Mortgage- Banks, Credit Unions, Companies ---Recommendations please

[mickey'sbud]

Helping someone with as a first time home purchase.
Currently looking at Navy Federal Credit Union because as a member you don't pay PMI on any of their loans even if you are not getting a VA loan or a Veteran.
Anyone have any experience with Navy Fed?
Who do you recommend?
Thanks in advance!!

 

[tvguy]

Never heard of Navy Fed. We always used a Mortgage Broker who did all the work matching us to a lender with the best terms and things we wanted. When we refinanced our first mortgage......WITH THE SAME LENDER 4 years later......the loan officer had never heard of the terms we got with our first mortgage. He said "we don't write those kind of loan terms". Then he pulled our loan papers and was shocked at the great terms the Mortgage broker got for us.

 

[Judique]

Helping someone with as a first time home purchase.
Currently looking at Navy Federal Credit Union because as a member you don't pay PMI on any of their loans even if you are not getting a VA loan or a Veteran.
Anyone have any experience with Navy Fed?
Who do you recommend?
Thanks in advance!!

Navy fed mortgage here, and I've had a total of 5 mortgages on different homes. I'm sold on Navy Fed.

 

[_19disnA]

There are so many companies who offer mortgages it is like buying a commodity. Look the lowest TOTAL cost (fees, points, etc.), not just the lowest interest rate. Avoid a variable rate mortgage since rates will likely be rising in the future. We have purchased several homes over the years and never really noticed any difference in quality/service among those offering a mortgage. Have no experience with Navy Fed, so can't help there.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

There are so many companies who offer mortgages it is like buying a commodity. Look the lowest TOTAL cost (fees, points, etc.), not just the lowest interest rate. Avoid a variable rate mortgage since rates will likely be rising in the future. We have purchased several homes over the years and never really noticed any difference in quality/service among those offering a mortgage. Have no experience with Navy Fed, so can't help there.

This is a good point. Also, mortgage lenders sell mortgages to other banks so the one you start with may not be the same bank you end with. We're on our 2nd home and both times our mortgage was transferred multiple times and eventually to Chase. For us it's convenient anyway since we have Chase credit cards so we can see both with one log in.
For some reason, Chase has never transferred us to another bank.

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

We used Navy Federal many years ago but for the past 15 years have used various companies based upon the rate/points/closing cost numbers.

We just refinanced about 2 weeks ago again. The last "go round" was in 2016.

Using a mortgage broker, as mentioned by someone here, is also a strategy we have used over the years.

There is no slam dunk.......do extensive research.............btw-during one move, years ago, we chose not to use NFCU because they were notoriously slow in processing loans. At the time the market was fast moving and our agent (in the Wash DC area) said not to use them as it was a slow process...........things may be different now.

 

[mikehn]

Navy federal matches just about any offer, keep that in mind. If they dont require PMI on conventional loans, thats pretty much hard to beat. I dont know of any lender that will waive PMI on a conventional loan.

 

[winterwhite]

If you are planning on a low down payment read the fine print on Navy’s terms. PMI can be dropped but a higher interest rate to cover the lender paid PMI would need to be refinanced - if you even can get a more favorable rate in the future.

To clarify what I mean, the lowest interest rate available for the homebuyer's choice is 4.125%, when a 30 year conventional which would have PMI associated is 2.75%. That rate difference of 1.375% is equal to or in some cases exceeds the PMI premium, and you are obligated for the full term of the loan, versus PMI which drops at 75 or 80% LTV. Especially since the market is high right now, you may have negative equity in the future, so that is a problem you'll also want to consider in this.

$250,000 home, 30 yr conventional at 2.75%, 5% down, with PMI:

Mortgage	PMI	Total Payment	Interest Paid in first 5 yrs	Total PMI in 5 years	Principal balance after 5 years
$970	$99	$1069	$30,852	$5940	$210,178

$250,000 home, 30yr conventional at 4.125%, 5% down, no PMI:

Mortgage	PMI	Total Payment	Interest Paid in first 5 yrs	Principal Balance after 5 years
$1,151	$0	$1,151	$46,806	$215,244

The no PMI loan costs $10,014 more in interest over 5 years, even after the cost of PMI. That's with the same 5% down payment.