Am I the only one frustrated by the loan process?
Member since 2026 · 47 posts · 9 votes
Am I the only one frustrated by the loan process?
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Dan H.Pro Member
Investor · Poway, CA · Member since 2015 · 7k+ posts · 8k+ votesIf you find a mortgage broker that closes without hassle, at the quoted rate and fees, on time, without drama they are a keeper even if they do not have the lowest fees.
My mortgage broker is on my forever team. He has done free preliminary title checks, has offered to act as escrow on the weekend to go under contract, has provided me free sip trace service, has provided me access to to free comp app, etc.
Good luck
31 Replies
- Member since 2019 · 63 posts · 60 votes2mo
Definitely hear you. My last load was with an existing banking relationship. Gave a 50 day offer-close timeline. Got all parties involved to agree on a date. Radio silence from lender till 10 days before when they started requesting all kinds of documents. Then got an email stating, "we may not be able to close" commercial bankers have so little incentive it's not funny.
- Member since 2026 · 47 posts · 9 votes2mo
That’s brutal — the silence-then-panic pattern seems way too common. Did they ever give a real reason for the ‘may not close’ email, or did it just get resolved once you pushed? Curious how close you actually got to blowing the deadline.
- Member since 2019 · 63 posts · 60 votes2mo
@Terry Garrett I told them I gave them plenty of time to complete their end, there was too many schedules aligned, and it was an existing relationship they didn't want to lose. Poof somehow it got resolved.
- Member since 2026 · 47 posts · 9 votes2mo
Interesting that it came down to the lender not wanting to lose the relationship rather than anything actually getting fixed. Makes you wonder how many deals get saved on relationship leverage alone versus an actual process fix.
- 2moSeth McGatheyBusiness MemberReal Estate Agent · Milwaukee WI · Member since 2024 · 318 posts · 252 votes
Hello, I am an agent and I have found that not necessarily every loan but every transaction I or my clients have done, has had some weird situation. But one that stands out is a property that came back with an appraisal $25,000 over our accepted offer. Then underwriting flagged it as fraud for being so high. They sent a second appraiser out who deemed the property "not in livable conditions". (We thing she just didn't want to do her appraisal because the current tenants had roaches and lived in filthy conditions even though the property itself was structurally very sound). finally the third appraiser put it right at the accepted offer price.
Seth McGathey - Shorewest Realtor4.913 Reviews- 2moSeth McGatheyBusiness MemberReal Estate Agent · Milwaukee WI · Member since 2024 · 318 posts · 252 votes
@Seth McGathey I do wonder though if they would be more straight forward if I worked with regular clients instead of investors though. But the few clients I have worked with that were buying primary properties also had random stuff come up, so maybe it really is just that real estate transactions are complex and always have challenges.
Seth McGathey - Shorewest Realtor4.913 Reviews - Member since 2026 · 47 posts · 9 votes2mo
Appreciate you sharing that — as an agent, how often do you see appraisal disputes like that? Feels like there’s no real way to predict which appraiser you’ll get or how they’ll read a property. Do you have a sense of how much time/cost that added before the third one came through?”
- Member since 2026 · 47 posts · 9 votes2mo
That’s a really interesting theory — if investor deals get treated with more scrutiny or inconsistency than owner-occupant ones, that’s a pattern worth knowing about upfront rather than discovering mid-transaction. Have you noticed if it’s more about the buyer being flagged as an investor, or more about the property type/condition triggering it?
- 2moSeth McGatheyBusiness MemberReal Estate Agent · Milwaukee WI · Member since 2024 · 318 posts · 252 votes
Quote from @Terry Garrett:
That’s a really interesting theory — if investor deals get treated with more scrutiny or inconsistency than owner-occupant ones, that’s a pattern worth knowing about upfront rather than discovering mid-transaction. Have you noticed if it’s more about the buyer being flagged as an investor, or more about the property type/condition triggering it?
If true, I think it has to do with the properties. In my experience both my properties and my clients properties tend to be multifamily properties that are in bad to medium condition/care. Some are also in weird setups or have limited comparables nearby. Especially here in Milwaukee, there are lots of duplexes, but fewer 3 ands 4 unit properties. So you sometimes end up with a property with no comparables that are even the same unit count. All things that can cause complications in the appraisal processes.
Seth McGathey - Shorewest Realtor4.913 Reviews - 2moSeth McGatheyBusiness MemberReal Estate Agent · Milwaukee WI · Member since 2024 · 318 posts · 252 votes
Quote from @Terry Garrett:
Appreciate you sharing that — as an agent, how often do you see appraisal disputes like that? Feels like there’s no real way to predict which appraiser you’ll get or how they’ll read a property. Do you have a sense of how much time/cost that added before the third one came through?”
