Wells Fargo vs TD Bank - advice?

I vote wells fargo. Fantastic service. Loan modification is for those who are underwater. I hope you don't expect to be in that situation.

Wells all day long.

Despite its roots as Commerce, TD has thrown good customer service out the window. If you want can provide specifics, but basically when Chase nickel and dimes me I call them, they look at the value of my account, and they take the fees off and apologize. TD would tell me to go pound sand.

Wells Fargo is huge on customer history and always has been. Even in riskier areas of lending, they evaluate the borrower first and foremost and then the security. If you have favorable history with them it's like having a 4th credit score that is super high that only they can see. TD is slightly less huge and much less consistent; who knows what they will be up to a few years.

Mortgage Broker here with over twenty years in the business.

Until last September, I closed loans with Wells Fargo. ( I also closed loans with other banks). Wells stopped working with mortgage brokers last September. I therefore developed relationships with other banks that proved just as good if not better than Wells in certain instances.

You can feel free to call me or email me. Using a good mortgage broker has its advantages. You get personalized service and a mortgage broker can submit your loan to several different banks.

Ellen Silverman
E.S. Funding Co.
Licensed Mortgage Broker (since 1990)
Licensed Real Estate Broker (since 1987)
www.esfunding.instantlender.com
Tel:212-786-9682
NMLS#60631

ggman and nycfund, it would be helpful if you posted the names of the officers you worked happily with at Wells.

My own experience, early on in the process, was a total dropped ball on promised info, and unreturned phone calls. This was shortly after the switch to in-house that Ellen described here, so maybe they were overwhelmed at Wells. But still.

Additionally, the loan officer was based in a suburb, and my dealings at the early stages would have been much easier face-to-face at her (more local) office. Do loan officers/brokers still make house calls? My first ever mortgage were done that way, at MY office.

I have no experience whatsoever with TD, so I'm not saying they'd be better.

Wells all the way. TD wouldn't even make the kind of mortgage I was looking for, which is hardly an esoteric one for this region.

We just closed a second mortgage with Wells Fargo and the customer service was much better than we got with Citibank where we were also closing a second mortgage (and seeking satisfactions for both).

The other experience I've had is when a client needed a mortgage and she went with Wells Fargo, which for reasons unknown couldn't obtain a view of the master insurance policy on the building and therefore could not give us clearance to close. Wells was cooperative and I was able to work with them and building management directly to obtain the right documents, thereby keeping us on schedule to close.

So in my experience Wells Fargo has been that they are flexible and sensible.

Some of the best mortgage deals (and consummate customer service) you'll find at CREDIT UNIONS, rather than banks.

If you have the assets to be affiliated with a private bank like JPMorgan or BNY Mellon, that's probably the best deal.

Next would be credit unions.

I'd use regular retail banks as a last resort.

I have considered JPMorgan too but their requirements seem to be very strict especially with new development. I've also heard horror stories, even from my own parents about their experience with Chase.

@ggman, I'm not at all worried about being underwater. I'm glad the new lawsuit will not affect me because I really like their mortgage offer.

How's your experience with Wells Fargo as far as closing on the actual closing date? Have you had problems with delays?

Have you tried a small bank like Astoria Federal? Their rate can be about 0.25% lower.

I used H.O.M.E. Mortgage Bankers when I bought my condo in 2011. They are linked to many new developments around the City. H.O.M.E. is a mortgage banker/direct lender. They sold my mortgage to Wells Fargo who I have had no issues. This year I decided to re-finance and contacted Wells Fargo to continue our relationship. My Mortgage Consultant was from Iowa and my Loan Specialist (middle name is "Red Cloud") was from Minnesota. Although they were extremely friendly and courteous, after a few preliminary calls, it quickly became apparent that I was a number being managed by individiuals following a script. My loan "specialist" could not even tell me how they came up with the loan amount without arranging a conference call with my Mortgage Consultant. I realized I prefer a local team who knows NY, is available 7 days a week, has a sense of urgency, and can do a bit of handholding. I returned to H.O.M.E. and have been completely satisfied with the personal service.

Wells Fargo for our past 3 finances/refis with no issues. Try Mitchell Steinberg at steinbergmortgage.com (his Wells entry point) .
Great service and no glitches. Even made it possible to refi from out of state at my local bank for just notary services for free.

Assuming everything is in placed, and selling agent have all the required paperwork for the bank. What is the shortest time you think to close?

