S/O Mortgages: How Did you Get Yours?

[expatpumpkin]

Did you go directly to the bank?  Via a loan broker?  Online?  

I'm shopping for a mortgage to purchase in Texas.  Obviously looking for the best rate and lowest fees.  

Any tips?  Dos or Don'ts?  Advice?

TIA

[ddi741]

We just went to the local branch of the bank where we have our checking / savings accounts. My H had been a customer for years. They were easy to work with and I liked having local people to deal with.

I have no tips or tricks though.

[Pom]

Also in Texas. Mortgage Broker. Still ended up with a loan (after one sale) from our primary bank, Wells Fargo.

[polarbearfans]

Local broker I found. So happy. He got us the best rate and the fastest closing.

Eta: we did shop around including our bank. Broker was the way to go. Our bank couldn't beat the interest rate even with them buying points, and they couldn't close as fast. In the end the loan was sold to them, which is what we were hoping for.

[genet313]

We contacted our regular bank as well as a mortgage broker my parents referred us to.  Ultimately our bank offered a lower rate so we went with them but it was nice to have the broker confirm we were getting the best possible rate.

[Deleted]

Quicken--they are awesome

[katieb4tom]

How does the mortgage broker work, versus a bank? Does the broker charge an additional fee, since you are going through a third party?

[Deleted]

Broker recommended by our builder. They would pay for closing costs if we used one the the 5 or 6 brokers they recommended.

[mie]

Mortgage broker recommended by friends.

[Deleted]

Jun 30, 2015 12:47:11 GMT -5 katieb4tom said:

How does the mortgage broker work, versus a bank? Does the broker charge an additional fee, since you are going through a third party?

Our broker was paid by the lender out of the loan origination fee, I believe.  I just checked our HUD-1 and there is not another fee directly to him. 

[Susie]

Local broker, same one for purchase and for refi two years later.

[Redpoppy]

We just went with a local bank since we were buying FIL's house with gift of equity and figured it would keep things easier. The rate was fine and I liked that I could drop off paperwork there.

[elcjet]

I have a mortgage broker -- he was a referral from one of the C-level Executives in my company and pretty much refinanced all of my bosses, so I knew he must be good. He's taken excellent care of me over the years.

[mbcdefg]

Just went to our regular bank.

<--- lazy. 

[janegold]

I shopped around but ended up with a broker.

[expatpumpkin]

Wow, thanks everyone! Looks like I should find a mortgage broker...

[SJ]

Broker recommended by my best friend. She had done tons of research and has much higher standards than I do, so I always just go with whatever she decides after her exhausting research.

[sadlebred]

I shopped around. I have a few friends that are mortgage loan officers. I also went to the bank I've been with for years. I wound up going with a friend, whose company had the best rate for a refi.

[AAM2012]

We tried to go through a broker but he couldn't compete with the rate we were getting from our bank (USAA). I also recommend Quicken because they were excellent with the refinance of our 1st home. The only reason we didn't go with them a 2nd time was because we were getting some additional relo benefits that made going through our bank a better option for us.

[iheartbanjos]

We went through Ame.risave, which our mortgage broker friend refers to as an online mortgage sweat shop. We had used the same friend for our last 3 mortgages, but he is not licensed in the state we're in now. Still, he read through our paperwork, along with our attorney,and everyone found it to be legit.

We got a 2.75% on a 15 year fixed with insanely low closing costs. They own their own appraisal company, so the $500 appraisal appears to be how they make their money.

We worked with one agent from their company throughout the process and did the closing at our attorney's office. It is amazing to see how much of our payment goes towards principal and how quickly we are paying down our mortgage.

[magdala]

Jun 30, 2015 13:54:05 GMT -5 @mrsbecky said:

We went through a credit union where we have a small savings account.  Got a great rate. 

Us too. They also do all their own servicing so the loan won't be sold every year.

[dr.girlfriend]

I really like Wells Fargo because they service their own loans. With my original mortgage and my first refinance, I talked to the WF rep, then when I was ready to lock got a bunch of GFEs from the best quotes on bankrate.com. WF was able to match the lowest rate and their fees were lower. Unfortunately, they weren't able to match my second refinance rate (2.75% for 15-year) and that mortgage has been sold all around -- such a pain!

[megstoo]

We went to the bank that we have all our other accounts with. It was fine until they sold our loan to another company a couple months ago.

[agnes]

1st home: friend/agent set everything up.
2nd home: will most likely be through our Credit Union

[expatpumpkin]

Great info, thanks!

[whitepicketfence]

For our first mortgage, we went to the credit union that we had the rest of our accounts with.

When we refinanced a few years later, we used a mortgage broker. Our broker was amazing and we ended up getting a much better rate than we would have been able to get on our own. I hope we'll never have to move but if we do, we'll go the broker route again.

[redheadk]

Broker that my DH knows. The closer at the title company commented on how good our rate and fees were. We're in TX, I'd be happy to pass along his name and number. Super nice, honest guy. Most of our friends and family have used him (DH used to work with him).

[crashgizmo]

This time around, we used a broker our REA recommended.

The first time, DH went to a local credit union where he knew the guy. It was sold as soon as we closed to BofA.

[melmel48]

Broker who worked in the same office as my real estate agent. 

[hurricanedrunk]

Local broker recommended by our real estate agent. When we refinanced we used our credit union.