top banks to refinance (loan officer, interest rate, escrow, real estate)

[kmurali70]

I am planning to do a refinance with some of the banks below :
wells fargo
BOA
WaMu
Chase
Citi

Are there any other suggestions for top banks or any other ideas I can get refiananced

[renriq02]

there lenders/loan officers that offer information on this forum.

if you want you can post your rates/closing costs, and everyone can tell you if you are getting a good deal.

also, please post your credit score, loan amount, appraisal value, your state, etc

Originally Posted by kmurali70

I am planning to do a refinance with some of the banks below :
wells fargo
BOA
WaMu
Chase
Citi

Are there any other suggestions for top banks or any other ideas I can get refiananced

[kmurali70]

Originally Posted by renriq02

there lenders/loan officers that offer information on this forum.

if you want you can post your rates/closing costs, and everyone can tell you if you are getting a good deal.

also, please post your credit score, loan amount, appraisal value, your state, etc

Appraised value : 400,000
current mortgage : 220,000
Seeking refinance with cash-out in TX (max = 80% of value of home)
credit score = 800
Wells fargo quoted :5.875% for 30 yr, closing costs : 5800$
BOA quoted : 6.375% for 30 yr, closing costs : 3000$.

My question is which is the best way to do a refinance with cash-out.
Should I call up individual banks or go to a yellow pages broker in my state.
Is there any listing of brokers ordered by reputation ?

Also when i can get refi + cashout at 5.75%, why should i do a home equity loan at 7.75%, since ref + cashout seems to be at a cheaper rate and both of them seem to give me cash not exceeding 80% of the appraised value of home in Texas.
Thanks

[rcarrillo]

Originally Posted by kmurali70

My question is which is the best way to do a refinance with cash-out.
Should I call up individual banks or go to a yellow pages broker in my state.
Is there any listing of brokers ordered by reputation ?

There is no yellow pages with reputation sadly... if only it were that easy

This is why the best strategy is to ask your friends, family members and co-workers about their experience. If they had a loan officer that they really liked and felt they could trust then give them a call. Personal referrals are usually the best bet, much better than a slick ad or an online post (I am the exception, of course ).

Also, the experience you have at a bank can very widely from loan officer to loan officer... which is why you should ask people to recommend a PERSON and not a LENDER. Wells Fargo is a huge lender... they might have some great people here in NC but you might get an inexperienced con-man at your local branch. Same with any other lender. I can vouch for myself and my branch, one of my colleagues in CA that I never met.... I can't say the service will be the same.

Just ask around, find out how their transaction went because word of mouth and personal experience is usually the best indicator.

Originally Posted by kmurali70

Also when i can get refi + cashout at 5.75%, why should i do a home equity loan at 7.75%, since ref + cashout seems to be at a cheaper rate and both of them seem to give me cash not exceeding 80% of the appraised value of home in Texas.
Thanks

TX is tough on cash out loans, they limit the max LTV you can get. From what you stated its probably better to take the single loan. The reasons people get a HELOC are:

1) Avoid MI if they are going >80% LTV. This is not a concern in your case.
2) They have a low rate 1st mortgage (say 5.5%) and refinancing that with a cash out would raise it to 6%. Then its best to leave it be and just do a HELOC.
3) Closing costs are less on HELOCs in most cases. However, if you are saving money by refinancing the 1st mortgage and the overall blended interest rate is better as 1 loan then its a good option.

[CheckMyFees]

kmurali70 is right, sadly there isn't really a way to know how each loan will turn out, the best way to find a good loan officer is to ask your friends and family. Don't limit yourself to the banks either, many times a good reputable mortgage broker can save you significant time and money by doing your loan. Shop around a little bit, don't only ask about rates though, ask about expected time to close, how long they have been doing business, etc.

Moderator cut: no soliciting here, please

[SmartMoney]

Some simple things to be aware of.......

First never apply online for a mortgage.

Quotes change daily, sometimes hourly. If you aren't shopping apples to apples, you are spinning your wheels. Example, if your Wells quote had 1 point and your BofA had 0 points, it's not a true comparison. You need to shop identical rates and get the points associated w/ that rate. Most applicants go for 0 points.

National lenders have "canned" closing costs and have no way to know if your state's closing costs are correct or not. So, let me put it this way, if your state charges a 1% recording tax, it's going to be the same whether at Wells or at Chase. The tax escrows will also be the same, and the prepaid interest will be the same. So, if you are really going to shop lenders, use the same rate, request the same lock term (more on that later), and just compare lender fees. The title company, the state and county are going to be the same regardless of lender.

