Duplicate post by op

I recommend Guaranteed Rate - they are mortgage bankers (as well as mortgage brokers) which means they originate, underwrite and fund their own loans. They not only have great rates, but low fees and no overlays.

I also recommend checking with your friends and family for other mortgage lenders that they recommend based on their recent experience.

Stay away from the big box lenders: Chase, Wells Fargo, BOA as they have significant overlays that are much more restrictive than the GSE's actual guidelines. They won't tell you this, just send you the denial a week before closing. Note: the denial comes after you have been pre-approved and the loan officer has said all they way (until the denial) that there are no issues. The fall out rate with the big box banks is huge: more than 40% denied after pre-approval and from what I have seen, many of the denials were either something known right at the beginning at the time of application (like debt ratios) but they didn't notify the borrower until just before closing or due to the lender overlays.

I have the feeling that Mark Roland has a connection to the site that he keeps recommending each time he posts. Close to spam.

Close to spam? Naw, the original recipe. Just flag it. And for more, click on his name and other comments he's made. Click on them all!

Oh, and "Andy Donovan" is the original necrospammer on this thread.

ETA: spam removed

if you have access to a credit union check with them.

Original idea.

I always recommend shopping around for your mortgage. At a minimum, a credit union (NFCU is an excellent choice), a locally recommended broker (may have deals with the builder/agent you’re working with), and online such as QuickenLoans (which I think goes by the name Rocket now).

I’ve personally bought and sold homes as well as worked several years as a RE agent, and Quicken was the best experience, USAA the worst. We’ve used local, and that mortgage was sold to Wells Fargo to service the loan, and they were awful to work with.

You can negotiate with some such as Quicken/Rocket. NFCU and USAA won’t. The flexibility is in the fees, and ensure you understand what the fees are and which ones are legit, and which ones are padding.

Good luck!

My opinion on Quicken is that are one of the worst to work with since their phone/internet operators are completely blind to loan guidelines. The reason you can negotiate with Quicken is because their fees are higher. Out of the many hundreds of closings I've done, QL's is one of the worst.

Also, they will not order the appraisal until you are either out of your inspection period or cancel the rest of the inspection period (which is not good for the buyer at all). To have a lender interfere with the contract terms is unforgivable (to me). The contract is between the buyer and the seller. To eliminate part of the inspection period because the lender requires it is unheard of in the RE business. QL's requires it because they can and most buyers have no idea it is the wrong thing to do.

You can do better than Quicken/Rocket.

Thank you so much for all of the advice! We’ve found a local lender and got an incredible rate with them. I appreciate all of the help!