Wells Fargo Mortgage experience anyone? (Sarasota: real estate, rental, mortgage broker)

[03bluecoupe]

We're going to get pre-approved for a mortgage before our upcoming trip down - just in case. We were considering Wells Fargo but I've heard from one source that dealing with them wouldn't be wise.

Anyone here with experience dealing with them care to share their opinions pro or con?

Or is that type of discussion a "no-no" here?

[beninfl]

Isn't the only thing that matters is the terms of the loan? Whether or not they have a firm handshake doesn't much matter........

[03bluecoupe]

No, that's not all that matters. That's like saying that the only thing that matters about a car dealer is if they delivered the car. Rather short sighted.

Hopefully there are people who have experience with them and are open to providing constructive commentary.

[Cardiff by the Sea]

We had a bad experience with them in our pre approval process. We were big Wells Fargo customer in Los Angeles. We are professional landlords and all our rental income in CA was deposited in Wells Fargo. All our liquid emergency money sat in Wells Fargo. That counted for nothing in Sarasota.

We wanted the max loan of about $400k. They would only approve us for about half that. We had just shed a $400k mortgage on an investment property, and would be selling our personal residence in LA which had $600k debt attached to it, and the most they would approve us for was a lousy $200k. I was incredulous.

On top of that, the agent came a hair short of calling us liars. He looked at our tax returns and "said this rental income is too high. How do I know it is what it actually is?" To which we said, look at our Wells Fargo bank statements!!! Because of all the fraud in the last real estate cycle, loan officers are really untrusting. But really, do they have to hint that they think you are lairs when they can verify the information without going outside of the institution.

We were shopping for a commercial loan at the time. The best advice we ever got was go to a local bank. We shopped 6 local institutions and picked Insignia. They are awesome in every way. We got a commercial loan and were asked what terms were important to us and they adjusted the terms to what we wanted. The commercial officer still takes us to lunch a couple times a year.

We also got a construction loan for our house which will convert to a regular mortgage at the end of the construction. They turned that loan around in 5 weeks from application to funding, Laura Dorsey at Insignia is the residential loan officer. I would recommend her highly.

And on top of that, it is a pleasure to do regular banking with them. All employees learn every customers name and greet you when you go in. And they have fresh baked cookies in the lobby.

[beninfl]

That's where I differ. I can make my own cookies. The comparison of a car dealer to a mortgage company is the same, if you are buying a Chevrolet Whatever, who cares who you buy it from? Price is all that matters at that point. They can keep their cookies.

Considering most banks sell their mortgages after you get one through them, who cares what bank the loan originates from? The only factor should be the total amount you will have to pay for your house when its over.

I can understand if you don't feel this post is constructive, I wont press it hard at all. It's just my opinion based on what I find to be important, and to me, it's the cost of the house in the end, not free cookies or a pretty clerk.

[gypsychic]

We have had a mortgage with Wells Fargo for 6 years now, and have never had a problem.

Hope that helps.

[Cardiff by the Sea]

I forgot to mention that the reason to go with a local bank is that the person who decides is actually in the building instead of 6 states away.

[03bluecoupe]

Thanks Cardiff. That kind of mimics a comment I got from an ex-realtor from our area. She said that their pre-approval process was basically worthless and not to count on it. The other comment was that their reps consistently "lose" and ask for the same documents over and over or suddenly require additional information and that the process from being "pre-approved" to actually being able to close was potentially a nightmare. That seems to jive with your experience.

So while you may end up with the money eventually - the road to get there sounds like it could kill you by raising your bloodpressure.

I think I'll research Insignia. The other one that I've had recommended was Annie-Mac. More homework to do apparently.

Thanks

[03bluecoupe]

Originally Posted by gypsychic

We have had a mortgage with Wells Fargo for 6 years now, and have never had a problem.

Hope that helps.

Ok thanks gypsychic. I'll take it that you didn't experience major headaches getting through the process to closure. Thanks.

[gypsychic]

Originally Posted by 03bluecoupe

Ok thanks gypsychic. I'll take it that you didn't experience major headaches getting through the process to closure. Thanks.

No, but I will say that we had a mortgage broker take care of everything, so that definitely helped.