Loan counselor vs loan officer

The differences between loan counselors and loan officers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a loan counselor, becoming a loan officer takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a loan counselor has an average salary of $49,002, which is higher than the $45,817 average annual salary of a loan officer.

The top three skills for a loan counselor include phone calls, payment arrangements and federal regulations. The most important skills for a loan officer are customer service, origination, and loan origination.

Loan counselor vs loan officer overview

	Loan Counselor	Loan Officer
Yearly salary	$49,002	$45,817
Hourly rate	$23.56	$22.03
Growth rate	4%	4%
Number of jobs	35,925	63,663
Job satisfaction	-	4.5
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 49%	Bachelor's Degree, 61%
Average age	45	45
Years of experience	2	6

Loan counselor vs loan officer salary

Loan counselors and loan officers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Loan Counselor	Loan Officer
Average salary	$49,002	$45,817
Salary range	Between $37,000 And $63,000	Between $30,000 And $69,000
Highest paying City	New York, NY	New York, NY
Highest paying state	New York	New York
Best paying company	Mortgage Inv. Group	Bangor Savings Bank
Best paying industry	Finance	Finance

Differences between loan counselor and loan officer education

There are a few differences between a loan counselor and a loan officer in terms of educational background:

	Loan Counselor	Loan Officer
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 49%	Bachelor's Degree, 61%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Stanford University	University of Pennsylvania

Loan counselor vs loan officer demographics

Here are the differences between loan counselors' and loan officers' demographics:

	Loan Counselor	Loan Officer
Average age	45	45
Gender ratio	Male, 37.1% Female, 62.9%	Male, 55.3% Female, 44.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.2% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 16.1% Asian, 6.4% White, 63.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 9.0% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 15.7% Asian, 6.3% White, 63.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	8%	8%

Differences between loan counselor and loan officer duties and responsibilities

Loan counselor example responsibilities.

Manage portfolio of GSE assets that are actively pursuing liquidation or retention options to cure default.
Experience in SBA underwriting that has produce SBA loan approval.
Perform account reviews to ensure associates perform logical progressions of collection efforts and maintain FDCPA guidelines.
Provide early delinquency counseling to CalHFA customers who have conventional or FHA type of loans.
Exercise servicing standards put in place by the FHA, VA, USDA and other private labels.
Resolve accounts using effective negotiating tools and appropriate system documentation in accordance with FDCPA and company's guidelines.

Loan officer example responsibilities.

Manage a multifacete commercial real estate investment firm.
Supervise and manage the processing staff and also underwrite conventional loans for correspondent lenders.
Follow up leads for refinance loans gather all applications and necessary paperwork to qualify applicants from origination to close of escrow.
Analyze available resources to determine suitable mortgage products (FHA, FNMA/FHLC) to meet clients' purchasing or refinancing goals.
Originate and process various loan products including government, conventional, portfolio, construction, USDA mortgages, home equity line/loans.
Originate FHA, VA, conventional, jumbo, and USDA loans, according to specific lender guidelines in broker environment.

Loan counselor vs loan officer skills

Common loan counselor skills

Phone Calls, 14%
Payment Arrangements, 12%
Federal Regulations, 8%
Outbound Collection Calls, 6%
Inbound Calls, 6%
FDCPA, 4%

Common loan officer skills

Customer Service, 17%
Origination, 13%
Loan Origination, 5%
FHA, 5%
NMLS, 5%
Loan Products, 4%