It isn't the norm in my experience, but it is semi frequent.
Seth McGathey - Shorewest Realtor4.913 Reviews - Member since 2026 · 47 posts · 9 votes2mo
That’s a sharper read than “investor vs owner-occupant” — makes sense that comp scarcity on odd unit counts would trip up appraisers more than who’s buying. Milwaukee’s duplex-heavy stock is a good example. Do you find yourself steering clients toward properties with better comps for that reason, or is it just something you brace for after the fact?
- 2moSeth McGatheyBusiness MemberReal Estate Agent · Milwaukee WI · Member since 2024 · 318 posts · 252 votes
@Terry Garrett I try not to steer clients in general. I provide them facts and details, and let them decide what is right for them.
Seth McGathey - Shorewest Realtor4.913 Reviews
- 2moDan H.Pro MemberInvestor · Poway, CA · Member since 2015 · 7k+ posts · 8k+ votes
If you find a mortgage broker that closes without hassle, at the quoted rate and fees, on time, without drama they are a keeper even if they do not have the lowest fees.
My mortgage broker is on my forever team. He has done free preliminary title checks, has offered to act as escrow on the weekend to go under contract, has provided me free sip trace service, has provided me access to to free comp app, etc.
Good luck
- Member since 2026 · 47 posts · 9 votes2mo
That’s the dream broker relationship right there. Curious how you found him — was it referral, or did you go through a few before landing on someone that reliable?
- 2moDan H.Pro MemberInvestor · Poway, CA · Member since 2015 · 7k+ posts · 8k+ votes
Quote from @Terry Garrett:
That’s the dream broker relationship right there. Curious how you found him — was it referral, or did you go through a few before landing on someone that reliable?
Met via a professional networking group. He
I made the mistake of trying someone that was advertising lower fees. In spite of her having all my documents for some time, she informed us at the 11th hour that our income was too low and that the rate would be higher than advertised. Of course market rates had risen, but I did not care. She was not getting our business. She was surprised and correctly noted that even with the increase it was less than I would find seeing rates had increased. I switched to the mortgage broker that I was happy with and should not have looked for different broker (I did not look, she found my wife and sold my wife on her low fees). It ended up costing us some money, but I would rather pay the increased rate than let the bait and switch broker make $1.
the forever team mortgage broker once did 8 loans on the same day (six hours of signings - not recommended and I would not choose to do this again) as well as many other financing, so it is a synergistic relationship. He has provided us great service and he has made some decent money on the fees.A good mortgage broker earns their fees.
Good luck
- Member since 2026 · 47 posts · 9 votes2mo
That’s a great example of price not being the whole story — walking on principle even when her number was still competitive says a lot. Curious what it was that made you trust your current broker enough to do 8 signings in a day with him. Was that trust built over time, or was it there from the first deal?
- 2moStacy RaskinBusiness MemberLender · Member since 2022 · 1k+ posts · 500 votes
As a mortgage broker, an appraisal not coming back as expected for the purchase or refi can be problematic depending on the other details. I think ultimately if there is a competent and experienced mortgage professional who specializes in DSCR / fix and flip / commercial lending than most problems can be solved if the mortgage professional and investor are making it a team effort. Often the deal can be be fixed with the current lender or a mortgage broker can move the deal to another lender if it makes more sense for the deal parameters. Good communication is key and so is a problem solving mindset.
Bright Skyline518 Reviews- Member since 2026 · 47 posts · 9 votes2mo
That matches what I’m seeing in the responses here — sounds like the deals that survive are the ones where the broker treats it as a team problem instead of a dead end. Curious, in your experience, is it more often fixable with the current lender, or does it usually take moving to a different one?
- 2moStacy RaskinBusiness MemberLender · Member since 2022 · 1k+ posts · 500 votes
Quote from @Terry Garrett:
That matches what I’m seeing in the responses here — sounds like the deals that survive are the ones where the broker treats it as a team problem instead of a dead end. Curious, in your experience, is it more often fixable with the current lender, or does it usually take moving to a different one?
