If you want the best rate, go to a mortgage broker. This was more than 5 years ago so maybe things have changed, but we got an offer from a mortgage broker which we then took to USAA and they matched it. We've had a couple of mortgages with USAA that went very smoothly. OTOH we recently got a construction to permanent loan with George Mason Mortgage which was a big mess - documents lost, extra fees put on the HUD-1 at the last minute - it all was fine in the end, but only after raising a huge fuss.

Got a car loan through Pen Fed. Super easy to work with except that the location is a pain if I ever need to go in there. Otherwise I was very happy with them.

I'm going through a PenFed purchase right now. It's been very smooth with a great rate. Seller asked for 30 closing and PenFed has been on top of it.

Anonymous wrote:Find a smaller bank that can everything IN HOUSE. The big banks are terrible for customer service and getting things done on time - plus nothing but trouble for things like appraisals, etc., where you need a connection to a local person who knows our market.

Not my experience. I've worked with Citibank on three different loans now -- two HELs and one mortgage -- and they've always been great. I think it depends on the person at the bank who's shepherding your paperwork. If she's good, you'll be fine. And you get good people and bad people at any bank, so small and local is no guarantee of quality.

Anonymous wrote:Find a smaller bank that can everything IN HOUSE. The big banks are terrible for customer service and getting things done on time - plus nothing but trouble for things like appraisals, etc., where you need a connection to a local person who knows our market.

Poster that said they both suck. USAA, Pen Fed and Navy Fed all usually have the best rates. Most end up selling the mortgage so the lower rate and fees is far more important than initial upfront customer service. We used USAA for our initial mortgage. Minor issues, mainly they promised us insurance but after reading the house inspection they refused (we did an information only report that sounded much worse than it was as we asked to identify every little thing so we knew what we were getting into/estate sale) and had to initially go to another company and then switch back (funny, then they did not ask for proof of repairs) We just refinanced with Pen Fed about a year ago. Got a great rate but the customer service was terrible. Appraisal was fine. They lost our documents and we had to redo them (with our social security numbers and all personal documents) and there was no apology and they were clear they did not care. They closed even though the numbers were wrong and it took months to get corrected (a few numbers were off and they demanded we close anyway and they'd fix it but didn't). It was a mess. Now it is fine. USAA has a clause they do not sell the mortgage but ours was sold twice.

The smaller banks we tried were much more expensive.

Shop rates with whoever so you can get a good deal, but in the end, if you can, go with a local mortgage company -- we went with First Savings Mortgage for a VA loan in DC. George Mason Mortgage is another local mortgage lender. When mortgages are all a company does, they have all the loan qualification and processing staff in house, so delays are nonexistent, and they don't get paid until you close, so you don't have to hound them to get it done. Plus they know about and work with the right local players (title and closing companies, lenders, appraisers) to make sure things go well and understand the local rules because they follow them on a routine basis unlike some random officer with a national bank. After closing, your loan usually ends up with a larger bank that can staff and manage your mortgage payments, but who cares at that point.

Anonymous wrote:Find a smaller bank that can everything IN HOUSE. The big banks are terrible for customer service and getting things done on time - plus nothing but trouble for things like appraisals, etc., where you need a connection to a local person who knows our market.

Any suggestions?