I don't particularly like Wells Fargo but they had a construction to regular mortgage lock thing that was pretty competitive and that's who I used 3 years ago. May vary by location or have changed with the latest mortgage meltdown.

omeyers,
I've been talking to MBI mortgage brokers in Conroe, google will get you the contact num's. Recommended by a good friend that used to work for them but left to build her own home, she still recommends them. Scott Sears is the main guy, ask for him. He as been very up front about the costs and pros/cons vs other options. We're still in the design phase and won't need the mortgage for a couple months, but MBI is at the top of our list.

We're using the Wells Fargo Builder Best. It's a construction to permanant loan. They will lock a rate for 9 months with optional 3 month extensions for a minmal fee. The current lock for the 5/1 ARM is less than 6%. rate lock fees are 1% but we're getting that back at closing (of the mortgage). They even work with owner builders in some communities. We qualified without a G.C. but did need additional documentation including a well outlined spec, appraisal and detailed estimate.

Here is a link that might be useful: Wells Fargo Builder Best

We are using Colonial Bank for our construction loan and are set to close on the 30 year loan in a month. Our rate on the construction arm loan is 6.25. We had a one time close but I quickly learned a one time close is not a one time close! LOL! I am hating the bank right now but will get over it tomorrow. Good luck with your search!

Kelntx -- Wondering if you can elaborate on your comment "...but I quickly learned a one-time close is not a one time close"?

We are going to be signing on the dotted line in a couple of weeks on a construction to perm loan that is also supposed to be a one-time close. I'm just wondering what kind of problems you (or anyone else) has had with these kind of loans. It seems so simple, but your comment makes me think it's not quite as simple as they say.

Thanks.

t-mac

In our case, we had a closing at the front end and will have to convert the construction loan to a mortgage at the back end. My bank (SunTrust) let's you do this through the mail - sign a few papers and pay a 250 dollar conversion fee - so it is easy to do.

What you want to avoid is to have one closing (where you will pay loan origniantion fees, discount points, and the multitude of stinking fees) for the construction loan and then another closing (with all those stinking fees aand more points) for the mortgage - that would be a a lot more money out of your pocket and is not necessary.

I am in the Clear Lake area of Houston and used Bank of America on NASA Road 1. The banker, Gary Syfert has taken literally hours with me taking his time explaining every step of the "One Time Mortgage" The guy has 35 years in the home mortgage business and is very patient

Here is a link that might be useful: Bank Of America

Happy holidays to all. Thanks for all of the advice and counsel. I'm going to check these out.

Check out IndyMac. We used them and was satisified.

I am just as confused by all of this. We closed on the interim loan and I was under the impression the conversion to the 30 year was less of a production for lack of better words at midnight. We have a closing date and more fees. I am trying to get the loan officer to call me back on this. The whole reason we went with a one time close is to not pay more fees. The whole process with the bank has been my biggest nightmare and I am so sick of hearing "the market as changed, this are a lot harder to do now." They sure have not had a problem with taking our interest payments. We will see what happens. Good luck!

We had a construction loan from one bank and then did the mortgage loan with our credit union. The credit union actually call the mortgage loan a "refinance" which saved us a few $$$

On another note about saving a few $$$ if you can take your loan out as "bi-weekly" you would save a tremendous amount over the life of the loan....you would be making a payment every two weeks which adds up to two extra payments a year. Doesn't cost any extra to set the loan up that way and you can still keep it within your budget or what you planned to spend monthly. It's something the banks don't really advertise. Good Luck

On another note about saving a few $$$ if you can take your loan out as "bi-weekly" you would save a tremendous amount over the life of the loan....you would be making a payment every two weeks which adds up to two extra payments a year. Doesn't cost any extra to set the loan up that way and you can still keep it within your budget or what you planned to spend monthly. It's something the banks don't really advertise.

Or you can pay extra against the principal whenever you choose (monthly, bi-monthly, yearly or whatever works for you) and get the same result.