Who has your Mortgage and do you like them?

[Scuba Steve]

Bank of Texas has mine. They're alright - everything is done automatically and they send me the tax forms in January. Not really anything to complain about here.

[Gogar]

Originally Posted by legion

National City used to send me ads for their "equity accelerator" program.

Instead of my mortgage being due once a month, they halved the payment amount and made it due every two weeks. In theory, this would add up to me making an extra (monthly)payment a year. Reading the fine print, there was a $50 "convenience charge" per payment for this program. My mortgate is $1100 a month.

That's right, I would end up LOSING $100 in equity a year if I signed up for this program (as the "convenience fee" would eat up MORE than the additional payments). Even better, my grace period on payments would go from 15 days to 5 days--and be due twice a month. They'd be almost certain to ding me on late fees (which I have never had paying monthly) if I were travelling or my paychecks didn't line up just right with their due dates.

I throw an extra $100 on every payment and come out much better with no extra fees or penalties.

+ 1million on that scam.

[HardDrive]

Wells Fargo. This is our second mortgage through them. Very pleased with their service. If you have both your mortgage and your banking accounts with them, their website is great. Very easy to setup payments, see reports, etc...

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by legion

National City used to send me ads for their "equity accelerator" program.

Instead of my mortgage being due once a month, they halved the payment amount and made it due every two weeks. In theory, this would add up to me making an extra (monthly)payment a year. Reading the fine print, there was a $50 "convenience charge" per payment for this program. My mortgate is $1100 a month.

That's right, I would end up LOSING $100 in equity a year if I signed up for this program (as the "convenience fee" would eat up MORE than the additional payments). Even better, my grace period on payments would go from 15 days to 5 days--and be due twice a month. They'd be almost certain to ding me on late fees (which I have never had paying monthly) if I were travelling or my paychecks didn't line up just right with their due dates.

I throw an extra $100 on every payment and come out much better with no extra fees or penalties.

Yup, when we had WaMu we did the Equity Accelerator and loved it. When we looked into it with National I was surprised at the fees as well.

Mikey no likey.

[Zef]

Originally Posted by 911Freak

Nicely done ZEF!

some day, someday soon...... I hope, make that I'm planning on it

I was lucky...sort of...I first bought a small house on a top of a mountain near the ski resort St-Sauveur...I sold it with a 70 % net profit....It was paid off. I took the cash and bought a new one (no mortgage) just before the price start to skyrocket to the actual top. The extra money now goes on travel-vacation and on school fund for the two daughters. Stay focused ....

[serge944]

That's awesome Zef. One of my family members timed their home purchase just right and was able to sell during the market peak in California. A couple hundred thousand is pretty damn good return, especially when the house was bought at very little down.

I'll be looking to buy my first house in the next few months - glad Obama extended the 8k tax credit! Might go with BofA for the mortgage, unless others offer substantially lower rates. I have a free checking account with them (originally signed on for a student account) and previously financed a car through them too. Its very convenient to log into one website and take care of ALL expenses.

[Noah930]

I purchased a house 2 months ago and went with Citibank. They had the best rates and the service was very good, as well. (Our mortgage officeer was Nelly at the Studio City branch, as she had come recommended to us by friends). The first contact I had with the mortgage officer was calling her on her cell at something like 10 pm at night (she told my wife earlier in the afternoon that would be OK, but I was still floored by that). She talked us through the paperwork, and we had a deal in the works within 2 hours. No hidden fees from her (though the escrow service guys are a slightly shadier side of the business).

Closing was about 3 months ago. Last month we got a letter informing us the loan had been sold to Fannie Mae.

We didn't go with B of A as they were a total PITA to deal with. They clearly didn't seem interested in doing business with me, despite the fact that I've had a banking account with them since highschool and we have a solid FICO. Their rates were about 0.5% higher, so we didn't sweat it. My sister purchased a place last month, used B of A, and they were terribly inefficient. One example: "we forgot to wire out your money to the escrow people today, so you'll have to wait until Monday for closing."

[wolf76]

Hate to be the odd man out but I have mine with Chase and have had no bad experiences with them. They had our mortgage before and when we bought this house we went them as well. We just refied with them last year into a 15 year. We do all our banking with them and the experience has been positive. They are obviously different than a small bank or credit union but the staff at the local branch has always been nice. Just my .02

Chris

[jluetjen]

Wells Fargo. Apparently they don't sell their mortgages either.

[Rick Lee]

Chase serviced one of mine years ago. If you want to get someone's attention and are trying to refi, call in and use the phone prompt to ask for a payoff. They'll get right back to you and ask if you want to refi with them.

[elwood-914]

Country Wide was taken over by BofA, you think I'm happy?

[onewhippedpuppy]

Small central KS bank. If I ever have a problem, I call the bank president who knows me by name. They don't sell their loans, so no worries there. The rates were pretty good, and a refi to a lower rate last year only cost me $800.

[john70t]

I don't believe in eventually paying a bank 3 (three) times the sales price, unless it's tax advantageous.
I paid cash for both my properties.

If I was to get a loan, it would be from a local credit union, or a group I'd feel good about supporting.

[Noah930]

Originally Posted by john70t

I don't believe in eventually paying a bank 3 (three) times the sales price, unless it's tax advantageous.
I paid cash for both my properties.

Well, unless you make a seven-figure income, that's not a very realistic plan in the Los Angeles area. At least not anywhere you would want your family to live.

[Nostril Cheese]

VERY unhappy with Chase

[john70t]

Condo's are still semi-affordable, and/or rent from a family members "business". There are ways of not paying a bank 3 times the sale price and still retaining tax-deductability.

Real estate has been akin to speculative gambling this last decade IMO.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by john70t

Condo's are still semi-affordable, and/or rent from a family members "business". There are ways of not paying a bank 3 times the sale price and still retaining tax-deductability.

Real estate has been akin to speculative gambling this last decade IMO.

Kudos to you, but that's not very realistic. In stable markets like mine, renting really doesn't make much sense over the long term. Why make a similar monthly payment to pay someone else's mortgage? I have a nice family home for the same monthly payment as a rental condo, and that's with a 20 year fixed mortgage.

[MT930]

Wells Fargo after 2 sales in 3 years

They are great as long as I keep paying my mortgage.

[aigel]

Two words:

Credit Union.

George

[Phat Euro Cab]

Wells Fargo is owned by the devil. After having two different mortgages bought by them (years apart) from the small banks I started with, I am sure of it.