Good Home Lenders Recommendation (Houston, Richmond: insurance, mortgage broker, refinance)

[lavared]

Hi,

Can you'll recommend some good home lenders who are easy to deal with and relatively honest (no gimmicks) in their paperwork. We are presently getting quotes from various sources (most online ones offering good rates seem to be out state based and i'm not sure if the transaction will be smooth with them) and thought I should also check with you'll. Ours is a new build in Sugarland getting ready in Oct, but I want to do my background work before it (first time home buyers). Please let me know if you'll can recommend anybody from your personal experiences.

Thanks

[coconutbutter]

I went through Hope Tree Home Loans when I purchased my home. They gave me the best interest rate as a first-time home buyer (3.5%), and they did my mom's refinance (3%). Mom was thrilled with them, and I was... satisfied with them. (Explained below, but overall, I don't hesitate to recommend them.)

I was a on deadline to close because of my sellers, but due to bad timing, we were unable to close by the first of November despite reassurances we would (they told me that they typically *could*, but I guess they didn't anticipate having so many loans to underwrite at the end of October). I think both the seller and I knew this wasn't going to happen, so we were already anticipating it. It worked out for me in the end, and I was still happy with the service I received.

Honestly, the process with them was pain-free. In terms of hassle, this loan was easier and less stressful than driving to see my dentist at Richmond and S. Kirkwood for a 9AM appointment from my house (heh). I got them my docs ASAP, signed what I needed to, and there was no constant harassment or ridiculous requests. I expected dealing with a lot of BS based on what I've read/heard/what friends experienced, but my experience was extremely positive. The rep I worked with was pretty responsive, even after his wife had their second child, and he came down with the flu.

My friend went through Houston Capital, and her experience was similar to mine in terms of ease/hassle. I did get a better rate than her even without buying down any points. However, she went with her mom who used them, and overall, their experience with them was great, too.

I actually worked with their rep when I was shopping around for a rate, and her guy was wonderful, too. I would've happily used them, too. I ended up with Hope Tree because their rate was the best.

Both companies do their loans IN-HOUSE, so your point of contact during the entire process will be your loan rep. As the loans went through underwriting, I worked with other individuals in the company (they all knew each other). It was nice not having to deal with multiple parties.

Good luck!

PS - I'll be more than happy to forward you the contact info of the reps I worked with if you are interested. Send me a PM if you are!

[xecluded]

Most people would not know this but State Farm insurance has the lowest interest rate when i search around for my new home mortgage loan. Though they are insurance company, they also loan out money for home, cars, etc... Surprise the heck out of me. My agent said they dont have much overhead as they dont have bank branches therefore their rate is lower and lower closing cost too.

Just walk into any state farm insurance agency near you. They will do it for you painlessly.

[NY to LA]

Hi all,
We are going to start looking for a house to buy soon. Our realtor said we first need to get pre qualified so she knows wat to look for us. We don't know anything abt mortgage shopping. She recommended a loan officer from Houston capital but I'm willing to contact other lenders too.
My question is, do we need to check how much each of this lenders will qualify us for first? Or just let us know how much we can afford. I'm just afraid that pulling the score several times will affect it.

Thanks,

[ToyYot]

I suggest you go through a mortage broker who can do the shopping for you, they do all the paperwork and qualifying as well as lay out the different options for you wrt to points, all that stuff, to get you the least overall cost over the life of the loan. It worked out great for us, very smooth closing with no "issues" I've heard you typically get with the banks. He even came with us to closing although I'm not sure that his normal thing. PM if you want a recommendation. He got us 2.99% a year ago with a mid west bank but now I hear its down to 2.51%.

The State Farm thing is interesting, I'm a bit suprised my agent didn't mention this when I started asking about various insurance products while we were house hunting.

[JasonAndJulie]

Shea Savage did ours. We didn't want our score hurt either, so we told her how much income, how much debt, what we wanted our payments to be, etc. She gave us a good ballpark figure on how much we could afford based on those factors. I also already knew our scores so she was able to tell us what loan products we qualified for and what our rate would be. She was really fast and really honest. I highly recommend her. We did it all over email so I actually never even stepped foot into her office or even met her. Made it easier. Good Luck.

[HoustonBornNRaised]

Jason Higham with Cherry Creek Mortgage in the Woodlands, is a great broker. I'd go with a broker, before I'd go through a banker.

[JasonAndJulie]

Agreed, Shea is a broker as well.

[xecluded]

Originally Posted by ToyYot

The State Farm thing is interesting, I'm a bit suprised my agent didn't mention this when I started asking about various insurance products while we were house hunting.

Here it is at statefarm website. You may want to consider a new agent - not all agents are equal.
http://www.statefarm.com/bank/bank.asp

[coconutbutter]

The people I worked with at HopeTree and Houston Capital were also mortgage brokers as well.