Mortgage Broker

For coops the closing are mainly lien search, attorney fees, bank fees ($800-$1000), and appraisal ($395-$595 depending on your purchase price). The biggest closing cost you avoid in purchasing a coop is mortgage tax. Make sure you look into the coop's financials and that they are approved by the bank. sunny_hong@countrywide.com

Manhattan Mortgage gets good buzz. But I'd also recommend checking Wachovia and Wells Fargo. There may well be other lenders but I've recently had contact with these. If your credit is excellent and you are a financially sound bet, you may do better than going through a broker. Also, if you have access to any special programs via work, friends, family, etc check them out. "Wealth Management" departments or whatever a particular lender calls its more private banking arm can come up with rates slightly better than those otherwise being offered. Note, the costs you incur in obtaining the mortgage vary widely between lenders. One may not charge you at all for an assessor's fee or credit checks while some will nickel and dime you to death. Difficult to predict.

kylewest, good advice.

really depends on your needs for the mortgage, if you require an FHA or conforming loan then its pretty standard across the board. However, if your loan is complicated or above current conforming guidelines, then you should use a pro that specializes in that niche. sorry if that is a vague answer but the question needs to be more specific.

I'm a big fan of Matthew Wahler at WCS Lending, mwahler {at} wcslending {dot} com. He is very good about explaining how the business and pricing work. I would also recommend spending $15 on Carolyn Warren's book, "Mortgage Ripoffs and Money Savers." She used to work inside the industry, so she walks a consumer through all the angles and shows you what questions to ask.

I give it to all my buyer clients.

ali r.
{downtown broker}

Stay away from Manhattan Mortgage they don't know jack, lie to their clients and change fees at closing. It's amazing that such a large company has such a good reputation when they are truly bad.

Im not a disgruntled employee just have feedback from past their past clients.

I recommend Guardhill. Best in Manhattan.

You take your chances with anyone. I shopped around to Citi, Chase, Wells, and a few others and ended up going with Manhattan Mortgage because I got the lowest rate by over a quarter-point. However, there has been mistake after mistake that I am lucky I caught, but which have caused delays and cost me in fees to extend my interest rate lock. I am arguing to have them forget some fees, but at this point they have all the power since they make you sign an agreement that you will get your mortgage through them.

Whoever you go with, stay on top of the process and check each and every form they send you to make sure it's right.