We used TD for our mortgage and they had far, far better pricing than Wells. Also, much better pricing than Astoria Federal. Between these two, I'd shop on price, but avoid banks that do not know how to close, a category I would put Bank of America into. Your relationship with the bank after closing will largely consist of mailing checks to them.

https://www.google.com/search?q=schneiderman+sues+again&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&client=safari

http://www.foxbusiness.com/government/2013/05/06/ny-ag-sues-bofa-wells-fargo-over-mortgage-deal-violations/

streetsmart
Yeah that's for loan modifications. I hate all the big banks but 339 cases between the 2 banks who have probably done 50,000 loan modifications in that same time is not a big deal.

Wells Fargo is def the most aggresive in seeking mortgage business.

I suggest getting 2 quotes;
One from the main bank most of your assets are with and/or you have a relationship with.
Second, a mortgage broker soliciting everyone except your main bank. You let each know they are bidding against each other.

With rate sheets changing constantly, and app fees, and binding commitment and rate lock not occurring until until way down the line, comparing deals can be frustrating.

Is there any rationalized basis for comparing same-product deals from different lenders (i.e. index + x.yy percent)?

I'm always sort of amazed that brokers/officers have to get their sliderules out and manually squish the numbers from their ratesheets every time you talk to them.

@mucuk
Its typically the person working on the file not the Bank that is the reason that deals dont close. Most people dont know what they are doing in the mortgage business and are afraid to ask for everything up front, so files aren't handled correctly. Hence what you said.

We are aggressively working on purchase loans and have revamped our whole process to make the purchase loan the priority in our operation centers. If you work with someone that is good at the job and has a strong support team, you would be suprised at what we can do.

You compare pricing between lenders by fixing one of the variables constant (i.e., the interest rate) and asking for the total dollar cost including points and fees of doing the loan.

Bank of America very much wants to be aggressive on purchase loans, which is a recent abrupt about-face from wanting to exit mortgage origination entirely. The problem is that the loans are processed by incompetent people who are not incentivized to close. For example, loans are processed by specific individual people, so if your guy goes on vacation for a week, your loan is put on the shelf. And don't expect the guy on the west coast dealing with your file to know the difference between a co-op, a condo, and a house in Indiana.

I think if you want to get out of a deal by triggering a mortgage contingency, applying at Bank of America would be a great way to do that.

One nice thing about TD is that they will actually give you a quote on their website. My experience in life is that people who have good pricing want you to know their pricing. People who have bad pricing hide it.

@BillyRes,

I just got quote from H.O.M.E Mortgage Bankers. Their fee is not cheap, isn't it?

stevelee21: WF provided a good faith estimate and also a high level summary of the closing costs (estimates of course)and fees. WF's fees were higher than H.O.M.E (e.g., appraisal fee at WF was $675, H.O.M.E. is $400). Challenge them - let them know what you're getting from others and they should be able to match. They're a direct lender and have some flexibility. They're the preferred lender for many developments around the City (e.g., 345 Meatpacking,Soho Mews, Rushmore, others). David Schlansky is my broker. Contact him. david@myHOMEbanker.com. As I mentioned in my post, I really appreciated that they were local, a smaller shop, and was available to answer many questions I had for my initial loan and now refinancing (typically got responses to my inquires within 30 minutes even on weekends). Good luck.

thanks, @billRes.

my origination fee from H.O.M.E is 2K though. my current lowest rates are from tdbank & citi.

"Some of the best mortgage deals (and consummate customer service) you'll find at CREDIT UNIONS, rather than banks."

This is absolutely right. Astoria Federal is a great example.

"Loan modification is for those who are underwater. I hope you don't expect to be in that situation"

Not true. Astoria Federal did loan mods up to this fall to anyone that asked (they actually encouraged their best customers to do it). $500 got you a float down to the latest rate without a term change.

Some of the best mortgage deals (and consummate customer service) you'll find at CREDIT UNIONS, rather than banks
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I like credit unions, as an alternative to the big banks, but as the following shows, it aint necessarily so
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Credit unions have been raising overdraft fees on ATM withdrawals, checks and debit card purchases at a faster pace than banks to offset a decline in consumers overdrawing their accounts, research firm Moebs Services said in a report to be released Tuesday.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/credit-unions-raising-overdraft-fees-faster-than-banks-report-says/2013/07/08/e2a644d6-e762-11e2-8f22-de4bd2a2bd39_story.html

"Some of the best mortgage deals (and consummate customer service) you'll find at CREDIT UNIONS, rather than banks."

I wholeheartedly agree.

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"Credit unions have been raising overdraft fees on ATM withdrawals, checks and debit card purchases at a faster pace than banks to offset a decline in consumers overdrawing their accounts"

Interesting.

Does this mean that the average credit union depositor is more responsible than the average bank customer?

if not too late try MATT HESS patriot financial, we got sic of TD dragged for a month and someone recommended Matt, Solid company , smart and fast.