It really depends on the situation and the mortgage broker or lender and investor. Some mortgage professionals are more experienced and are problem solvers. Some are not. Also, the investor and the mortgage professional have to agree on a problem solving plan. Working with a mortgage broker who specializes in business purpose lending can be helpful as the broker will have access to more DSCR, fix and flip and commercial programs. I have seen, for example, various issues come up with LTV, condo issues, STRs so various problems can come up and these almost always can be solved. It's also a good idea to have an in depth conversation between the investor and the mortgage professional at the beginning about the property, the investor's borrowing background and what the investor wants to do as that reduces possible surprises and narrows down loan programs that will be the best fit. Not all mortgage professionals work with the same programs- especially mortgage brokers so it varies from situation to situation depending on what the situation is and if the current mortgage broker can fix it.
Bright Skyline518 Reviews
- 2moShawn K HicksBusiness MemberReal Estate Agent · Gainesville, FL · Member since 2019 · 124 posts · 107 votes
As a full time Realtor since 2003, I have a pretty good sample size to reflect on. I think it would be accurate to say that anywhere from 25-40% of transactions end up with a minor to moderate level obstacle. There are things you can control to preemptively mitigate that risk. Some things however you won't have on your bingo card in advance.
Two odd things I encountered over the last 6 months: I represented a buyer where 2 days prior to closing, we get an email from the rookie listing agent. She apologises profusely, but it turns out there was some "miscommunication" between her & her seller. It turns out the seller was going to have to bring 26k to the closing table to close, & simply did not have it.
In another recent scenario, I represented buyers that 2 weeks prior to closing, we hear the from the title company that the home which had previously been purchased as a foreclosure, the foreclosure process missed addressing an old credit card lien from 2016. We agreed to give the seller some time to negotiate a settlement with the lien holder. After 1 month of minimal communication & seeming a bit of apathy from the listing agent, we jumped ship to another property. Upon executing a contract on the next property, all of a sudden the other Realtor decides to excitedly communicate that the lien situation got settled. It was too little too late however. My buyers & I had already had our feel of being ghosted & seemingly jerked around a bit. We decided to stay put with the bird in hand.
All that said, if you use a dependable/proactive loan officer, most of the "controllable" issues can be handled on the front end to avoid stressful headaches down the road. You also could have the best loan officer in the world, they can keep the controllables in line, but there are some things out of their control as well.
Shawn Hicks Realtor525 Reviews- Member since 2026 · 47 posts · 9 votes2mo
That 25-40% number is really useful, thanks for sharing. With that sample size, would you say the obstacles cluster around a particular cause (appraisal, title, financing, buyer readiness), or is it pretty evenly spread across different things?
- 2moShawn K HicksBusiness MemberReal Estate Agent · Gainesville, FL · Member since 2019 · 124 posts · 107 votes
Quote from @Terry Garrett:
That 25-40% number is really useful, thanks for sharing. With that sample size, would you say the obstacles cluster around a particular cause (appraisal, title, financing, buyer readiness), or is it pretty evenly spread across different things?
The high percentage of issues can typically be resolved. Some common issues: Buyer elects to use an out of area loan officer. That loan officer may be competent, but they do not then have a local appraiser panel. They typically use a third party appraisal service. That appraisal service then sends out the appraisal request. If you're lucky, you draw an appraiser that is actually local. A local appraiser lowers the risk significantly of having issues with the appraisal, most commonly value. I've been on both sides having this conversation whether I'm assisting the buyer or the seller. If there are reasons that the buyer will be using an out of area lender, it's important that expectations & a contingency plan are discussed in advance. I will flat out tell all parties involved for example, if the appraisal request is accepted by an appraiser more than 40 miles outside of the subject property area & or is one of a handful of names that have a reputation for lowball appraisals in our area, we need to then cancel the appraisal request & have the lender put a request into the portal again until we get a competent local appraiser.
Title issues are very rare, but they do occur on occasion. I remember a deal back in early 2021 when interest rates were great. In this instance surveyors were so backed up, they could not meet the closing date. The buyer & seller had a personality conflict & kept bickering over trivial things. It got to the point where I truly believed the deal was going to fall apart due to egos on both sides if we didn't hurry up & get closed. The title company we were using was an old school by the book guy. He would not close the transaction until the survey was in hand. I then called every title company in town until I found one that offered to close the deal right away (which was sticking her neck out), then would add the survey to her file post closing once it finally came in. (In FL a survey is required on single family residential properties so the title company can issue a FL form 9 to the lender.) I ended up paying the previous title some $ out of my own pocket out of respect for the time they had spent on the file. It was worth every penny as in this case the buyer & seller were doing their best to antagonise each other & potentially blow up the deal. We switched to the other title company & closed. The survey then was delivered a few days later & the title company lady that did us a favour was also covered at that point.
