I am pre-approved with an online lender. Should my Johns Creek buyer's agent push me toward a local one before I bid?

An online lender's pre-approval can work fine for a Johns Creek offer, but a local lender who knows the specific listing agents and closing attorneys in the area can sometimes move faster and reassure a seller more than an unfamiliar out-of-state name on a pre-approval letter. Whether that matters depends on how competitive a specific listing actually is. Joel Boss weighs that trade-off with Johns Creek buyers rather than insisting on a local lender across the board.