Preferred Empire Mortgage

Bump - been wondering about these guys too..

Misc, what kind of rates/loans are you getting offered from them at the moment?

Just got a mortgage with them and they were fantastic. Fast, thorough and very pleasant.

I am working with them now and closing next week. So far they've been great. They got me an excellent rate and offer a more personal experience than a bank. I'll let everybody know that closing went smoothly next week. So far everything looks like its being handled very professionally.

Everybody and anybody I've spoken to has told me not to use Countrywide and that if I do, I need to have a backup plan.

call wells or indymac.....dont bother with brokers...and countrywide

why not countrywide ?

I work for CW and we have no problems whatsoever. Preferred Empire sells most of their mortgages to CW and brokers to them. So do most mortgage brokers. CW is the biggest mortgage company in the US and only bad news sells so we have a target on backs.

b

Preferred just closed my loan thru Chase. Closing went smoothly w/ no surprises and preferred's processors were very helpful. Their GFE was within a few hundred bucks. I'd use them again over a bank.

What were the fees? Why wouldn't you go directly to the bank?

Appraisal - 400
Application - 300
Processing - 300
Credit Report - 20

That was for fees I paid to preferred. I liked using them because they locked me in several times with several banks and got me the best rate. I compared against straight bank loans including wells fargo and it was definitely lower. Also, they were good with going to the banks that would lend on my particular project since it was new construction and not warrantable at the time.

Thanks for sharing your fee info ladidadi. Do you mind sharing how much he charged for his commission? I think typical would be 1pt of loan amount.

Thanks!

You have to be very careful with mortgage brokers. You have no idea what commission the bank will pay the broker. If the broker is slick, he will charge you a higher rate and pocket a large fee, i.e. more than the 1 point. I found this out when I review some closing documents. My mortgage broker took 1.5% from the bank, which means I paid a higher rate. This is before the subprime mess. Most banks now are charging higher cost to brokers or not even dealing with brokers. If you have good credit, I would go to a bank directly. You still need to check around, but most banks don't rip off their banking customers. Brokers see this as a one off opportunity, and will screw up if possible.

I used to work on the broker end of the mortgage business and either you upsell the rate and get paid from the bank you are sending it to or they charge you upfront fees. At the bank, its par rate and the loan officer gets paid based off loan amount. Anywhere from .40-.65% At the bank, we are volume based and mortgage brokers brag about how much commission they got off a certain transaction.

Shouldn't the yield spread being charged by the broker show up on a GFE? I'm fairly certain that's a legal requirement.

Just because the broker is getting paid doesn't mean you'd necessarily be able to get the same rate on your own. It seems reasonable to chat with a broker and some retail options to figure out where you can get the best rates for your particular situation.

ladidadi123, is there any one in particular you worked with at preffered ?

has anyone wokred with hsbc ?

also has anyoneheard of the the llyods of london mortgages package, you have to put at least 25 to 30 % but the rates are very very low, it dpends on teh value of the dollar to the euro ( if you pay 25 % ) and they give you abasket of curriens if you pay 30 % down.

so with todayscurrecny exchange the interst is 3.8 %..you pay it also quartley not monthy... advice please

blingbling, I cant recall the ysp but ill look tonight and tell you tomorrow.

sfo, i worked with a guy named fred ashe over there.

I have been talking with Preferred Empire the last few months and the woman I have been working with is extremely friendly, helpful and responds very quickly. She quoted me the following fees:

Appraisal - 325
Application - 350
Processing - 330
Credit Report - 15
Commitment Fee - 600

My building is a new development and the closing date of course gets pushed back every couple of months. Currently our closing date is the end of August, so my question is when should I apply for the mortgage? I am still shopping around between brokers and banks but need to know when I should apply for the loan and lock in my rate. Does that process happen within a month or more or less? I need to know when to time it so when I lock in my rate (assuming the closing date will still be the end of August) that it will not go over the lock in time period.
This is my first time buying a home so any advice would be helpful!

lanaloonyu, you should ask PE to walk you through the recommended process for this scenario. They will probably give you two options:
1. Lock now with an extended lock period - this will cost you points to hold todays good rates but they should also inform you of how to figure out if its worth it or not.
2. Wait until your 60 days from confirmed closing - you risk rates going up a bit but you wont pay the points to extend lock in.

Its tricky and its a gamble really.. no broker or bank can change that. I was lucky in that my new development was complete when I went into contract and the closing dates were very firm (less than 2 months) at that point. I can see where it would become stressful thinking about an unknown/changing closing date.

Another good thing about preferred is that they'll know all the banks that will lend on your specific new dev due to things like warrantable vs non-warrantable, owner occupany %, etc etc. Some banks will not lend on some new devs depending on these things and some of the banks I looked at were not very good about clarifying this up front. I thought I had a commitment directly from BOA long before this only to find out when I started really prying into the details that they actually wouldnt lend on my new dev project!!

Good luck

Sfo: RE london mortgages package: I would be very iterested to see what this is all about - do you have a website? I'm a little skeptical since NYC real estate market is a whole different ball game.