You’re under contract. The numbers work. Your contractor is lined up. Then, 48 hours before closing, your lender goes quiet with no wire, no explanation, just silence.
The deal dies. You lose your earnest money. The seller’s agent tells everyone you’re not serious. Your contractor books another job. And that property you spent three months underwriting? Someone else closes on it two weeks later.
We’ve watched this happen more times than we care to count. The deal didn’t fail because the borrower lacked experience or the property lacked potential – it failed because the lender couldn’t execute. In real estate, unreliable capital costs more than high interest rates ever will.
A missed closing isn’t just an inconvenience. You’re out of 1-3% in earnest money, plus inspections, appraisals, and legal fees. Your reputation takes a hit with sellers, agents, and contractors who won’t prioritize you next time. The opportunity cost is even harder to quantify – you can’t put a number on the deals you miss while your capital sits in limbo.
Reliability isn’t about who promises the lowest rate or the fastest close, it’s about who actually delivers when money needs to move. After years of underwriting loans and watching how lenders operate, these are the seven questions that separate performers from pretenders.
If your loan officer needs to “run it up the chain” or wait for a committee, you’re adding layers and uncertainty. The best lenders have underwriters who can make decisions directly, without passing files through multiple approval levels.
Everyone can close fast on their best day, but what matters is their average performance. Ask for their average close time over the last 90 days – that number reveals whether they have the capacity, systems, and staffing to execute consistently.
Balance sheet lenders control their own capital and can move faster on decisions. Brokers need to find a buyer for your loan, which adds time and variables you can’t control. Both models work, but you need to know which one you’re dealing with.
A high fall-through rate signals problems like overcommitting, poor underwriting, or funding issues that surface too late. Good lenders close the deals they approve because they don’t approve deals they can’t fund.
For construction and rehab projects, draw timing can make or break your schedule. “Fast Draws” should mean 3-5 business days after inspection, not 3-5 weeks waiting and wondering.
Some lenders treat extensions like new loan applications with full re-underwriting, while others handle them in 48 hours with a simple fee. Know which one you’re working with before your project hits month 11 or 12-month term.
Testimonials on a website are marketing, but references are reality. Ask for contact information for two or three borrowers who closed similar deals in the last six months, then actually call them and ask the hard questions.
Good lenders welcome these questions because they know their numbers and they’re confident in their track record. If a lender gets defensive, dodges your questions, or pivots to rate talk, that’s your signal to keep looking.
Reliability isn’t about promises — it’s about systems and track record. We built ours around speed, certainty, and execution because in this business, when money needs to move, nothing else matters. Ask the questions and the answers will tell you everything you need to know.
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