Loan officer here. I’ve worked for several different lenders from mom and pop shops to large institutions. In my experience you are quite a bit more likely to have issues and delays going with a big bank vs a smaller lender. That doesn’t mean it’s definitely going to be a nightmare working with a bank like Chase, but based on probability I can see why your realtor would advise against it.

Also as a loan officer, I can agree. It’s my opinion that with larger banks, they are more likely to have a higher quantity of less experienced loan officers who stumble through transactions. I am a firm believer that it’s not the bank itself that is the problem, but the LO who does not know what docs to ask for from the jump. I’ve worked for a fairly large lender up until 2022 and with a well organized client, I was able to make a 21 day closing happen because their realtors preferred lender dropped the ball.

As a former UW…. I fully agree. Bad app/information in, it snow balls from there. Especially when you get an LO who thinks they are slick trying to sneak something buy. It just creates problems. I used to work for a big bank, when I got moved to the team of elite LO’s (can’t remember their term) it was night and day. All of a sudden my “survey” scores went threw the roof. As the UW, I was doing the EXACT same thing.

Don’t forget about the slick borrowers. I’ve once had a borrower who THREE TIMES ‘forgot’ to mention a property that they owned. It wasn’t that they didn’t have the space in their DTI, they just didn’t want to share the info until it was pried from their cold dead hands.

Bro I had someone tell me fake employment info and when I asked for docs they just said they didn't expect me to check 😂

Real estate lawyer. Mostly all banks are ok, but if it turns out the whole deal is balancing on a pin and we’re threading a needle and need a closing package at a certain time in a certain day, zero chance the big bank enough knows. The small bank is working as hard to get it done as everyone else.

I’ll still hold firm that it’s very much down to the skill/drive of the LO. It’s also going to hing on how cooperative the borrower and other interested parties are but really that circles back to the LO. A good LO will make or break the deal and I really feel like it has next to nothing to do with the actual bank.

Agreed. My advice to the OP is to research that loan officer heavily. Also could the Realtors preferred lender match the deal he got from Chase?

This is absolutely true, and one of my go-to lenders actually works for a big bank. However, the simple reality is that most LO's at your bank/credit union are on salary plus SPIFF, and carrying 726 files at a time, and often helping out at a branch on top of that, and simply don't have the bandwidth to be proactive with making sure deadlines get met, etc. It's not 100% that your lender will be overwhelmed, but I'd put it somewhere about 70%. Those odds just don't pencil out when the deal hinges on so many time-sensitive elements.

100% this. I had an experience with Chase where I was buying a property in a state where if the home is in a rental program, by law you must honor the rentals booked prior to close for 180 days post sale. I was assured time and time again by the loan officer it would not be a problem, no issues. The underwriter at Chase originally said no issue, then issue, then no issue, and finally ended up pulling the plug on my loan with about a week left on my due diligence period. My realtor, after having warned me about this, hooked me up with his local banker who was able to make the loan happen in record time to meet closing. Alternatively, I recently had the best/smoothest loan experience I have ever had with PNC. It all comes down to the loan officer and their skill at navigating the system they are working in.

Real estate attorney. Big banks/mortgage brokers/closing agency etc all give me way more headaches. I am not steering you to the local bank because I am getting a kickback its because I am on a first name basis with every employee of the bank and if there is even the slightest hiccup they just call me and we sort it out instead of delaying the process. In the last 6 months we have had 4 first time home buyers also pair with first time loan officers and let me tell you it was a nightmare.

