Good is subjective. What is your focus?...rates?...service?

My suggestion is to avoid a broker and go to a direct lender. There's no need to pay the mark-up of a middleman.

I have known and worked with Ray Lamberti at Wells Fargo (732-933-5624) for close to 15 years. Many/most of my clients work with him. From a "put your money where your mouth is" perspective, he's handled 3 or 4 of my personal mortgages.

He's experienced, honest and provides fantastic service. As a direct lender, you're not paying any middleman mark-ups.

Links:

• http://www.apollowealth.com

posted July 19, 2007

Chris,
I'd be happy to put you in touch with our lending specialist. CitiMortgage are very competeive in the marketplace. I also suggest you speak with a few lenders and get a sense of service, rates, etc. If you'd like to speak with me, visit my web site below and give me a call on my 800 number.

Links:

• http://fa.smithbarney.com/abrams

posted July 19, 2007

For standard mortgages, cutting out the middleman and going direct to the lenders will probably get you a better rate. If you have a lot of accounts with a certain institution, your relationship manager often has access to certain funds to buy down your loan to a better rate. Just showing them a good faith estimate from another lender will often be enough to get them to lower the rates too.

But when you don't have time to do the research, a good broker will do your comparison shopping for you. When your situation is a little outside the standard application, brokers can be very knowledgeable about how best to structure the loans and which lenders to go to.

For those of you in California, I highly recommend Bill Brown at Sierra Mountain Mortgage in the Truckee/Tahoe area.
(530) 587-3277
He was incredibly helpful on my initial purchase, then in subsequent purchases, he has told me when I would be better off going direct...a real stand up guy.

Links:

• http://www.sierramountainmortgage.com

posted July 19, 2007

Joanna Yu of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage in Los Altos is awesome. She is competitive and fast, and has the industry recognition to show for it. Not sure if she operates in your area though.

posted July 21, 2007

I would suggest speaking with Marsh Sutherland, in my network. Even if he's not still in the industry he'll know who to talk to.

Joshua H also suggests this expert on this topic:

• Marsh C

posted July 19, 2007

Mark Lachtman 415.485.1080 x11

posted July 19, 2007

Chris, I can recommend Tom Cortesi with First Financial.

Links:

• http://www.fcff.net/la/tcortesi.html

posted July 20, 2007

While some have said to skip the middle man and go for a direct lender they failed to mention one thing which is choice. First, most direct lenders are selling you what they call "retail pricing" and while it is fair market value it is comparable to what a broker buys at "wholesale" and marks-up to a retail price.

No matter what the industry there are direct sellers and there are brokers. A direct seller may sell you a 10 lb widget when you only need a 9.5 lb widget, because that is all they have. The broker who has access to many sellers can find you exactly what you need.

Before you decided you should know what you want to accomplish. Then interview lenders and brokers to see who can get you exactly what you need, not sell you what they have!

You have to be comfortable with the person and trust your decision, so some homework and get exactly what you want!

posted July 20, 2007

It is ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLE to advertise that you have the lowest rate...at least truthfully!

For example:

Google "lowest mortgage rates" Q. What do you see? 636,000 hits

Now Google "lowest mortgage rates California" Q. How many hits now? 74,700 Does that sound a little better?

Now let's call each of these 74,700 lenders and verify the terms of their mortgage. That's a lot of phone calls! Mathematically you have 1 in 74,700 chances of correctly finding the LOWEST RATE! What about the other 74,699 lenders? FALSE ADVERTISERS, a.k.a. bait and switch lenders.

The money always comes from the same place...WALL STREET! From the opening bell to the closing bell, and especially in today's volatile market, you don't think interest rates are going to change? At most you'll speak to 10 lenders in one day and that's if they're kind enough to answer your call or return your call right away. In short, work with someone who understands the Mortgage Bond market and can effectively understand what rates are doing in the day-to-day. For example, take a look at this week's Economic Calendar and you'll see we're in for quite a few reports.

So, if you searching for the lowest rate, I'm sure you'll find that it's an impossibility. Now I'm going to do you one better! Let's forget all of the false promises of lowest rate and cheapest program...no salesman talk...instead, how about simple home financing from a financial planning perspective. Interview your lenders...and gauge who really has your interests at heart and am sure you can catch which one is simply trying to cash in a paycheck.

And while you're interviewing, if a lender is not for you, they'll appreciate the feedback.

I wish you the best of luck on your home loan search. In fact, in a shameless attempt at self-promotion, visit my wesite at: www.RicardoBueno.com There's a lot of resourceful information in reference to the home financing process. Or give me a call, I'd love to help. 866.934.3444

And visit www.ActiveRain.com for a large list of additional lenders.

Best,
Ricardo Bueno
WILSHIRE FINANCIAL, INC.
230 E. Union Street | Suite 200 | Pasadena, CA 91101

Links:

• http://www.ricardobueno.com
• http://www.activerain.com

posted July 23, 2007

I am a good Mortgage Broker.

The more important question is where you need one and for what type of transaction. We are all "specialists" by niches we serve, lenders we use, and even the type of borrowers we work with best.

I am in Florida. I have contacts around the country as well that I'd be happy to suggest.

Another issue brought up here is Direct Lender vs Broker.

The big difference is that Direct Lender, aka Retail, does not have the ability to have the broad scope of programs available to them as a Broker, aka Wholesale. Retail also denotes overhead costs, salaries etc that go into the loan costs. Wholesale means that the broker shops programs at many different lenders and brings the best offer to the table...they then sell it at a "retail"-esque rate meaning either with a mark up on the rate to cover their fees or by charging points or some combination of both.

Typically a Broker can beat a direct lender on rates and fees ... PLUS ... state laws regulate Brokers to disclose everything - and all fees - up front before a loan is submitted.

Links:

• http://themortgagegotoguy.blogspot.com

posted July 24, 2007

I am a loan officer in the state of illinois so right there you see I am not up to selling you anything.

I believe you should work with a broker - but one you trust. Look at your network and find anyone. Right now mortgage brokers would do anything to get your business as the market is very slow.

In regards to who has a better rate...who cares, if you find a broker you trust and all he has is 0.125% higher than the guy you don't trust, so what? Piece of mind is very important too.

Can you spell YSP? Be aware of it and always ask what is the PAR price on a loan. There are several ways that a broker can get money out of a deal. Ask for a GFE and TILA disclosures.

Hope this helps.

posted July 24, 2007

Scott is great. But I believe you need to specify a location you're interested in first.

posted July 25, 2007