What is a Lender?
A (mortgage) lender is a bank or other financial institution that provides loans to people who want to buy a home.
Lenders include traditional banks, mortgage brokers, credit unions, and dedicated mortgage lenders like Rocket Mortgage®. We usually recommend using a mortgage broker as they can “shop around” for the best loan for your circumstances.
Banks like Wells Fargo or Bank of America can only lend money to you with their in-house loans and those loan program guidelines.
When Realtors talk about lenders, they are referring to mortgage lenders.
Sometimes the homeowner can be the lender where you make the morgage payements to the homeowner instead of a bank or mortgage lender.
Occasionally, the buyer can assume the mortgage from the current homeowner.
Lenders in general offer other loans like personal loans, business loans, etc.
They can be an individual, group, or financial institution that provides money to a borrower with the expectation that you will pay them back, plus interest and fees, in the future.
Lenders include banks, private lenders, insurance companies, government agencies, credit unions, or non-bank lenders.