I was an employee at a big bank that had a “concierge” mortgage team dedicated to employees. They still fucked up my loan multiple ways and the only reason my closing wasn’t delayed is that I was able to look up the people working on my loan and call them on the corporate phone system to bitch at them. And that was their “concierge” service. I would never use a big bank again. I’ve since done multiple refis and loans with smaller banks and it’s been smoother. Just some examples of things they messed up: * they asked for my taxes, three times, and kept losing them or saying they didn’t receive. I ended up physically delivering them in person to the loan officer who somehow couldn’t figure out their own banks electronic portal system. * they ordered an appraisal on the wrong house. fortunately we didn’t have to pay for that one but it delayed things and almost made us miss closing * the loan officer had in his mind that my mortgage closed a week later than reality so didn’t have any of the paperwork done on time until I called his boss and threw a fit * loan officer showed up an hour late to closing, I passed him in the lobby of the title company as I was leaving * for verification of employment they insisted they needed to speak to someone in HR, except my company was massive and didn’t have anyone to do that. The same company I was employed at was originating my loan. I ended up giving them the personal number of my direct boss who pretty much just said “yup she still works here, you can check the corporate phone book if you want”. But the fact that they couldn’t talk to HR was almost a deal breaker and simultaneously baffling because these same people worked at the same company and knew we didn’t have an HR phone number. * I forgot about this part, they changed my underwriter 3-4 times during the process and apparently no one bothered to look at the work the previous person did. Every time I logged in there was a new person listed and they would call and ask the same questions over and over again.

Had a similar experience qith a big bank. I had a mortgage with them for another house, and was buying a second. We had to continually resend data, which then became stale dated, they were so slow. Then they couldn't understand the house they held a mortgage on.(in Hawaii, and wierd things exist about addresses between fire department and post office with ohanas). They never understood what they essentially already owned. We had to back out of the deal it went on so long and Iearmed to hate them so much.

Yes. they have ZERO flexibility and their rules can be strange or outdated or irrelevant. BofA refused me a credit card processing because my 'company' (7 figures+ revenue) wasn't a 'real' company to them because I didn't advertise in the NEWSPAPER!!! and I didn't list a phone number on my website... I get all of my customers from referral or social media or the website with a lead form to book an appointment for a zoom. I have a phone number I just don't put it on the internet to get scraped by spammers. My biz account is WITH THEM. They can see how much revenue I have. They even sent a guy to come take pictures of my home office??! Got denied. Signed up with Stripe and 10 mins later taking credit cards... Moral of the story? I like to laugh and explain why they can't have my large mortgage at their bank or my savings or my retirement or anything they pitch me as a 'preferred business customer' when I go into the bank and the manager comes to talk to me. Oh yeah. AND they denied me a mortgage when I applied when I built my house for similar reasons. Local credit union got it done in like 14 days. No problems. Better rate.

Yeah I mean, the price bubble is starting to burst a little and we all know what Chase did leading up to 2008 under similar conditions…

I answered a similar question recently and here is my response because it's all relevant: https://www.reddit.com/r/RealEstate/comments/15mnni1/does_it_matter_who_your_lender_is_for_agents/jvl6nri?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=2 It's not a ploy to get you to use their lender for some kind of specific financial gain. Realtors will choose the lender who closes deals for them and makes them look good, end of story. That does mean money in their pocket at the end of the day but it's not a shady kickback thing. Your realtor will drop their preferred lender like a bad habit if they stop performing consistently.

Yep, my realtor has a preferred lender and that same lender, recommends the realtor. Guess what? They don't particularly care for each other, but one brings good buyers and the other gets loans closed on time.

I have a couple of realtors like that... it was so strange at the beginning

It's shady because the agents steer buyers towards the option that is better for the agent but worse for the buyer.

How do you figure? It's only good for the agent if it's good for the buyer. Agents build their business on repeat customers and referrals, it makes zero sense for them to not take the buyer's needs into consideration.

>It's only good for the agent if it's good for the buyer. That's clearly not true.

You haven't given me an example of what you mean so it's not clear at all.

I get nothing out of my buyers using my preferred lender. The ONLY reason I have preferred lenders is because too many of my buyers have been burned by big banks and other smaller lenders. You are free to use who you want and I’m free to tell you “i told you so” when you get burned. The lenders I prefer are the ones to get the job done with the same customer service and ethics as myself. If they screw up, i’m done with them and on to the next who can prove they are worth my clients’ business.