Okay, the number of days on a lock. The shorter the lock, the lower the points on a lock in. You can save as much as 1/2 point by going from 60 day lock to a 30 day lock. Lenders love it when you shop new construction because they know there is no way it's going to close in 30 days, but they are going to give you a 30 day quote. It also depends on the loan program and the lender. You also have to shop as if you wanted to lock in right then and there. Just because "it's a bank" doesn't mean that individual isn't marking up the profit on you. Most loan officers know that the person shopping the loan on the phone isn't going to lock right then and there......so they can quote whatever they want. Rates change, right? Another tactic, "rates are coming down, I don't advise locking right now." A Good Faith is not binding, it doesn't even have to be a correct rate. It just has to be a possible rate. Your only binding agreement is a lock letter.

Another ploy if they are underquoting and don't want to get caught eating a quote they can't meet, "we can't lock until we have the application on file." That almost always consists of an appraisal fee and about an hour and one half of paperwork. Not many can just comply with that on the spot.

Don't go with someone in a bank branch that also sells Certificates of Deposits and checking accounts. They may only sell 12 loans a year and will not be up on current guidelines and costs. They don't care about repeat business, they are just looking to meet their monthly quota of cross-selling.

And finally, the big banks. I just left a "big bank" after two years because I couldn't get a loan closed in a timely manner. It was pure agony. My word is my reputation in my market and when I couldn't deliver what I had promised, it didn't take much for me to reconsider my alternatives. My processing and underwriting was half a country away and I never could get anyone working on the file by telephone. Every file required an escalation if it was to close on time. They do not care about the customer, they care about the numbers. A great rate does you no good if you can't close on time.

So where to go? I would recommend a mortgage company or a smaller bank, as long as either has the authority to underwrite and close the loans themselves. If you go w/ someone that has to send the file outside of the company for the loan approval and closing, you are going to suffer the same problems as the big banks.

It's human nature to want the very best rate, but that rarely happens. Your best bet is to find someone that you can communicate with well and explain why they are making their recommendations. That communication leads to trust. Once trust is established, then you will feel you got the best deal, even if it's not the best rate.

[HELGALOANS]

I would get some help from a loan officer/broker so you dont keep pulling your credit. Even though they say "your shopping" for rates and it doesnt effect your credit ..trust me there lieing.
(been in real estate and related industry over 8 years)

[SmartMoney]

Originally Posted by HELGALOANS

I would get some help from a loan officer/broker so you dont keep pulling your credit. Even though they say "your shopping" for rates and it doesnt effect your credit ..trust me there lieing.
(been in real estate and related industry over 8 years)

Helgaloans,

I have been in the mortgage industry for over 20 years and have taught continuing education for the past 10 years on mortgage financing and can assure you, I am not lying.

This year, all three bureaus changed their score calculations. Two of the most notable changes were the inquiry hits for scores and the other was "authorized user."

Multiple hits within a two week period are now scored as one hit, as long as they are within a 2 week period. We have online companies to thank, but still use caution with them. Just by submitting the online application, you are authorizing the credit pull. We assume they will be within a 2 week period, but it's possible, it may not. Applying for credit online is dangerous if there is the potential for more than one company to be acting on the application. (This is not the same as going onto a bank's website to apply for overdraft protection).

The other change was to authorized users. It was a known loan officer's trick to advise potential borrowers w/ low or no score to go ask mom and dad to add them to their credit card account. The debt would not be counted against them, but the benefit in about 30 days would bump their score (beautifully in some cases). It got to the point of absurd, and gave false high scores to someone that never had a loan in their name. It is also considered a fraudulent practice now to try to manipulate a credit score in this manner.

[renriq02]

it's now actually a 30 day window.

If multiple lenders pull your credit score within 30days, then it will count as 1 credit pull.

I have seen this happen when I purchased my car.
Dealership ran my credit with like 15 lenders.
They all dropped off like 6-8 weeks later.
Only 1 remained

[SmartMoney]

Originally Posted by renriq02

it's now actually a 30 day window.

If multiple lenders pull your credit score within 30days, then it will count as 1 credit pull.

I have seen this happen when I purchased my car.
Dealership ran my credit with like 15 lenders.
They all dropped off like 6-8 weeks later.
Only 1 remained

<BEG>

Actually, I gave the shortest range to err on the side of being conservative. From myfico.com:

For FICO scores calculated from older versions of the scoring formula, this shopping period is any 14 day span. For FICO scores calculated from the newest versions of the scoring formula, this shopping period is any 45 day span. Each lender chooses which version of the FICO scoring formula it wants the credit reporting agency to use to calculate your FICO score.