Recommend your mortgage company

[Pom]

We are getting a new mortgage for a new house. We have a weird situation with more than half our income coming from not a traditional W-2 gig but rather from passive income. 

I tried Better and it has not gone well.

[Susie]

I would look for a mortgage broker local to you.  I've used two near me, they aren't hard to find.  Google "mortgage broker [city]" or "mortgage rates [city]" and make a couple calls, give them an overview of your situation, and see what they say.  A broker will work with multiple lenders that may deal more or less favorably with your unique situation.  

That is what we did this spring when we got into contract on a house, and found that our credit union's rates had jumped and we weren't thrilled about it. I found a broker who was offering 0.5% better and we did everything by phone and email. The mortgage was with HomePoint Financial.  I am K-1 rather than W-2, so not completely straightforward, but possibly more common than passive income.

[lessel]

We used a local guy for two purchases and two refinances. We just went through Costco's service (selected Cross Country Mortgage) for our recent refi. They were great to work with. I don't know about their servicing arm yet, but the refi process itself was great.

Fwiw, I looked at Better too and after getting like an initial estimate that had a great rate and "Points: 0" was 100% on that estimate, then it ended up being like 4k in points or something crazy when they sent the official estimate.

[scm1011]

We've had really great experiences with Guaranteed Rate

[wanderingback]

Yes I also recommend trying to find a local mortgage broker.
When my partner and I were first looking a few years ago, we tried to just google and reach out to the bigger companies, but since my partner is self-employed and I have 6 figure student loan debt they were giving us a hard time.

I got a recommendation for a local person and he was great and pretty much said those other people didn't know what they were talking about and that there were ways to make our situation work and he did make it work. So if you have a "unique" situation as you seem to describe, like we did, I def recommend finding someone local that will really work hard for you.

[ellipses84]

Have any local realtor friends you can ask for mortgage broker recs? I find using a local mortgage broker better for any sort of unique situation.

I talked to one last year because we want to buy but since I’m the primary earner who recently switched to being self-employed with another part time job, they absolutely cannot give us a mortgage until we have 2 years of tax returns proving our income. It seems a little ridiculous because I make almost as much annually with my part time job and way more when you include self-employment but they would not consider either. I could get a full time w-2 job, get a mortgage and get laid off a week after closing and that would be fine.

I hope they will take your recent passive income records and allow it!

[fryjack2]

We used the same guy scm1011 uses for our refi a year ago and are currently in underwriting for our cash out refi with him. I'm not sure if he works with loans outside our state, but the agency is Guaranteed Rate.

[scm1011]

Sept 10, 2021 10:43:50 GMT -5 fryjack2 said:

We used the same guy scm1011 uses for our refi a year ago and are currently in underwriting for our cash out refi with him. I'm not sure if he works with loans outside our state, but the agency is Guaranteed Rate.

Oh I'm glad he has worked out for you! 

[melmel48]

Sept 10, 2021 10:20:55 GMT -5 scm1011 said:

We've had really great experiences with Guaranteed Rate

This is who I used to refinance. Great experience. My friend used them to purchase and also commented on having a good experience. 

[Pom]

Thanks all. I finally talked to two different lenders. Because my H switched industries this year (much lower pay) and I have only one year of tax returns for my income, we are out of luck. We can afford the house in cash but then we'd be very cash poor. And of course the market is crazy and the house is overpriced. But it's perfect for us. :sob: Oh well. We are very fortunate and have a place to live. I'll just STFU with my FWP.

[ellipses84]

That totally sucks! It doesn’t make logical sense that passive income or that much cash in the bank doesn’t matter. I was disappointed when I found out and wished we’d bought sooner but our market is cooling a little, prices are dropping and there’s more available so as soon as we file our taxes early next year we are going to look into it again (that’s only 4 months away if we file quickly!)

[Pom]

Sept 10, 2021 14:19:55 GMT -5 ellipses84 said:

That totally sucks! It doesn’t make logical sense that passive income or that much cash in the bank doesn’t matter. I was disappointed when I found out and wished we’d bought sooner but our market is cooling a little, prices are dropping and there’s more available so as soon as we file our taxes early next year we are going to look into it again (that’s only 4 months away if we file quickly!)

I hope you find a wonderful new home! 

[winecat]

Do you have a credit union you can join?

[Pom]

Sept 10, 2021 18:20:09 GMT -5 winecat said:

Do you have a credit union you can join?

I think I’ll check there in case we decide to try for a loan.

[winecat]

Sept 10, 2021 19:44:30 GMT -5 Pom said:

Sept 10, 2021 18:20:09 GMT -5 winecat said:

Do you have a credit union you can join?

I think I’ll check there in case we decide to try for a loan.

My credit union was the only one willing to work with me last year. I have great credit but covid screwed with my income.

[jewel]

We’ve had an excellent experience with a local broker. We have some weird situations with owning rentals and related income, and he did a lot of work to make sure we were approved. I just finished 2 refis with him last month - I paid a *slightly* higher rate than I was quoted through Costco, but the service is so personal and takes almost no effort from me. If you have an unusual situation, I’d highly recommend talking with a broker. They will know which lenders might work with you and how to make it happen.

As far as actual mortgage companies, we’re on our 3rd mortgage with United Wholesale Mortgage and I’ve been really happy with them.

[madisen]

If you just need time for an additional tax return and you said you can buy the home for cash have you considered doing that and taking out a cash out refi loan in the future?