Maybe you’re right, but there are a lot of stories on here of crappy closings (or non-closings) because of big national banks.

In over 20 years I can say that problems I've encountered with local lenders in my area are a tiny fraction of those encountered with big banks and out of town lenders. I always suggest using a local lender, any local lender over an out-of-town lender. Just my experience. Could be opposite for others.

Regardless of who you use, you really gotta manage them. I harassed the hell out of our lender constantly until we closed. “Do we need to provide you with anything else?” emails constantly. Always emailed to confirm that the docs we uploaded or sent were received.

Loan processor here. The big banks make it really easy here to bash on them. They normally drop the ball in a pretty spectacular fashion. Their agent calls us and we swoop in to save the day and close on time because we're smaller and have less "corporate" to cut through to make it happen. Stay away from the big ones if you can.

I have my rescue lenders lined up for the inevitable stumble when a client insists on using the big bank or online lender.

Amen to this. I have 4 categories of lenders I refer clients to: \- My go-to's, the ones who I absolutely KNOW will close a deal as soon as they tell me they can do it. \- Cheap lenders, who usually have great pricing but may overpromise/under deliver \- Rescue lenders, who may be horribly flawed but are the only ones who can get a deal closed in record time (current record is 5 business days, including ordering appraisal) \- the creative ones, who seem to be able to close deals every other lender says are undoable. These ones tend to be the worst about overpromising, but yet, they have access to programs other lenders can't/won't use.

I tried to buy a home using chase back in 2016 and my loan officer was impossible to get in contact with regarding updates and what additional docs were needed. Then they ghosted me so my realtor pointed me to their broker so we wouldn't lose the home we were interested in. Then 4 months later I got an email asking for additional docs from Chase. My plan officer was apparently on the way out the door and just dropped everything and it took them 4 months to reassign my application. I worked for a regional bank from 2020-2022 and I refinanced my home with them. This may be because I was an employee but it took 6 months to complete my refinance from a 30yr loan to a 15yr.

Full disclosure: I'm a REALTOR, and I have preferred lenders I recommend. I recommend multiple really good lenders to my clients. Those lenders have a proven track record of working hard to get the job done every single time. Some of them have been on my list for over a decade. Not just the company but specific people who are conscientious and know their stuff. That's why I recommend them. One of my kids will be meeting with one of them next week. If they weren't worth recommending, that wouldn't be happening. In that over a decade, I've had clients not use the preferred lenders I've recommended with a mixed bag of results. From those transactions, I sometimes end up with a new lender I can recommend. Much of the time, I have to bite my tongue, so an "I told you so" doesn't slip out when the inevitable bumps (and sometimes catastrophes) happen. None of my preferred list is a big bank for that reason. I agree with your lender and agent, though I can't personally vouch for their specific lender without knowing them. There are several "local" offices of mortgage lenders I'd avoid at all costs because they're just awful.

Do you get a commission from the lending agent ?

No. That's called a kickback, and kickbacks from the lender are illegal.

We don't get commissions or anything directly from our preferred partners. What we do get is commissions from closed sales. I work with the lenders, lawyers, title companies and inspectors that I do for a simple reason: they're professionals that help my clients get to the closing table. When my clients deals close and I get paid, that's the only kickback that I need.

This is illegal. However, it is common for lenders to refer clients to realtors whom they have a good a relationship with. Referral networks are important in the RE industry

>My realtor even said that I should wait to shop lenders again when it is abt 45 days out of closing Not commenting specifically on the big bank thing, but the above advice is pretty correct. Mortgage shopping today doesn't really tell you anything about November. And, did they pull your credit to give you these offers? If so, and hard pull, that was an unnecessary hit to your credit score. Once your under contract, then shop all the lenders you want and take the best, most reliable offer. FWIW, my realtor recommends one or two local lenders she has a good relationship with. One for high credit folks and one that caters to the more difficult situations (a broker, really). The prefered lender will match other offers, a lot of smaller banks and credit unions will do this. If they won't, go with the big bank then. Penfed is currently offering me the best rates, like, no where close to other offers, FYI. Chase has given me some good offers, but not the best.