In terms of financing, the best lenders upon review of the buyers application, they can usually screen & head off at the pass most issues. There are some loan officers however that will blow smoke up everyones hind end, then 10-14 days prior to closing, suddenly they discover an "issue" which a good loan officer typically would have found on the front end.
In regard to inspection issues, I've been around long enough, to where I can pretty much do a walk through before even submitting an offer & identify certain things that will likely be insurance issues. As long as the listing agent has already had the come to Jesus discussion with their seller & let them know that some of these things may need to be addressed for any financed offers, then in those cases, there is a lowered risk of the deal falling through. Every now and then however you have the stubborn sellers with their whole "it's working just fine & I have insurance" mindset that simply do not understand that a new buyer that comes along is expected to provide a 4point inspection & in some cases a win mitigation inspection to insurance providers when they are in the process of securing their home owners insurance.
Another intangible that can threaten a deal is the home inspector themselves. Some inspectors have egos bigger than the state of Texas & will flag something, then go as far as to argue with an actual licensed contractor in the field of what they flagged. When I'm on the buyers side, I typically recommend my top 2 specific inspectors. They are both very thorough, but they do not present information in a gloom & doom the sky is falling manner like some inspectors choose to do. (Unless it truly is that bad.) Oftentimes, it's not the actual information from an inspection that can threaten to sabotage the deal, it's the presentation of that information. I have a deal closing this Friday where the first home inspector (definitely not my first choice) flagged some minor electrical items. The seller fixed all of the items with the exception of one where the actual licensed electrician said it was correct and did not need to be redone in whatever manner the home inspector was saying. The home inspector was willing to die on the hill as he just had to be right, so we got another home inspector that agreed with the actual electrician & went out and did a new 4 pt inspection that was clean to satisfy insurance.
I can tell you ridiculous stories until the end of time. Here's another one. I represented the seller in this case. My seller accepted an offer. After going under contract, the buyer asked if the really nice glass basketball hoop on the side of the driveway would be staying with the property. The seller said no he had just bought it for his son & would be taking it with them at closing. It was I estimate a 1,500-2k set up. The buyer acts a bit upset, but doesn't say anything more. A few days go by & I get a text from the buyers agent that the buyer is holding off on the home inspection because he's still upset about the basketball hoop. At this point, dialogue goes back & forth again about the hoop. I tell both my seller as well as the buyers agent that if the deal falls apart over a basketball hoop, it will literally be the most ridiculous thing to ever happen in my career. The seller wanted me to just say that the buyer is a jerk. I told him yes, the buyer may be a jerk, but both of you are some pretty big idiots if either one of you let the deal fall apart over this. Ultimately, the buyer backed out. On that day I learned the buyer apparently wanted to buy a basketball hoop that just happened to come with a house & a pool. (Extreme sarcasm) This particular story had a good ending for my seller, as he ended up selling the home for 3k+ more to a different buyer. That said, I've also had clients do things out of pride & anger that ended up costing them $.
My step father (now retired) asked me early in my career one day when I was complaining about other people in the transaction dropping the ball if I wanted to get paid? I said of course. He then said this: "Even when it's not your job, it's your job." That has stuck with me. On the front end of deals to mitigate the risk of something popping up, I really try to preemptively head issues off in advance. When there are vendors sometimes involved that I do not have confidence in, I do it in a respectful manner, but I'm hands on & all over them like white on rice to make sure they're doing what they're supposed to.
In conclusion, there will be the occasional issues that pop up that despite the best intentions of everyone, well, crap happens. The "issues" that are the most difficult to deal with however, are the "manufactured issues", stemming from personality clashes, unrealistic expectations, pride, egos, occasionally someone that's a bit apathetic dropping the ball, etc.
Shawn Hicks Realtor525 Reviews - Member since 2026 · 47 posts · 9 votes2mo
Honestly one of the most useful breakdowns in this whole thread — that split between real issues and manufactured ones (ego, pride, apathy) is exactly right, and it’s a distinction I hadn’t heard framed that clearly before. I had a version of the “manufactured” kind recently: a lender first told me an appraisal I had couldn’t be used because the appraiser was blacklisted, then later said it was actually about a 2-month validity window instead, except it wasn’t even close to that window. Two different, contradictory reasons for the same no. In hindsight I think the real answer was just “we couldn’t get our investor to accept it” and nobody wanted to say that plainly. Cost me a lower loan amount and extra cash to close. Your point about asking the tough, specific questions in the first week rather than discovering a hard stop two weeks in is something I’ve started taking a lot more seriously because of stuff like this.
