Date: September 01, 2018 Age: 27 Gender: Female Marital Status: Married
Closing Fee
The original lending company had decent closing fees. I think I only paid a bit over $3,000-4,000. It seemed like a good closing cost as compared to others but again, my first mortgage so I'm not 100% sure what is a good price for closing costs.
Interest Rate
I'm not familiar with other lenders but I was hoping for my interest rate to be below 4%. It is currently at 4.125%. My uncle was the loan officer and suggested I lock in my interest rate before Trump went into office as he foresaw that the interest rate would rise, which it did.
Loan Officer Service
My uncle was the loan officer and he and his assistant worked very hard on my behalf. My uncle was able to lock in a decent interest rate before Trump took office and also made a lot of suggestions on how to improve my credit. His assistant was always ready to answer any questions I had and was very responsive.
Overall Rating
Pros
It was an easy process and I felt like the rate and fees were pretty good. Overall, I loved how responsive my loan officer was and the advice he gave. I made a lot of silly mistakes during closing like throwing all my cash into stocks and losing some money and my officer was really good at explaining things to me and keeping me in check.
Cons
I hated that my loan was sold so quickly. The week or two after I closed, my loan was already sold to, I think, Freddie Mac. It was then sold again 2 more times and it is annoying to try to keep track of where my payments are supposed to go and make sure the banks transferred payment history properly.
I went through a program in our city called the "soft second" program, which provides funding to first-time homeowners to help cover closing costs. I don't have a good comparison of what this would be to other lenders/companies.
Interest Rate
I shopped around to many lenders to compare rates. I found that my lender was very competitive in comparison to other lenders and was able to loan me more money at a lower interest rate.
Loan Officer Service
My loan officer did a fantastic job. He was able to learn about a program he's never worked with before and advised me in an appropriate manner. I can't speak highly enough of him!
Overall Rating
Pros
My lending institution went above and beyond in my home buying process. I went through a first-time homeowner program in the city, which was very complicated, and they spent the time with me to make sure I understood the process.
Cons
My major fault with the Lending institution was the distance from my home. They were about a 45-minute drive from my place, so we'd often have to do work virtually or by phone.
Date: June 21, 2018 Age: 30 to 39 Gender: Female Marital Status: Unmarried
Closing Fee
The fees and closing costs were similar compared to that of other lenders. The mortgage was entered into before the rule changes regarding disclosure of fees. I was pleasantly surprised and had to bring less to the closing than I had anticipated.
Interest Rate
The interest rate at the time of the loan application was relatively standard and was comparable to that of other lenders. Other lenders may have offered a lower interest rate but only if I was obtaining an FHA loan, in which case the PMI would have likely outweighed any benefit I would have gotten from the lower interest rate.
Loan Officer Service
The loan officer was easy to reach, both via phone and e-mail. He explained everything I needed to do and all documents I needed to provide him. When I had a question, he responded with a very quick turnaround.
Overall Rating
Pros
The lender is a local bank, and they told me up front that the servicing rights would not be transferred. This was very important to me because I want to be able to walk into the bank and make my mortgage payment or call somebody local with a question. I wanted to ensure that my mortgage would be serviced by a lender I trusted.
Cons
I only have two issues with the lender: first, I wish they sent out the monthly statements a bit earlier. They recently started working with an out of state company to mail the statements and, in the first two months, statements were received less than a week before the due date. Also, I only have an option to make an online payment if I have another account with the bank.
Date: June 04, 2018 Age: 30 to 39 Gender: Female Marital Status: Married
Closing Fee
I was very unhappy with the closing costs. They were much higher than I was quoted during the application process.
Interest Rate
I thought because I was an employee of the financial institution I was applying for the loan at that I would get a better rate. I was incorrect on this. I should have shopped around.
Loan Officer Service
My loan officer was overwhelmed with more work than she could handle. She was not responsive to our needs or wants.
Overall Rating
Pros
I actually did not like much of anything with the lender. At first, they were very receptive to what we wanted, but once the initial application was done we were like a forgotten footnote.
Cons
As I said above, it was not a good experience. I felt like I was just another number or check mark in a box. They were all excited about it until after the application process.