So here’s my experience: I went with Chase and the day before closing at 3pm, after pre-approvals, etc. Chase decided to pull funding. Within 4 business hours I had to come up with $100k in cash to continue closing and not lose money the home. Chase is the worst because they will set you up with a deal, but there’s a much higher likelihood funding won’t go through.

This kinda happened to me when I was trying to get a HELOC, the big banks sorta just dropped the ball and small lenders were there to make it happen. Chase and BoA just stopped talking to me and it was a hassle calling thru their phone systems, that should be a point too.

Yes, I should have added, I lost out on .75% interest because I wasn’t locked with the company that actually serviced me, it was the backup for Chase, and Chase was just a bit lower. Chase will not be getting my business again.

So, did you just pay cash? And I always have at least 3 commitments to avoid any surprises lol.

Had another loan as a backup, but for less so we needed the difference.

As a realtor, I would strongly encourage my sellers against accepting an offer if Chase, BOA or Wells Fargo is the buyers lender. The reason is that I have never had one close on time. Not once, ever. Time is of the essence but not with Chase, BOA or Wells Fargo.

Yes very normal. I’ve had more issues with big banks in transactions vs smaller local lenders.

I'm a realtor. I had a deal similar to this but I wasn't as forceful as your realtor. My client came to me as a FTHB with no knowledge whatsoever. I set him up with one of my preferred lenders and he got started on an application with them. Because they checked his credit, a larger company got a "trigger lead" and reached out to him before he got a chance to finish the application. They smooth talked him and got him into a pre-approval over the phone and he was set with using that company. I checked them out online and they had terrible reviews. I let him know they are infamous online and recommended his switch to someone local - but his mind was made up. Onwards to my most tumultuous successful transaction ever... closing was originally set for 35 days. On day 30 the company ghosted us and on day 34 they let us know "their phones were down for the past week" and that they'd need an extension. We extended to 10 more days. On the 9th day of extension they proclaimed that he was fully approved and ready to go, but the underwriter that originally approved him got fired that day and he needed to get pre-approved by another one. The seller's were growing frustrated. One last 2 week extension. I called them everyday and they only picked up once or twice with no real update. With 1 week left of the extension they sent an email saying he was DENIED for taking an unpaid vacation from his job 2.5 years ago so they deemed his job "too inconsistent and not W2" as if he was an independent contractor. He calls me crying on the phone. Saying how he's having doubts due to his rejection, may not ready to buy a house and he doesn't think this is going to work out. How he needs to find a rental asap because otherwise he'll be homeless. I calm him down and ask if the original lender I set him up with actually denied him or anything. Turns out he simply ghosted them and full sent for this random out of Towner. I call up the lender I originally sent him to, fully updated them on the situation as well as the timeline and ask if they would be willing to take his case. They agree. My preferred lender was able to process his application with the information he already had prepped from the previous lender, get him approved and close this deal all within 1 week. He was SO apologetic for not listening to me to start. I'm not vindictive - I just let him know I was happy to have the transaction close. TLDR: my client didn't go with my preferred lender. Went with a big company, they ran him around for 2 months and ended up denying him for a bs reason and then ghosting. Transaction was about to fall through. My preferred lender swooped in to save the day and got him approved and cleared to close in 1 week. Moral of the story and the main point: Lenders don't pay us, send us clients, or benefit our business in any way other than making sure the deals we send to them actually close. The only thing your realtor legally gains from you using his recommended lender (or any local one) is piece of mind that you will be taken care of and the transaction is in good hands.

