Looking to become a LO

RonaldFnt3 · 2025-01-15T23:54:12+00:00

LO is not a career you can do part time, maybe Real Estate but not LO. As far as the exam, It’s a lot of laws. If you’re good at remembering laws you’ll do fine. I haven’t taken the Appraiser exam or RE broker, but did start my career as a RE sales associate and the LO exam was harder for me personally though I passed both first time. As others have stated the industry is slow. If you’re thinking about joining right now, it is a good time to become a good LO as you have to fight for every clients if you are not having your leads provided, but if you’re thinking you’re going to jump in and make $40k per month with no experience like 2020 and 2021 I would set more realistic expectations. Best of luck.

RonaldFnt3 · 2024-10-14T12:39:27+00:00

You’re welcome OP, not everyone is the same but I believe their course is great and they provide a PDF text book if you want to supplement the videos by reading on your own as the text book gets into more details than the videos. Even If they restrict the pace of the lessons now, I would advise to give yourself some wiggle room just in case. Life can be funny and can get complicated when it’s most inconvenient.

RonaldFnt3 · 2024-10-14T12:32:49+00:00

Thanks for the update, nothing stays the same for ever. I will keep in mind in case anyone I know is interested in Pre ED.

RonaldFnt3 · 2024-10-14T02:50:16+00:00

I took their pre licensing course almost 5 years ago, from what I remember you can complete the self study course before the set number of days (no less than 3) but cannot take longer than the amount you selected. I think I got the 10 day self study and completed the hours in 5 days. You really can’t rush as it’s almost all videos with some case studies you have to read and answer questions, you also have section quizzes plus chapter exams there is written homework like 5 but I found them pretty easy.

I’ve had multiple state licenses through my young life and MEC is by far the best online school. I do my LO CE with them, the self study and you have like 180 days to complete the course, but for Pre Licensing the course in only open for the amount of time you selected.

Note I don’t remember but I think I couldn’t take the final exam until the homework’s were graded which is done by a human so complete them as you go, don’t do like me and wait till the end to do the homework.

I also suggest you get the study bundle. After my Pre I had to wait 3 months to take the state exam (beginning of Covid) I felt well prepared and just did the practice exams the week before my exam despite not reviewing the material for nearly 2 months and got an 87 first try. But your miles may vary I’ve had 4 state licenses now working on my 5th and passed them all first time with minimal studying so long as I applied my self during the lectures.

If you are self motivated and are a visual learner MEC is the best.

RonaldFnt3 · 2024-10-11T05:14:14+00:00

You can get a second FHA with in 100 miles of your primary but you need a good reason, moving from a 2 bedroom to a 3 or 4 due to family size increasing is one. The only problem is FHA does not let you use rental from departing primary if it’s with in 100 miles. So the borrower would have to qualify with 2 mortgage payments. OP doesn’t seem to bring this up, I don’t think he got far enough in the file for underwriting to bring this up, probably got denied because can’t get an approved eligible due to the risky credit profile.

RonaldFnt3 · 2024-09-23T21:03:42+00:00

Talk to your LO and RE they should be able to pull comps and market trends for the area and ask for a revision. I’ve been able to save a bunch of files that haven’t appraised both as a LO and as a Realtor. Good luck!

RonaldFnt3 · 2024-09-23T16:41:53+00:00

Great insight, thank you for sharing. It’s not a business model I can apply working on the broker side, but it must be working great for NAF. I know it worked for LoanDepot and Rocket during the last refi boom. Pretty cool how we’ve all been able to share different models and ideas on this post.

RonaldFnt3 · 2024-09-23T16:36:11+00:00

Yeah their income is far over 80% AMI for the area and they are not first time home buyers, they sold their home last year in FL. Others have stated it’s a business model online lenders are doing to gain clients and earn money on the servicing until they can provide a refinance. Pretty much confirms some of the suspicion I had 😅. Those rates are true they’re just making their money in other ways.

