Jumping back to real life seriousness and our new life of home ownership, I want to talk about our experiences with the loan officer we used, Lisa Stelter Graf at RCU.
We chose her because an overwhelming majority of her reviews were overwhelmingly positive. Her financial institution, RCU, also does a majority of the loans in the Eau Claire area. That, and she got us approved at the rate we were looking for haha.
Still living in Michigan, we were working with her long distance, and it couldn't have been easier. From the quoting of rates, to getting the approval, to the paperwork, to helping facilitate the closing, she was on the ball, and there were virtually no hiccups.
Initially she seemed kind of aloof, but I soon realized that success in her industry isn't achieved by hounding and selling and hounding some more. Instead, her recipe seems to be letting her track record speak for itself, being a resource when needed, and injecting herself into the conversation only when necessary.
Upon meeting her in person, shortly before the offer on the house was made, our right choice in mortgage provider was confirmed. Since,
RCU has been nothing shorty of fantastic to work with. As my
review of the realtor was longer and much more in depth, our experience with Lisa was that much more streamlined, and I think that's reflected here.
Overall, the process of securing a lender and an approved application was easy. The wealth of information on the internet, while informative, can serve to confuse the typical American home buyer. The main thing you should do is take your time, read everything, take your time, and read everything.
If at any point anybody you're dealing with tells you
not to worry about it or that
you can read it later, you have the wrong person involved. Because at the end of the day, everybody you deal with when buying a home, or really doing anything, wants you to do it with them.
Now, whether they want to capture your business as soon as possible with less than savory intentions or they want to capture your business in a reasonable time frame with you walking away happy to recommend them to a friend is the thing. Lisa Stelter Graf is the latter.