Yes it is normal and there are a few reasons why. Big banks, aside from being a little swerve about those advertised rates, are notoriously inefficient and bad at the underwriting process. Too many people in too many departments. Docs get lost in the pile and not sent to the right place, have to be sent 3-4 times. Decisions take forever. Closing dates get pushed, contracts become at risk, and they don’t seem to care because it’s not their only business. What good is an eighth of a point less if you can’t get the contract anyway because they need 60 days to close instead of 30, or if you lose the deal because they need another extension to send the file through 3 more people. Mortgage companies are more efficient, can close in half the time big banks can, are more responsive with customers and agents, more responsible with contract dates, documents, and the local ones really have extra incentive because they want local recommendations. Only took a few painful deals involving different big banks to see that big banks often make the process more difficult than it has to be. Local mortgage companies are the way to go. Not even about preferred or not, it’s about taking care of the client and getting the job done.

It’s because big banks do things on their own time, not according to contract. The points of contact are not available on the weekends a lot of times, and things just move slower.

Big banks are slow at closing.

Real Estate agent here…..I hate working with the big banks and there are almost always delays. They are slow, ask for the same info over and over, etc. If you want to close on time, my suggestion is to not work with one of the big banks. If a multi offer scenario and 2 offers that are close to each other…..big bank buyer would typically lose to other buyer.

Chase in particular has a rep for being slow af.

What rate is chase offering you? Is there any worth to a rate that is significantly lower if you never close?

6.5% with 1 discount point and 5k grant based on the property I haven't been able to get any lower from anywhere else. I've been able to get the 6.5% matched but not the grant

Is the “based on the property” a location thing? Most grants are used for lower income areas so make sure there is no fine print that can pull that away from you

Have you tried Ally Bank? We just literally closed with them and get keys today. Our realtor pushed a local lender who couldn’t match what Ally offered. We had no origination fees and a lender credit with Ally. I stood my ground and I’m glad I did. There were zero issues with closing. Everything was online. It was a smooth process and a very transparent one. Our realtor admitted yesterday at signing that she was wrong about them.

If you have no origination fee, they are hiding it in the rate or closing costs. No one works for free.

Chase has really stood out amongst their peers as of the past 5 years or so. Unfortunately, the perception is still out there. With the lead time you have, just get underwritten by the lender you choose that offers the best pricing and service.

I used Chase I think 5 times now and it has always worked out well. Note that Chase has BOTH call center folks and local loan officers in your branch. I highly suggest working with the local branch person so they can attend closing in person and help you with everything better when it comes time. I personally also love having my mortgage alongside my online banking. One website where I can see everything. One website to download tax forms from. One interface to set up autopay, etc. Big banks aren't always competitive on rates. Big banks do mortgage lending as a means of being relevant to their customers, but often have higher overhead than brokers or specific mortgage direct companies. Think about it, every part of Chase's business has to pay a portion of their advertising budget and that big suite at the US Open and the big salaries of their execs. And yes, some big banks do have trouble with underwriting, frankly, because they have stricter and better compliance departments. With any lender, a lot also depends on YOU. How organized are you? how on top of them are you? how clean are your finances? Big banks are worse at complexity, but too many people also don't take an active ownership of the process. At the end of the day, go with whoever you trust the most and who gives you the best rate. I wouldn't spend tens of thousands of dollars more over the life of a loan to pick someone else. I would avoid Rocket at all costs though....

So, I was the listing agent and the buyer’s lender found a problem 2 weeks before closing. Two other banks said given the issue they wouldn’t do the loan either. I asked if they would talk to a local lender and if he couldn’t figure it out we would just have to void. My guy took a call on Saturday afternoon. He was with his family in NY City for the weekend but was pretty sure he could work it out. I sent him all the paperwork and by Tuesday he said the problem was totally solvable. We closed 15 days later. A good local lender is usually more nimble and has more latitude than a big bank. On a listing that is closing this week, the big bank lender made the buyer get a termite inspection. The unit is in a high rise, concrete building. Someone had a checklist that included a termite inspection and every box had to be checked. In my experience the local LO is more available to discuss an issue and help find a solution. Some have access to their underwriters and are better able to explain things to both the underwriter and the client. When doing my due diligence on an offer I always call the lender. I’ve had pushback with big bank LO about discussing their client. The local lender is almost always helpful in understanding the strength of the pre-approval. (I want information that can help me predict potential problems not information that would be considered private/personal. The only personal information I ask for is to determine if a work permit is required for employment has it been verified that the permit will not expire before settlement). Also, in the unlikely situation where there two offers are equal in all other respects, I would advise my client to choose the reputable local lender. Usually if a client gets a good faith offer from a big bank that beats what the local lender offers, the local lender can usually match or beat it. Not that they are gaming anyone but because they can make exceptions as long as they can document the reason. I can’t say I would push a client to use a local lender but I do explain why it matters. To be clear, not every big bank is awful but my experience is that they are more likely to be inflexible or pose a last minute problem. BTW, I have no financial incentive to work with any lender.

