Definition of "Mortgage banker"

Joy Jones real estate agent

Written by

Joy Joneselite badge icon

Bluecoast Realty Jacksonville

Mortgage banker is the person or business that originates mortgages and receives payments.

The mortgage banker typically sells these mortgages to investors and obtains service fees for the loans. The mortgage banker is a major initiator of Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and Veteran Administration-insured mortgages and also serves a key function in the conventional mortgage markets.

Financial help is often sought from a lender, typically a commercial bank. The bank becomes a warehouse for mortgage money, and the mortgage banker draws on these funds until payment is received from the investors. Usually, the mortgage banker continues to service the loan even after the loan has been packaged and sold. For this management service, a small percentage of the amount collected is retained before forwarding the balance to the investor.

The success of the mortgage banker depends upon the ability to generate new loans. In some geographic areas, mortgage bankers are the primary source for financing real estate. All mortgage bankers try to stay in constant touch with investors and are aware of changing market conditions and lender requirements. Quite often the loan origination fee or finder's fee charged the borrower is more than offset by a lower interest rate from a lender not directly accessible to the borrower.

Mortgage bankers are involved in both commercial and residential financing and also carry out related activities such as writing hazard insurance policies, appraisals, and investment counseling. As with mortgage brokers, mortgage bankers are regulated by state law.

image of a real estate dictionary page

Have a question or comment?

We're here to help.

*** Your email address will remain confidential.
 

 

Popular Real Estate Terms

Contractual clause freeing a party from personal liability. Foe example, an exculpatory clause in a mortgage agreement provides a mortgagor the ability to surrender a mortgage property in ...

There are two definitions of annexation in real estate. The first definition of annexation in real estate deals with the expansion of cities and the accompanying zoning laws. When a city ...

In real estate, a buffer zone refers to an area of land that acts as a transitional space between two different types of land use or properties. It’s like a neutral ground that ...

Geographic location that is gradually being developed as an urban area. ...

Possession and use of a property estate by virtue of a lease. There are four types of leasehold estates: estate for years, periodic tenancy, tenancy at will, and tenant at sufferance. ...

Agreement in which some terms are yet to be carried out. The contract is still not fully completed. ...

Replacement of a major component of property by another component that will result in better performance capability. Increases overall efficiency of the property. ...

Formal, written, unconditional promise to pay on demand or at a future date a definite sum of money. The person signing the note and promising to pay is called the maker of the note. The ...

Bank modifies the borrower's mortgage obligation, such as when the bank approves the homeowner's request for an extension of time to pay because of illness or loss of a job. One's ...

Popular Real Estate Questions