Mortgage lending for moving to northeast MA from out of state (living, great)

[simplexsimon]

I used U.S. Bank to make the purchase and have since refinanced with Lenderfi. Experiences with both were good and comparable. I look at pricing and terms first and institution second.

[SmartMoney]

Check into a credit union. There's a key difference between the nonprofit credit union and the bank that must please stockholders. (Let that sink in, really). I've been with one for 8 years as a loan officer and I have never been busier. Buyer's are walking away from their builder's lender because we are showing them how they can make up that credit in under 7 months in their monthly payment. Just imagine the difference over 30 years. In a rising rate environment, credit unions are almost always your best bet.

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by id77

Why stay away from major banks? I went with Chase for my mortgage and it was smooth and easy. They also had a very competitive rate (and way better than DCU's).

I'm glad your mortgage went well. Was it a refinance or a purchase loan?

I've had many bad experiences with big banks and they've nearly cost my clients getting the house they wanted. I've had some smooth transactions with them as well. However, I've had enough rough ones (way more than local banks and CU's) where I feel it's not worth the risk.

[johngolf]

Shop for the lowest rate. I could care less who holds the mortgage.

[id77]

Originally Posted by MikePRU

I'm glad your mortgage went well. Was it a refinance or a purchase loan?

I've had many bad experiences with big banks and they've nearly cost my clients getting the house they wanted. I've had some smooth transactions with them as well. However, I've had enough rough ones (way more than local banks and CU's) where I feel it's not worth the risk.

Was a purchase. We explained the time constraints and they didn’t flinch. The biggest scare was getting the appraisal done, but we still closed on time and all’s well that ends well.

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by id77

Why stay away from major banks? I went with Chase for my mortgage and it was smooth and easy. They also had a very competitive rate (and way better than DCU's).

Originally Posted by id77

Was a purchase. We explained the time constraints and they didn’t flinch. The biggest scare was getting the appraisal done, but we still closed on time and all’s well that ends well.

The last time I had a client insist on getting a loan from Chase we had to extend the financing contingency multiple times because they were so slow underwriting the loan and then finally they told us they needed one last thing. Without going into detail, let me just say their request was a "poison pill" and there was absolutely no way we could provide what they were asking for until months after the scheduled closing date. Meanwhile, I had the client switch his application to Salem 5 Mortgage and they had it fully underwritten and only pending appraisal in a week.

If not for Salem 5 pulling our fat out of the fire, we would have either had to move forward with no financing contingency and no approved loan or we would have had to cancel the contract. Either way, not a great outcome for my client.

[id77]

Originally Posted by MikePRU

The last time I had a client insist on getting a loan from Chase we had to extend the financing contingency multiple times because they were so slow underwriting the loan and then finally they told us they needed one last thing. Without going into detail, let me just say their request was a "poison pill" and there was absolutely no way we could provide what they were asking for until months after the scheduled closing date. Meanwhile, I had the client switch his application to Salem 5 Mortgage and they had it fully underwritten and only pending appraisal in a week.

If not for Salem 5 pulling our fat out of the fire, we would have either had to move forward with no financing contingency and no approved loan or we would have had to cancel the contract. Either way, not a great outcome for my client.

Interesting to hear.

I know they’re one of the stricter mortgage lenders, but I’m surprised to hear UW was difficult provided the buyer was qualified. I will agree they their UW was quite thorough in validation of the source of funds, but nothing came our way that wasn’t immediately provable with statements.

[sawyer2]

BoA was terrible to deal with - had to extend a closing and nearly lost the property due to their incompetency - sucked in by a low rate and then ridiculous and inconsistent asks given the LTV.

I'm less concerned about who to pick for a refi. - rate is the key driver.

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by id77

Interesting to hear.

I know they’re one of the stricter mortgage lenders, but I’m surprised to hear UW was difficult provided the buyer was qualified. I will agree they their UW was quite thorough in validation of the source of funds, but nothing came our way that wasn’t immediately provable with statements.

As far as I can remember, my client provided them everything they asked for in an expeditious manner. They just kept asking for more and more. Underwriting at most banks is pretty thorough these days. Laws have been past which keeps more liability with the originating lender than in the past so they're more careful.

I just want to add that in the example I gave this wasn't even a tight timeline they didn't hit. This was a generous timeline and we still needed extensions. Big banks do fine with the super vanilla loan applications. It's when something outside the box or problematic pops up that they trip all over themselves. Helping people buy and sell houses every day, I can say these things pop up all the time and often they're unexpected and unpredictable.

As I said to my client who insisted on using Chase . . . it's great that they promised you these wonderful loan terms but promises are worthless unless there's follow through. Chase was a problem for him at the end of the day and as I said I have a number of other similar stories involving other large banking institutions.

[yesmaybe]

Originally Posted by id77

surprised to hear UW was difficult provided the buyer was qualified.

I'm guessing they weren't. Hence the problems.