The Benefits of a Loan Broker Over a Bank

There are over 65,000 private and bank lenders in the United States.  Their pricing and underwriting criteria change constantly.  The chance of a specific lender or the bank you have a relationship with having the right deal for you on any given day is slim at best.

That’s where a loan broker like the trusted representatives at Fidelity Bancorp Financial come in. Whether you’re in the market for a home, multifamily, commercial, bridge or small business loan, we know you want the ideal terms, fastest service and most extensive resources possible.

We’ve built our platform around serving your needs because we’re investors ourselves. After reading this list, we think you’ll agree the differences are night and day.

The top 10 reasons to choose a loan broker over a banker.

1. More Options

A bank can only offer you their products, with their fees, and their terms and schedules. A knowledgeable broker, like dedicated staff at FBF, can customize the terms based on your needs and financial situation.

A knowledgeable broker knows their market and the availability of products that can assist most any financing request that a potential client presents.

A bank is like a general practitioner and a great broker, like Fidelity Bancorp, is a specialist. Do you want your GP performing your triple bypass or a heart surgeon?

2. Customizable

Need a bridge loan with no pre-payment penalty and only stated income? Need to follow that up with a 15-year fixed multifamily loan with no tax return required? Even if a bank is able to offer these products, there’s little chance they can relax their lending standards to accommodate requests like stated income and no tax returns. A broker, on the other hand, can find you plenty of lenders who can and will.

3. Save Time

You can certainly go bank by bank to compare rates and terms, but who has time for that? Being a one-stop shop, a loan broker will do this for you before presenting you with the best results based on your priorities and timeline.

4. And Money

If you do shop around, you’ll find terms and rates vary drastically – and that can be between three or four banks. Imagine what a broker can find when they put your criteria out into the lending world. The range can be astounding.

5. Room to Negotiate

Loan brokers do charge a fee, but this amount is typically miniscule compared to the money you’ll save on the loan terms they will negotiate for you.

6. Guaranteed Professionals

Bankers wear many hats. This allows the bank to do more with fewer employees. This isn’t necessarily to your benefit, however. A loan broker only specializes in loans. They work with borrowers and lenders day in and day out, ensuring they’re on top of all trends, legislation, news, rate changes and intracompany workings within lenders. You don’t want the same individual who just closed a car loan working on your multi-million-dollar commercial loan.

7. Communication on Your Terms

Business doesn’t stop just because business hours are over. Banks maintain certain hours, with lunch breaks in between. Loan brokers take a personalized approach. We offer you our email, cell phone, office line and anything else you need to stay connected 24/7. We’re always available for questions and concerns, and we realize these don’t materialize on a set schedule that conforms to business hours.

8. Progressive Lending Standards

Loan brokers like to say there’s a loan for every borrower – and that tends to be true. Whether you’re dealing with low credit, income, cash flow or a down payment, a broker will pair you with a lender who can meet you where you are. Bound by their strict lending standards (especially after the Great Recession), a bank’s only option is to turn you down if you don’t meet their criteria. In this scenario, you have to conform to their standards. With a loan broker, lenders are competing based on your standards.

9. Full Disclosure

Did you know banks don’t have to divulge what they made on your loan? This means you can never tell if you got a good deal or not. Loan brokers, on the other hand, must disclose this fact. When you see those numbers in black and white, it makes it a lot easier to tell if you’re happy with this arrangement.

10. Convenience

When you take all of the above – the shopping around for rates, possibly being rejected, no wiggle room, business hours only, etc. – you start to understand just how much time, energy and money a loan broker can save. A good loan broker will insure you get the best terms possible based on your situation.

The decision to take out a loan isn’t an easy one, but you can make the process easier and more streamlined by working with a dedicated loan broker whose only job is to serve you. We don’t have quotas, we’re not required to push certain products and there’s no incentive to upsell you on our bank’s services – because we have no bank and we’re beholden to no one but you.

Instead, we’re here to service your needs when you need us. Give FBF a call today to get started.

Even if Fidelity can’t beat what you are being quoted, we will analyze the details of the transaction and tell you that based on our information, sources and analysis that the quote presented to you is your best option for you.

It is rare that we cannot beat or compete with a quote, but it happens and we are not afraid to tell you

In the long run that builds trust and referrals.