Bank of America Mortgage - Please Come In (credit, real estate)

[ndecost]

I'm glad we got this going.

I'd be happy to tell you which banks I find the best rates with after I'm done with my mortgage shopping. I'll post another post later when I'm done. So far, BofA's program can't be beat when it comes to your monthly payment and no paying PMI.

Thanks everyone!

[CuCullin]

Originally Posted by kalim2008

Yeah, BOA is typically expensive...

Yup - I had the distinct advantage of my brother being a BofA employee for 10 years, which made the process easier. He arranged for me to get the people he knew would do well for me, answered questions, and they were very good at working the way I liked (via email mostly, since I hate talking on phones).

Since the BofA rate is typically higher, over the course of the full 30 years, its not much of a discount. Over the course of a few years, though, enough to build up equity and probably upgrade, the costs are far less. Since I plan to stay in my current house a few years, but not 30, it works in my favor.

[kungfulou]

I just bought my house in Montague with this program, it came in handy.
Closing cost is ZERO
we had an outside attorney just to review (I wanted peace of mind knowing the bank wasn't going to get away with anything by using one of their own guys).
we did 5% down
no PMI
interest rate is 7

I had my cousin at Weichert review and advise as well. He said as long as we re-fi in 5 years we can get the better end of the deal. Any longer and it's not worth it.
We looked at points and the difference worked out to $22 a point or so, give or take a few in each direction.
For a couple in our position when we were looking, it really came in handy for us.
However, they've since done a billion dollar write down on the sub prime mortgages and may have adjusted things. They request 6 months of payments sitting in reserves of some kind right up to the day of closing.

Bank of America as a whole is turning into a letdown. Because of the sub prime write down, they've begun charging "maintenance" fees on our checking account that was never there the past 2 years. It's $16 and it's not much but there was zero warning, no notice, nothing. At this point its the principle of it all and we're thinking about telling them to take a hike. They're only doing it because of the beating they (and everyone) are taking on the mortgages.

[ndecost]

Originally Posted by kungfulou

I just bought my house in Montague with this program, it came in handy.
Closing cost is ZERO
we had an outside attorney just to review (I wanted peace of mind knowing the bank wasn't going to get away with anything by using one of their own guys).
we did 5% down
no PMI
interest rate is 7

I had my cousin at Weichert review and advise as well. He said as long as we re-fi in 5 years we can get the better end of the deal. Any longer and it's not worth it.
We looked at points and the difference worked out to $22 a point or so, give or take a few in each direction.
For a couple in our position when we were looking, it really came in handy for us.
However, they've since done a billion dollar write down on the sub prime mortgages and may have adjusted things. They request 6 months of payments sitting in reserves of some kind right up to the day of closing.

Bank of America as a whole is turning into a letdown. Because of the sub prime write down, they've begun charging "maintenance" fees on our checking account that was never there the past 2 years. It's $16 and it's not much but there was zero warning, no notice, nothing. At this point its the principle of it all and we're thinking about telling them to take a hike. They're only doing it because of the beating they (and everyone) are taking on the mortgages.

Thanks for the post. The rate yesterday was 6.5% but that required 0.222 points, which would cost us about $800 to get that 6.5%. We're also getting charged about $490 for a 45 day rate lock, as opposed to a 30 day rate lock.

We still think the deal is worth it. A 6.5% mortgage with no PMI, is about $220-250 cheaper than every other program we've found. So it seems worth the $1300 upfront cost for BofA and it helps that the closing costs are free.

I was happy to learn that they told me they pay "actual" closing costs and not a set figure that they set.

I think we're going to go with this program. We're deciding in the next couple of days. The Feds are supposed to meet to cut the rate on Tuesday, but I'm not so sure this will lead to a decreased mortgage rate.

[Marcian]

This just a general observation of dealing with BOFA on a daily basis. We are getting process of the Lockbox (payments to our company) from BOFA. There are so many problems that my recommendation to everybody - do not do any banking with BOFA at all (this what I'm telling all my friends and relatives).

[CuCullin]

Originally Posted by Marcian

This just a general observation of dealing with BOFA on a daily basis. We are getting process of the Lockbox (payments to our company) from BOFA. There are so many problems that my recommendation to everybody - do not do any banking with BOFA at all (this what I'm telling all my friends and relatives).

Lockbox banking is a pain with whatever bank you use... its slow, theres a greater potential for fraud, etc.

I've been banking with BofA since Fleet became BofA, and Summit bank before that. I bank with ING, Citi, and Commerce, have investment accounts with BofA, Merril Lynch, Lincoln Financial, and Van Kampen - and BofA has never been much trouble. The BofA accounts actually get my direct deposits, because I find bill pay and other services far easier through them than anywhere else.

[kungfulou]

FYI when I said $22 per point I meant the difference in our payment monthly!

Also when we did the program the rate was around 6.75 but that doesn't apply to the no cost program, that is 7%

[artDDS]

BoA rates are pretty high. We got our mortgage from Hudson City Savings Bank (NJ based bank) and they beat BoA by almost 1 percentage point. We were able to get a jumbo at 6%. BoA was offering about 7%. 1% point is a huge difference over 30 years. Rates have gone up a bit since but a non jumbo should still be around 6%. Hudson City will require 20% down payment though.

[aly0705]

I just talked to a BofA agent yesterday about this program. It's for owner-occupied properties only, no investor loans.

[einalynn]

I am currently in contract with my home and will be financing through the "no fee mortgage". They way they get past the PMI is an 80/15/5 loan. This means, you put 5% down, they will finance 80% on a conventional 30 year mortgage (in my case), and give you a second loan for the 15%. The second loan for the 15% is much higher, 8-9%, and has a baloon payment at 15 years. It still works out well, but that is NOT something they say on the website. They claim, "we just got rid of PMI", um, no, you did what all other banks do, just jumble the numbers a bit to fit the situation! Good luck!