Which bank for a mortgage?

I am considering getting a condo and was debating on which bank to use. I am waiting on Navy Federal but don't think they will give me higher than a 41% back end ratio. I need a 45% back end to get a place in a decent area. I am pretty paranoid about using one of the big banks but wanted to know if anybody out there had experience with them like Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Chase. Most of the condo's I am considering seem to be short sales.

 

Have you talked to USAA?

 

Dang..if you were in jersey i could hook ya up

 

Considering it. Any idea how long it would take for a pre-approval from them?

 

Bank of Montreal

 

When I bought my house, just used the bank the realtor recommended.

Check with your friends/co-workers and see who they have used.

 

I am in the process of buying a house right now, and I am using USAA. The preapproval was easy, you can do it online and have any answer within minutes.

 

I concur. My pre-approval with USAA literally took less than 10 minutes. One thing to take note of with them, if you do finance through USAA, don't expect the loan to stay with them. By the time mine was final, it was owned by US Bank. My buddy did a refi at the same time through USAA and his ended up at GMAC/Ally. Seems they were doing nothing more than acting as a clearinghouse rather than an actual loaning agency.

 

Have you considered using www.lendingtree.com ? I have refinanced with them 3 times. The first 2 times went thru Bank of Kansas City then the last time (March 2012) went thru Lending Tree. Before closing they did punt me to Wells Fargo. The process with them is extremely painless.....

 

How long is the ammortization on a typical US mortgage ?

 

Most banks sell their mortgages. Mine ended up with US Bank as well.

 

I bought my house with USAA, per-approval was easy and fast. The seller's realtor saw I was with USAA and told the seller not to let me get away. My realtor said it was the smoothest process he had ever seen.

 

The mortgage company I work for has a branch in San Diego but we can lend in all states.

I'll PM you the e-mail address for the Branch Manager there. Tell her I sent you and be sure to reply with your name so I can let her know you'll be contacting her.

Fink

 

I think they are measured in generations not years...

 

No I had not but. Always thought of them as lending to people with bad credit, bankruptcy, etc.

 

Thanks

What's an average rate for the 30 years ?

 

Pretty decent at the moment.... just looked and got 3.99%

 

Thanks to you both

I find the US system of mortgages facinating as it is so different from here .

In Canada the maximum ammortization is 25 years and your payment of that is broken up into terms of generally 1-5 years , 7 and 10 years being rare

 

That's really how it should be done.

The others are right about going with the 15 year Notes - much smarter in the long run.

Fink

 

I locked in at 3.69% for 5 years in 2009 when I bought my condo. in 2014 when the term is up for renewal I can either lock in for another 1-5 years at whatever rate they offer or go with variable rate.