choose/getting a mortgage broker?

[markusk]

We are actively looking for a home purchase in the SF Bay area. My realtor, my coworker and my Bank are all recommending their own brokers.

Do you think it is a good idea to inquire about loans from each? It couldn't hurt, right? Am I correct to assume that they will each do a "hard" search on our credit? Any reason NOT to inquire with mutliple brokers?

Thanks in advance.

[Brokemofo]

If you are going to inquire with multiple banks/brokers do it in say in a two week period. This will have a limited hit on your scores because why should they penalize you for shopping rates. Also, Lendingtree can be a useful tool.

[simpleyme]

yes,shop for the best deal lowest fees like was mentioned try to do it in a short period of time if possible
we shopped for months and it did not hurt us ,our score was strong to begin with

we went with small banks with loan officers we only dealt with one broker and we did not like it at all

[GrimJack]

We plan on having our S&L or CU carry our paper - that way we know who has our mortgage and it does not change

[safari]

We plan on having our S&L or CU carry our paper - that way we know who has our mortgage and it does not change

I am just curious why do you care what bank has your mortgage? Once you get a mortgage, its terms won't change if that mortgage gets resold to a different bank. I refinanced my house with E*Trade 5 years ago and got a great rate. In two months after closing, E*Trade sold my mortgage to Wells Fargo Bank, and the only difference is that I am now sending my payments to Wells Fargo instead of E*Trade. You should always look for the best rate available instead of focusing on a specific bank.

[simpleyme]

I care who carries my mortgage as I do not do business with citibank
but my bank kept my loan if you are a good risk and go with a local bank they keep you in house ,I can make my payments in person or deliver it on the day its due if I ever needed to
I also have my own loan officer if I have any questions I get to talk to the same person everytime

the bank is Umpqua Bank it is only in Oregon

but I would have to agree I would take the better loan rate over local if i had to but my local loan offed the best rate

[Brokemofo]

I care who carries my mortgage as I do not do business with citibank

Funny, Citibank will probably buy your bank soon.

[simpleyme]

Funny, Citibank will probably buy your bank soon.

you know it

they bought almost all my cards and I had to move investments after they bought smith barney

[GrimJack]

I am just curious why do you care what bank has your mortgage? Once you get a mortgage, its terms won't change if that mortgage gets resold to a different bank. I refinanced my house with E*Trade 5 years ago and got a great rate. In two months after closing, E*Trade sold my mortgage to Wells Fargo Bank, and the only difference is that I am now sending my payments to Wells Fargo instead of E*Trade. You should always look for the best rate available instead of focusing on a specific bank.

One of the (bigger?) scams is for mortgages to be sold and re-sold until you don't know who owns it and then suddenly your payments are processed late and you get late fees, then maybe they don't keep the escrow account correctly funded and there are more fees. I have never purchased a house myself but this seems to be a major complaint. If this is not really a problem, or there is a way to get around it, then 'never mind'.

[Brokemofo]

One of the (bigger?) scams is for mortgages to be sold and re-sold until you don't know who owns it and then suddenly your payments are processed late and you get late fees, then maybe they don't keep the escrow account correctly funded and there are more fees. I have never purchased a house myself but this seems to be a major complaint. If this is not really a problem, or there is a way to get around it, then 'never mind'.

What you describe can happen with payments or escrows getting messed up in a transition, but I wouldn't call it a "scam." No reputable institution is going to try to create that kind of a nightmare for its clients just to reap the benefit of some late fees.

[GrimJack]

What you describe can happen with payments or escrows getting messed up in a transition, but I wouldn't call it a "scam." No reputable institution is going to try to create that kind of a nightmare for its clients just to reap the benefit of some late fees.

Yeah, and no reputable bank would think of charging late fees, overdraft fees, transaction fees, atm fees, teller fees, etc. The major source of income for banks now are fees; banks own mortgage companies - Washington Mutual was just taken down for a wide range of shoddy, shady, creepy mortgage scams (they were slammed and their stock dropped from $50 per share to pennies).

[Brokemofo]

Yeah, and no reputable bank would think of charging late fees, overdraft fees, transaction fees, atm fees, teller fees, etc. The major source of income for banks now are fees; banks own mortgage companies - Washington Mutual was just taken down for a wide range of shoddy, shady, creepy mortgage scams (they were slammed and their stock dropped from $50 per share to pennies).

Well, it's obvious you don't like banks eh? What, should a bank do when its clients bounce checks, pay mortgages late, etc? We are not victims.

[GrimJack]

Hmmm, I remember back when I forgot to get check-protection (a line of credit specifically to cover my checking account) - the company I worked for did not direct deposit my check on time and, over that weekend, I racked up $300 in bounced check fees:
I bought a loaf of bread and some cheese on my debit card for $7.00 - fee - $40; my rent check bounced, several other checks bounced; more food purchases. All the transactions were processed not according to when the check came or the transaction occurred but from the largest to the smallest. The rent check bounced first and took $40 with it. If the bank had run the transactions through based on time, I wold have taken a hit of about $100, if the bank had run the transactions through from smallest to largest, I would have taken only a $40 hit.

I do not hate or dislike banks, in fact I am a banker's brat; my dad worked for/ran banks in rural Montana. I am glad that you have not had problems with your bank and consider them paragons of virtue (and to be honest, my dad was actually pretty damned honest and managed to keep his integrity right up through retirement - but that is small town banking for you).

You stated that reputable mortgage companies would not pull such scams and I brought up WaMu WaMu investigation. You then stated I don't like banks. I was originally asked why I worried about who carried my paper and I explained my position about removing one worry about mortgages. Big, fancy banks and mortgage companies can and do manipulate processes to their favor including getting every fee that they can tack on

[Brokemofo]

GrimJack,

Thanks for the link about WAMU. I wasn't aware of the lawsuit.

Like you I have encountered fees from banks that I felt unjust, and like you it was my fault I didn't have overdraft protection. Luckily, it was from a bank like your Father must of worked at because a simple talk with the teller, and all charges were reversed. I agree with you about small town banks, but not about banks being "paragons of virtue." In fact, I'm trying really hard not to hate the bank that just laid me and thousands of others like me off. I think not only banks but also any big companies lose control of how to take care of their customers properly. Big corporatons are just not set up properly to deal with some customers issues properly.