Mortgage Brokers
I’m primarily looking at one-bedroom coops and condos. A broker this weekend suggested using a mortgage broker to find the best rate instead of trying to find the best deal on your own. I did some Google searches and was not impressed by what I found in the mortgage broker universe. Most don’t appear to…
I’m primarily looking at one-bedroom coops and condos. A broker this weekend suggested using a mortgage broker to find the best rate instead of trying to find the best deal on your own. I did some Google searches and was not impressed by what I found in the mortgage broker universe. Most don’t appear to have a well-established web presence. If anyone has had a particularly good or bad experience with mortgage brokers I’d love to hear about it. Thanks.
Like 11:05, we’ve found our mortgage broker to be awesome–not only for the best rates,m but also for doing lots of legwork/paperwork. There’s a small apllication fee, but we’d be paying that to the bank anyway.
We’re using Hymie at Trachtman and Bach…would totally recommend him!
Susan Gersh
susangersh@rcn.com
(212) 724-0811
She was great – held my hand through the entire process, making sure that i had all the right documentation, secured a better rate than what i was able to get without her.
11:11 is dead wrong. A GOOD mortgage broker gets a better deal on rates than you could secure on your own. Therefore, they can usually offer better rates from a variety of different programs at different banks. IOW, they should be getting paid by the bank and not you.
I have very good credit and I’ve never been able to get a bank to match the rates that I could secure through a mortgage broker.
Of course, this assumes you have a good broker.
As of late banks are less inclined to deal with mortgage brokers, the best route now is simply to call a few banks directly.
If you are not self employed and have decent credit, there is absolutely no reason to use a mortgage broker. I also personally do not believe there are any benefits to getting a mortgage with a bank you are now banking with unless they can offer you the best possible deal/rate. From what I can remember, Newsday lists pages of lenders with the current rates and contact numbers every Friday in the real estate section. Much simpler and a lot less expensive than paying a broker. Good luck. P.S. Several years back I refinanced one house with Wells Fargo because at the time they had the best rates. Not sure about now.
we searched both… brokers and direct banks… we literally had a stack of figures from all these different places… after you compare your options, u can decide what route is best for you. but to each person it is different. and it all depends on your financial situation. we ended up going with a broker. there were no extra fees on our part. the bank actually paid something close to 1% to our brokerage firm. we found out they had established business deals with the banks. so everyone lucked out. the bank got our mortgage, the broker got paid by the bank, and we got the rate we wanted. every1 was happy. at the most there may be application fees that vary. but in the end, the broker took care of a lot of legwork, locking the rate and also with the timing and scheduling of getting the paperwork back from the underwriter, and bank etc., in time for closing. there is so much more involved than just finding a rate, so just keep that in mind. (our broker was Andrew at Trachtman & Bach, http://www.tbmortgage.com)
p.s. we also looked into Universal, but their rate wasnt as good as T&B.
Try Norman Calvo of Universal Mortgage. He’s in Park Slope and a mortgage banker. He helped me on a couple of things and is extremely knowledgeable and helpful. Many Brooklyn brokers like him because he can quickly assess what you can get and give you a pre-approval, which assures the broker and seller that you won’t be refused a mortgage after going to contract. He is dead on as far as what you will be approved for and taken seriously by everyone. Good luck.
Self-employed and having not lived in this country long, I used a broker: Rita Mastroberardino at Dearie Mortgage (they do have a web site). She was really helpful, no hidden costs, and she actually prepped three loans for me, all for one small fee ($295). Honestly, I didn’t think I would get a mortgage and she managed to work it out.
i had a pretty lame experience with Jeff Doutre at Universal Mortgage. There were some issues with extra fees that came up at the last minute, very lame, could have easily been taken care of by him but he chose to punt instead.
But as a self-employed person, I had to use a mortgage broker. I had no real choice.