using a loan broker to buy a mortgage in California.
I am buying a house in Portland, OR, and I will close on May 31st. I am
using a loan broker to buy a mortgage, and things have been going along
okay, although a little slower than I would like.
I got word from my broker that he had gotten an approval for a loan for
us with "Fleet". My husband immediately recognized the name, and said he
didn't think it was because they had a good reputation. He searched on
the web, and I couldn't believe how BAD their reputation was.
I alerted our broker, and he tried to downplay Fleet's bad reputation.
However, he is also going to submit our loan application to First Horizon.
I couldn't find any press on them, which is certainly better than Fleet.
Have any of you readers of this group purchased a loan with Fleet? What
was your experience? How about First Horizon?
My broker also said he tried to get us an approval with Sierra, but that
there were "questions regarding occupancy" because we're buying the house
in Portland as a "second home", since we live in CA (we rent here, can't
afford to buy). The broker said that buying as a second home was easiest,
and that under no circumstances should we tell the lender that we were
planning to quit our jobs and move up to OR. That is fine with us, since
we will probably look for jobs up there before moving anyway.
Does this all sound on the up and up? I am perfectly comfortable buying
the house as a second home and then moving up a few months later when I
find a job. It will not be a financial strain to us.
I also asked my broker about USAA loans. He said that they were not
competetive, and that he therefore didn't use them. That gels with what
I have read here, although you can't beat them on customer service.
Thanks for any help. I think I am more nervous than anything, but I don't
want anything to go wrong and we would like to get a loan with a decent
company.
If the terms are good, the rate is reasonable and the closing costs are not
ridiculous, I don't think it matters much WHO the loan is with. The big
secret that your mortgage broker is not telling you is that no matter who
you get your loan thru, chances are close to 100% that a loan obtained thru
a mortgage broker will be sold to a second lender within a few months
anyway. So your loan with Fleet might not stay with Fleet for long. We got
our loan thru a mortgage broker, closed on the loan and less than two weeks
later got notification that our loan had been sold to a different bank. We
never made a single payment to the original lender. My real estate agent
said that it is almost always the case.
I don't know about this business of a 'second home'. I would think that the
purchase of the home in Portland would not be considered a second home
because you don't own your home in California.