- 2moJake YuskaitisBusiness MemberLender · New Jersey, USA · Member since 2022 · 254 posts · 67 votes
nearly everyone expects and wants their loan to go perfectly. There is a lot that isn't seen behind the scenes. Mortgages are very complex financial transactions with a lot of moving parts and a bunch of uncontrollable factors.
Finding an LO that is on top of everything really can make the all the difference.
Frontier Funding LLC533 Reviews- Member since 2026 · 47 posts · 9 votes2mo
Agreed — feels like a lot of the frustration comes from expectations not matching how complex the process actually is behind the scenes. Curious what you’d say separates an LO who’s “on top of everything” from one who isn’t, in practice?
- Lender · Princeton, NJ · Member since 2026 · 24 posts · 7 votes2mo
I’m on the LO side, and unfortunately, I’d say this is pretty common. A lot of deals don’t fall apart because of one major issue. It’s usually something that surfaces much later than it should have.
The most common surprises I see are title issues, appraisal or ARV coming in lower than expected, insurance problems, undisclosed property conditions, liquidity or experience requirements, and guidelines that weren't clearly explained upfront. Sometimes the loan technically works at the beginning, but once the actual leases, entity documents, bank statements, rehab scope, or credit report are reviewed, the structure changes.
In my opinion, the biggest frustration isn’t always that a lender has a requirement. It’s finding out about that requirement after the borrower has already paid for an appraisal, spent weeks submitting documents, or planned a closing around the original terms.
That’s why I try to identify the potential deal-killers upfront and explain where terms could change before the borrower starts spending money. It doesn’t eliminate every surprise, but it can prevent a lot of wasted time and unnecessary costs.
- Member since 2026 · 47 posts · 9 votes2mo
That list is really useful — title, appraisal/ARV, insurance, undisclosed condition, liquidity/experience requirements, unclear guidelines. Out of those, is there one category that tends to be the most preventable if it’s caught early, versus one that’s just genuinely hard to see coming no matter what?
- Investor · Member since 2026 · 23 posts · 6 votes2mo
I have had the same issue for the past year with my creative financing. It is actually frustrating for me(buyer) and the seller.
- Member since 2026 · 47 posts · 9 votes2mo
Creative financing sounds like it adds a whole extra layer of uncertainty on top of everything else. What’s usually the sticking point for you — the seller getting cold feet, or something on the structuring/lender side?
- Member since 2022 · 66 posts · 68 votes2mo
I owner financed my 5 plex about 5 years ago. I got a good deal and the balloon payment was coming due in 6 months. I had been looking into financing options since the end of 2025. I looked at dscr options and commercial real estate loans from my current banks. I also drafted a proposal to extend my current loan with the seller; short term, bumped the interest rate up 1/2%, decent downpayment upon signing new documents. They agreed and signed the new agreement my lawyer created.
I'm happy the way things turned out, because I wanted to avoid the expense and documentation requirements of a traditional bank loan. And in a very short time, the property will be fully paid off. - 2moJames JonesPro MemberInvestor · Collierville, TN 38017 · Member since 2017 · 597 posts · 448 votes
Not just you, and after 8-9 years it's probably not luck either. It's the structure of the thing.
The pattern I've hit over and over is the surprise almost always lands at the end, in underwriting, not up front with the person you actually talked to. The LO quotes you clean, everything's smooth, and then underwriting three weeks in decides they need two more years of something, or they don't like a deposit on a bank statement, or the appraisal comes in soft and the whole file gets recut. The frustration isn't that problems exist, it's that they surface after you've spent the money and burned the clock.
Borrower side here, and the things that have bitten me most:
Appraisals, both the cost and the number. On a refi a low appraisal doesn't kill the deal, it just quietly changes the deal, and you find out late.
Conditions that multiply. You clear three, they ask for three more, each one "the last thing." On investment property especially, every entity, every other mortgage, every schedule E becomes its own little document hunt.
The LO who quotes to win the deal, not to close it. The soft surprises usually trace back to somebody who told you what you wanted to hear on the first call.
What's actually cut the pain for me isn't a better lender, it's picking a lane and staying in it. Find one or two people who do a lot of investor loans, aren't rate shopping every time, and give me the same file list every deal. I lose a little on rate sometimes. I make it back not blowing up a closing.
Two things that head off the late surprises specifically: get the full conditions list in writing before you spend a dollar on appraisal, and get the actual underwriter's overlays, not just the program guidelines. The overlays are where the surprises live. On a refi with no clock pressure, that's a fight worth having up front.
So no, it's not you. It's an industry that front-loads the smooth part and back-loads the truth. Best you can do is pick people who tell you the truth earlier.
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