#YourStory: Justin & Nicole
In early July, we had the pleasure of working with new customers Justin and Nicole who were buying a home in Hales Corners. Like many others before him, Justin found his way to me by word of mouth. We took a call at home on a Saturday morning. Justin was frustrated. Now, we knew he had been to other lenders, but it wasn’t until he wrote us a nearly four-page testimonial that I learned he’d truly been through the “ringer.”
First, a bit of background. Justin is a full-time corporate pilot. Flies a really cool jet for some local executives traveling on business from the metro-Milwaukee area. But does anyone remember a little thing called the Great Recession? Corporate jets were one of the first things to go for many companies. As a result, Justin, like so many others who were “dislocated” from their jobs during that 2-3 year span, suffered financially.
But four years had passed and Justin cleared up some debt while his work stabilized. After being hired permanently in his current position, and knowing that he had some help from family for a nice-sized down payment, he and his wife set out to buy a home, a place to call their own.
He stopped at his own bank where he was handed some forms and a fax number. After two weeks, he finally had his response. Because of his past financial woes, they couldn’t help.
The next option was a mortgage broker, who recommended FHA financing. After more difficulty getting in touch, and with the help of his Real Estate agent, after SIX weeks, Justin finally had his pre-approval letter.
Turns out the letter wasn’t worth the paper on which it was written- which is why we often suggest to clients that “all pre-approvals are not created equally.” Too often, to appease a prospective borrower, lenders will provide a letter and hope for the best, only to result in disappointment.
That’s when Justin found us on that otherwise quiet Saturday. We met face-to-face on Tuesday. We spent a good part of our meeting understanding his past financial difficulties and learning about his new job. The bottom line was they had two weeks to close on this home. Not to mention they had given their Landlord notice. Justin wrote, “I have to tell you that as a pilot and someone who likes order, what a relief it was to have Jon hand me a checklist,” adding that he finally felt like he was dealing with a professional. We ended up closing – using the GMB Portfolio product – on the originally scheduled date.
He finished his testimonial as follows: “Our closing not only happened on its original date but had no hiccups and took less than an hour! The experience with Great Midwest Bank is exactly what I had in my head of how it should have happened from the beginning!”
Happy we could help, Justin. One customer at a time! This makes my job extremely satisfying!
So what’s #YourStory? Send me a note or tell us on Facebook!”