me if this was too much and I said, ‘Absolutely!’ The lender wanted 2.5 points in origination fees.” A good way to avoid this type of situation, he says, is to obtain the good-faith, written estimate of costs and ask the lender to explain those costs line by line.
“If you have to ask if it’s too much, it probably is,” he explains. “No one should feel belittled by the person they’re meeting with. Options are available for everyone these days. People shouldn’t be intimidated by the process, either.”
Costs are sometimes, but not always, higher for persons who have less-than-perfect credit. One advantage of borrowing from Bank One, Borchardt says, is that all credit grades can be served. The cost of doing loans, whether the borrower’s grades are bad or good, is the same. He adds that this is in contrast to the mortgage broker, (a middle man between the borrower and lending company who “shops” for loans), whose fees are higher for borrowers with bad credit grades.
Another area where Borchardt feels Bank One is competitive is processing time for loans, (underwriting). “If this process takes more than two to three weeks, a red flag should be going up for their, (the borrowers’), closing. They should be questioning what’s happening.”
Although Memorial Weekend signals the start of a busy real estate season, Borchardt says that September, October and November are his busiest months. “I think you probably have a drop in property prices and a lot of people wait (to buy),” he explains.
”That’s how I got (pulled into buying) mine,” he adds with a laugh. “It was 65 degrees and sunny – one of those Indian Summer Days we all love.”
Buyers this season might be a little cautious about the economy, he says, but whether or not they choose to buy depends on a lot of factors. He says that rates are still low enough that he believes it’s affordable to finance. Besides, Borchardt says, Leelanau County is “an entity in itself,” with steady real estate sales from vacation home purchases.
“I think you see a lot more people buying second homes in Leelanau County or investing in property, like rental units, in Traverse City,” he explains. “In this area, people are seeing that real estate is a better return on their investment than the stock market.
Borchardt says that the most rewarding aspect of his job is making his borrowers happy, whether they’re first-time buyers or investors, which, in turn, makes him feel good, and “…also creates good referral business, makes real estate agents happy and generates the repeat business we all love.”
“…And putting first-time home buyers into a new home, he adds. “This one couple, they kept hugging me after the closing,” he says smiling. “Not all buyers are like that.”
In Leelanau County, Bryan Borchardt works from the Bank One branch on Kasson Street in Cedar. You can reach him at 922-2515, toll-free at 800-248-1135 or on his mobile phone: 642-1383. E-mail him at Bryan.J.Borchardt@chase.com. Bank One was acquired by JPMorgan Chase in July, 2004, and the Cedar branch will operate locally under the name “Chase” beginning in November.