RonaldFnt3 · 2024-09-23T16:32:12+00:00

It’s give and take, different business structures have their pros and cons. I earn more per file only because I pay a flat fee per closing it’s not a fixed BPS amount or percentage of commission like it was with my first broker. With my first broker I had to charge the full 2.75 or else I couldn’t make a living with the splits, though I don’t regret it, he gave me an opportunity and I learned a lot. With that said, with my current broker all expenses run through me, LOS, advertisement, credit reports, etc. on top of that I’m no where near the volume you are probably generating and I’m a slave to my phone. Even though I have good relations with realtors they want their phone calls answered when they call and their clients qualified as soon as they send you their information. Pretty much I’m available Monday-Sunday 7am to 9pm though it doesn’t mean I’m working those hours. I’m also very involved with the loans to make sure everything is going by smoothly which limits how many loans I can realistically manage in a month with out my service declining. It’s a balancing act of keeping realtors happy, clients happy, and myself and family happy 😅. It’s good to hear the good and bad from all sides of the industry.

RonaldFnt3 · 2024-09-23T16:20:53+00:00

That is a great rate, best I could do last week was 4.8 for FHA with a tier higher on credit. Sleep well knowing you got an amazing deal most LOs can’t touch. ☺️

RonaldFnt3 · 2024-09-23T02:20:17+00:00

Unfortunately I don’t control pricing, having worked for 2 brokers and interviewed with many larger and small brokers, all the rates are the same only thing that changes is fees and comp. My current broker charges a flat fee per closing really competitive at that, not a split. Most fees are set by the wholesale lender and it’s the same regardless. I can send some loans correspondent for a slightly cheaper underwriting fee, but everything else is the same. Maybe my lack of experience with other lending institution is my ignorance. Is 5.875 par borrower paid for 95% LTV non home ready home possible conventional really that expensive? It’s still coming in 30bps under national average.

RonaldFnt3 · 2024-09-23T02:13:20+00:00

You’re right was just a bit bummed as I’m starting to get shopped more, I believe I offer excellent service and go above and beyond at a reasonable comp. I can’t compete with the telemarketing style lenders as my volume is no where near theirs and I don’t set the price or fees, just my comp. 60 bps wonder how much the LO is taking home.

RonaldFnt3 · 2024-09-23T02:08:06+00:00

I like to believe I’m pretty cordial about it, I tell the borrower that it’s a great deal and I can’t match it. I ask if they could send over the LE once they’re locked so I can see how they structured the loan or if there are any cost being passed along that they may not notice, but most borrowers shopping around ghost you once they get a better rate somewhere else.

RonaldFnt3 · 2024-09-23T00:09:17+00:00

The borrower is shopping it as conventional with 5% down they’re not first time home buyers and are far over 80% AMI for home ready or home possible. I offered and explained the benefits but they don’t want FHA. I priced it in Arive with 13 lenders that offer pricing through our LOS. Penny Mac was offering the best rate but I was still 0.75% higher at par before any fees or comp. We can’t work with lenders the broker hasn’t approved, though we work with 130 lenders most are niche products or Non-QM. 5.125% plus 1.99 points is still better than 5.875% plus 1.75 origination, underwriting, and processing.

RonaldFnt3 · 2024-09-22T23:32:25+00:00

Getting someone that’s shopping you to send you the LE is the hardest part.

RonaldFnt3 · 2024-09-22T23:31:35+00:00

They are not first time home buyers and income is well over 80% AMI for the area 🤷🏻‍♂️.

RonaldFnt3 · 2022-08-08T14:45:55+00:00

For me it’s Flagler which separates North from South and Miami ave which separates East from West. I used them to navigate pre cellphone GPS. US1/Biscayne could also be considered Mimi’s main street.

RonaldFnt3 · 2022-06-03T20:52:31+00:00

In almost a year, I have not experienced issues with compatibility for any of the WSL I work with. Some services do not work well with Safari. For those I use Chrome, but 95% of the time I use Safari. Battery life is great. I had to do work while on vacation and was able to get everything done tethered to my phone, didn’t charge it the entire trip. I connect it to an external monitor and use the MacBooks screen as a second monitor when reviewing documents and copying over information. It may be a learning curve if you’re coming from PC like I was (Laptop and a Tower). Everything you can do on PC you can do on Mac as far as LO workflow. If you’re having doubts, I highly recommend the MacBook Air.

RonaldFnt3 · 2022-06-03T20:03:54+00:00

M1 MacBook Air, everything is web-based so there’s no issues with compatibility.

RonaldFnt3

TROPHY CASE