Bingham & Co. Mortgage is the sister company to Bingham & Co. Real Estate and was established to service the needs of our real estate clients. After 27 years of excellence in real estate service, we realized the biggest problem and hassle in every transaction was from the outside lenders who service our clients.

Although we always try to recommend top quality lenders, many clients would not use them or would use a lender recommended by an acquaintance or real estate agent who did not share our goal for high standard of service. We found ourselves constantly having to do the job of the lender by following up and overseeing the loan side of the transaction as well as the real estate side.

“We were mad…and weren’t going to take it anymore!"

The loan industry has been run based on statistics that say only 50% of the applications taken ever close. They operate with the idea that they do not want to waste time on loans that may not close. They are set up to not put much effort into the loan file until 7 days before closing when they are 99% sure the deal will close and not be a waste of their time. This industry wide business philosophy is very profitable for them and still exists today with the majority of lenders.

This results in a constant battle between the Realtor pushing the lender to work on the file and to close on time and the lender refusing to do their job until the last minute when the deal is 99% likely to close. This also creates a panicked and stressful situation for our clients as they are jumping through last minute hoops.  This also creates a lot of work for us Realtors, who have to constantly call to pressure the lender to work on their files.

In addition to last minute paperwork and stress from most lenders, the other problem many of our clients have had with other lenders is the switching of loan products, interest rates and costs at the last minute, potentially costing the client thousands of dollars. The last minute switching of loan programs and/or costs is caused by 2 things:

• By not working seriously on the file until 7 days before closing, the lender realizes the client can’t qualify for the promised loan program until after they finally looked at the file closely.

• Promises are sometimes broken by the lender simply cheating the client and wanting to make more profit.

Although mortgage companies will be required to register with the Colorado Division of Real Estate beginning 1/1/2007, Colorado's mortgage business has always been and continues to be unregulated by any government agency.

Lenders know the client’s only option is to go to court. The lenders who switch the rates and costs protect themselves by saying to the client 1 or 2 days before closing, that they are sorry for the higher rate and costs but something in the buyer’s credit or job status forces them to charge the higher rate because the underwriter said they have to. They know the buyer has to either close with them at the higher costs or try to delay the closing a few weeks and go with a different lender. Therefore most are forced to close on time at the higher costs.

Many of our clients have had their costs increase right before closing due to these 2 reasons even by lenders who were their friends, relatives and large, supposedly reputable, lenders.

There had to be a better way!  Good news – There is!

Bingham & Co. Mortgage’s philosophy is to treat every loan application we take as if it is 100% going to close from day one and begin working on the file as soon as we get it so there are no last minute surprises.

We are Realtors 1st with rules, regulations and ethics that the loan industry does not have. We make our living from selling real estate and the loans are just a key part to the transaction, not our main source of income. So we not only give much better service by treating every loan as 100% chance of closing from day one vs. waiting, but we can also operate at an extremely competitive advantage with regards to costs and rates since we have no extra overhead or time involved.

Think about it…as top Realtors we speak to you, the other broker, the appraiser, the title company and all the other players in the transaction daily to keep things going smoothly. So there is no extra time or cost involved in taking care of the loan ourselves vs. having to oversee the lender during the loan process.

With all the overhead and costs, the average lender needs to make 2% to 3% profit on every loan to stay in business. Since our overhead is covered by Bingham & C. Real Estate brokerage firm and our time is the same or lower on a deal, we set our loan profit margin at 1.5%.

The savings is yours!

So, not only do you get better service but you also get close to the lowest rates and costs available. We are not always the absolute lowest since some lenders with super high volume and super low service can match our low profit margin and offer the same or slightly better rates but we are rarely ever beat by legitimate quotes.

Remember there is no regulation of mortgage companies in Colorado so many quotes by Internet and even some local lenders may be fraudulent or may not be honored at the closing table.

Whether you are buying a new home or refinancing your current home, Bingham & Co. Mortgage can help you find the right loan as part of our commitment to providing the highest level of service to our clients.

We would appreciate the opportunity to serve you not only as your Realtor but also as your Lender!