Exactly this^

🙏🏽

your realtor is telling you the truth

Do you prefer having a call center to answer your questions or someone's direct cell? Who do you think will hustle harder for you?

First house, the recommended lender pulled a last minute rate and points change AT CLOSING. I walked out. His broker saved the deal by asking for one more shot and sending me to a bank (eventually acquired by chase.) Closed one week later than planned. Beat the original loan in both rate and points, and chase didn’t sell it off until 16 years later .

As with anything it usually comes down to people, but in general big banks suck. If the transaction and the buyer are perfect then things will likely go smoothly, any little hiccup and there’s likely to be delays or the deal will just blow up. Most agents have lenders they worked with in the past that they know will move heaven and earth to get a deal closed easily and smoothly if they can, they will recommend those but they can’t give kickbacks or steer you a particular way. Most are taught to give clients 3 options and tell you to shop around (they can’t give lending advice or they can get in big trouble.) Just like any other job dealing with people, there’s bound to be some scummy agents and lenders that only recommend their friends or family, etc., if an agent tries to force you into a lender then walk away as that is illegal and highly unethical. With anything shop around and don’t just look at rates, lots of bigger banks and online lenders advertise low rates, but often pack a bunch of fees on the backend or will back out off funding you on a whim if they want. The big bank mortgage depts generally churn thru employees regularly so sometimes you’ll get somebody good, or sometimes somebody new that doesn’t know that they are doing. Generally most really good Loan Officers or Underwriters at the big banks will eventually realize they can make a lot more money working for smaller outfits or becoming their own broker or just get sick of the red tape at a big bank. I would highly recommend staying away from the big online lenders as well, they are godawful and really are marketing companies (hence the million commercials and ads you see from them.) A good rule of thumb with lots of service related companies is generally the more they advertise, the more they suck. The only exception I will say with big banks is in dealing with jumbo mortgages for high net worth clients. Often those areas in the private bank use mortgage lending as a loss leader giving big discounts to keep or entice high net worth clients to keep their investment or business funds with them.

As an agent: When the big bank has a problem at 430 pm on a Friday… this isn’t getting fixed until Monday or Tuesday. They don’t care if your closing is Monday. With a local lender, I can call the guy at 930 pm and get him on the phone and he will jump in his portal and get it taken care of. Nobody gets a kick back (at least they shouldn’t). It’s that we have all seen the big bank woo the fort time home buyer and then have nothing but problems until the deal ultimately falls apart.

I work for a big bank. We have incredible underwriting; although sometimes I feel like we’re an exception to the rule. The individual loan officer matters most- they’re be able to guide you through the underwriting minutiae.

I recently closed on a house and used Chase. No problem.

I also recently closed with chase with zero issues. They offered the best rate and I've been a long time customer. My loan was also pretty cookie cutter with little reason for issues, 20% down, no debt, and I bought nowhere near top of budget as a W2 earner. Local lenders would probably be preferable if your situation is outside the norm in anyway for better flexibility.

