Unveiling the Power of Local Lenders: AnnMarie Napolitano's Expert Discussion with Vince Castoro

What You Need To Know About Working With A Mortgage Lender with Vince Castoro

Is working with a local lender the secret weapon in your home-buying arsenal? Discover the compelling reasons why choosing a neighborhood lender like Vince Castoro from Homefront Mortgage can make all the difference. In this episode of the Team Napolitano Podcast, AnnMarie Napolitano from Keller Williams Realty sits down with Vince to unpack the true value of local expertise. Vince shares his 30 years of experience, outlining how local lenders bring accountability, community involvement, and a better chance of getting your offers accepted. Plus, he dives into the importance of obtaining multiple estimates to ensure you’re snagging the best deal.

Beware the pitfalls of internet lenders and big-box banks! Vince and AnnMarie highlight the common issues that arise when buyers choose these options, emphasizing the peace of mind and confidence that comes from working with someone you can meet face-to-face. They also discuss why not all pre-approval letters hold the same weight and the critical need for a properly vetted pre-approval. Packed with professional advice and actionable tips, this episode is your guide to making informed and confident decisions in your home-buying journey. Tune in for an enlightening conversation that could be the key to your successful home purchase!

To learn more about AnnMarie and Team Napolitano,  go to:
https://annmarienapolitano.kw.com

Keller Williams Realty of Port Saint Lucie
9700 Reserve Blvd.
Port St. Lucie, FL 34986
Office 772-236-5700

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:04

Welcome to the Team Napolitano podcast, where home is where the heart is. Here's your host, licensed realtor Anne-Marie Napolitano.

Speaker 2: 0:21

Good morning. This is Anne-Marie Napolitano from Keller Williams Realty. I would like to introduce one of my favorite lenders today, vince Castoro from Homefront Mortgage. He's our in-house lender. Are you thinking about buying a home and if you are, how about starting with financing? A licensed lender is the most important part of purchasing a home. Vince, welcome. Can you give us an idea what we need to know about working with a lender?

Speaker 3: 0:59

Well, thanks, Anne-Marie, Thanks for having me. I'm really proud of our long-term relationship and happy to be part of this little get-together. And yeah, I mean, we've been lending here locally for over 30 years and when I get asked this question, I can honestly say, in my opinion, that probably the most important factor in choosing the right lender is local. Are they local? And local is such a big big part of that, simply because the track record of that lender, the ability to help get your offers accepted I think that's one of the critical components of that Working with people who are experienced.

Speaker 3: 1:52

And, again, whether it's us or someone else, the biggest mistakes that I see when clients are choosing lenders is the tendency today to get into these internet lenders, to get into big box banks, as I call them, where you know, working local, there's a certain level of local knowledge, there's a certain level of expertise.

Speaker 3: 2:24

But I think most importantly, Anne-Marie, the biggest part of that is accountability, right, and we and whoever's on the other side of your transaction you know our kids go to the same schools that you guys go to. You know we're at the same board meetings that you guys are at, and the accountability, I think, is a big, big part of that. The second part I would say is getting the best deal for your client. Right, so, Right. So clients need to be told to make sure they're getting at least one, even two, estimates from a lender. You know you want to make sure that you're getting the absolute best deal, and to do so you need to get that in writing. And typically, Emery the pushback to that is I don't want my credit pool, I'm so worried about my credit.

Speaker 1: 3:20

Well, when you're working with a direct lender.

Speaker 3: 3:23

You know we don't make hard credit pull increase, so that's certainly a question. Our buyers should be asking their lenders when they're getting a quote. They should be able to get a quote off a verbal representation of their credit score. People don't, in my opinion, misrepresent their scores If they say they're over 700 in general they're over 700, right. They're not going to tell you they have an 800 score and it's a 500 score. So I think working locally, working with experienced people and getting the best deal that you can and getting that in writing, and then, finally, you know the accountability point. Emery, I think you have a lot of experience with your buyers using Internet lenders and how troublesome or challenging that could be. Would you agree with that?

Speaker 2: 4:16

troublesome, what challenging that could be. Would you agree with that? Yeah, I typically will explain that to my clients, that just what you said using someone local for many reasons is ideal. Of course, having you in-house is also ideal, where they can meet you in person. That gives them a feeling of security and confidence in you and me. But of course, the most important part about getting started is making sure it's a qualified letter, not just any pre-qualification letter that you get from someone. I couldn't agree more Quite easily.

Speaker 3: 4:56

I couldn't agree more. All pre-approval letters are not the same right. We never issue pre-approval letters without borrower documentation from outside lenders, especially from internet lenders, that literally say based on the verbal representations of the buyer, based on their verbal. What does that mean? Right, it's, it means nothing. And I think your level of expertise and your level of experience and the amount of transactions when you see that you know you would never accept that pre-approval, you would never take your house off the market with a pre-approval letter that looks like that right. So they're not all created equally. You want to be sure that, and any good listing agent worth their salt is going to call me behind my pre-approval letter.

Speaker 3: 5:53

You know, no one wants to take a house off the market unnecessarily, and I think what so many buyers don't realize is what's truly at risk here. Right, they see the contract and they see the deposit and that deposit's contingent on financing. And what that means is whatever monies they've put up to secure the property 5,000 deposit, 10,000 deposit those monies are at risk's, the real risk in not choosing the right lender, right, correct, correct.

Speaker 2: 6:43

Listen, I know you have so much more to tell us and I hope we can get another session with you, but we appreciate your time and I want to wish you a happy day, okay.

Speaker 3: 6:56

Thanks for meeting with us. We appreciate your time and I want to wish you a happy day.

Speaker 2: 7:01

Okay, thank you again for having us look forward to future chats and you know.

Speaker 1: 7:06

thanks for all you do. Thanks, thanks for listening to the team Napolitano podcast, where home is where the heart is thinking about buying or selling a home. Go to annemarine napolitanocom or call 954-675-2804. That's 954-675-2804.