Mortgage Broker vs. Loan Officer

When you work on your application for a mortgage loan, you may work with a mortgage broker or you may choose to work with a lender specific loan officer.  It's understandable to confuse the two job types since both will reap the same result: a new home. However, it is valuable to understand how they differ, especially in a fickle market like Southern California, so you know what to expect as you enter your mortgage application process.

What is a Mortgage Broker?

A mortgage broker is an individual or firm that is an independent agent for both the mortgage loan applicant and the lender. Metro Express Mortgage is a Owner- Broker operated firm.  Most mortgage brokers are very experienced in a given housing regional housing market, like San Diego, Riverside, Sacramento or all of Southern California, and will know the intricacies of the markets they have worked in loan process like requirements about fire insurance, VA lending or comps in certain neighborhoods.  

A mortgage broker coordinates things for you and your lender, which can be one of the following: a credit union, bank, trust company, finance company, mortgage corporation or even a private investor. Brokers have a number of lenders they work with and know who can do what kind of loans. Acting as a facilitator between you and your lender, your mortgage broker can match you with a credit union, bank, trust company, finance company, mortgage corporation or even an individual, private investor. Which lender has the loan that is right for you? A mortgage broker will help you find the best fit. You give your application to your broker, who packages it and submits it to various lenders. 

A good broker knows how to nudge the process along and can resubmit a loan package to a new lender very quickly if your application isn’t moving along well. Your loan process should move faster with a broker on the line.  Your mortgage broker then guides your work with the lender until the closing of the loan. The borrower gives a commission to the broker at closing.

About Loan Officers

The main difference between a mortgage broker and a loan officer is that the latter works on behalf of a lending institution (a bank, credit union, or others) to process loans only originated from the products of that institution. They may have the ability to market loans to fit many different situations, but all the loans will be programs of the same lender.

A loan officer will represent you to the bank or other lending institution. The borrower is helped through the whole process, from choosing the loan to closing, by the loan officer. Lending institutions give their loan officers a commission or salary.