Meet Dave.  He's a really nice guy who just wanted to purchase the house down the street from his parents so his kids could grow up close to their grandparents.  Both Dave and his wife, Cathy, are hard workers, and they know how to set and pursue goals - owning a home is a big one for them.  When I first met Dave, I pulled his credit and saw that his and his wife's credit scores helped qualify them for a particular loan that would help get them into that house sooner than they thought.  They went off with their realtor, made an offer, got the offer accepted, and then it came back to me.  We got everything together for the loan application, and we were off and running.  Dave and Cathy were extremely happy.  

Dave was SO happy, that he decided to surprise his wife and buy a new truck for the family about 10 days before the loan would close - and he financed that purchase through another loan.  While doing some follow up with Dave, he told me about his new truck - I didn't see shiny new rims or a nice paint job; all I saw were red flags.  I knew this new loan, taken out before his home loan closed, would completely derail the home loan - no loan, no house.  Immediately, I told Dave he needed to take the truck back to the dealership and cancel the transaction - and I explained the reasons this needed to be done at once.  

He wasn't happy, but he did it, and the dealership definitely wasn't happy.  I got the financing manager at the dealership on the phone and I explained Dave and Cathy's situation with regards to buying their first home.  We went back and forth on this issue until the manager understood the complexity of the deal and how much he would be helping this family get into their first home.  

Whenever I tell this story, I always get the questions: "How'd you do it?  How'd you get the manager to take it back?"  I smile and say, "Because I'm magic."  While that remains to be seen, I have a lot of knowledge of financing along with the ins and outs of the mortgage industry that help me help great people like Dave and Cathy get into their first home - and they did.  Most other companies, when hearing about the truck purchase, would just let the deal explode or implode.  Either way, they wouldn't close the deal, the family wouldn't be in their new home, and everyone's time and energy would have been for nothing.  Not so with me!