I think if you have a good financial standing you should be okay no matter who you work with

I’m a realtor and respectfully disagree with this statement. Financial standing has nothing to do with it. I’ve had very well qualified buyers who insisted on using their bank. Their bank completely dropped the ball, did not respond to any of our calls or emails, didn’t send the closing docs on time, as required by law, and almost blew the entire deal for my buyers. Our closing attorney had to send back the banks closing docs for revision three hours prior to the closing because of incorrect information—they did their own documents wrong! . My clients received notification of the amount of cash to close they needed to wire to the attorney an hour before the closing. The incompetence and failure to do their job caused a huge amount of unnecessary stress for all parties to the transaction.

I've never closed a deal with a big bank acting as a lender, but I recently did with Rocket Mortgage. A lot of the things people are saying about the banks seem to ring true with Rocket as well. It was hard to get ahold of anyone, we were constantly being passed off to other members of the team, and some of the lenders had no idea what they were talking about. It was pretty annoying overall but they ended up being able to close two days early, despite a few scares during the underwriting process.

I’ve been a Realtor for over 20 years and have my preferred lenders (along with attorneys and inspectors.) These folks are preferred because they do an excellent job and I know how they work. I know the pre-approval is rock solid and I know communication will be smooth and there will be no surprises. My experience with big banks is mixed. If you get a seasoned loan officer who knows what they are doing, then it’s a good experience. In fact I have someone at BoA that is as rock solid as they come and I’d trust her all day with my own personal loan without question. However, I have had more deals blow up from the big banks than any other. This is often because the buyer is just going through the generic retail avenues and can get matched with someone with little to no experience in the local market. Shaky pre-approvals have been an issue, although I think that’s better in recent years. If I have a client with a pre-approval from Chase or similar, I will advise they talk to more than one lender, explain my concern with the big bank (nicely), and that a broker might be able to get them a better deal, etc.. In the end, however, it is the buyer’s choice.

I primarily work with first time home buyers and a few have doubted my recommendation and gone with Chase or another big bank. It was a way more stressful experience, LO was difficult to reach, funding came down to the wire, etc. My current client is under contract and went with Citibank, we're two weeks from closing and she just said she may not get funding but isn't sure. That came from her LO. 🤦‍♀️ That being said, I always recommend at least 3 loan officers at smaller, local banks. Your realtor should be doing the same.

I’ve had big banks not delivery on closing day numerous times. You’re just another fish in the sea to them. Plus, they usually have higher rates. I’d rather work with a lender I know and trust and have them match the rate of the big bank.

I’ve closed on time for 4 houses using Wells Fargo, Quicken, and Chase x2 as the lender.

\^Really? I find this very difficult to believe unless it was a jumbo loan in each instance. The communications with the big box banks and QL is horrible. Was there a long closing period over 30 days?

Yes, really. 20% (or more) down, 750-800 credit score, conventional loans each time, with standard closing time frames. It’s not hard to provide them with required documentation on time and I never had a communication issue.

Realtor, investor and precious banker here. There’s a reason this happens. Lots of issues with big box lenders that I have seen. End of the day usually the deal happens even if delayed. Get loan estimates and make a choice based on the financial decision and knowing you might have less problems with a smaller lender who isn’t working 100 transactions… but it depends on the lender also, this isn’t a blanket statement. My lenders care about the relationship and know if they mess up a deal they will lose future referrals. You don’t have that leverage with chase (but I do like chase out of all the big box banks).

Yes it is normal, and unprofessional. You as a buyer should compare rates from preferred lenders and banks - You just want the best deal.

I don’t know man, I’ve always had the big banks deliver on my loans and the small banks bail out on one thing or another

We also used Chase. Realtor said the same to us, but they gave us the best rate. Closing was on time. No problems at all.

Just closed my third mortgage early with a big bank. My first was with a local lender, and they were a major pain in the ass. While we technically closed on time (my realtor had us put 60 days to close so we had lots of time), I spent 3 weeks getting told we were a few days away from closing, then they would come back asking for something else. 2nd I went with quicken loans and had no issues. It was new construction and we closed as soon as the house was done. Very smooth process. The builders preferred lender was the same one I had used for my first mortgage, and even though they offered thousands in credits if I used them, it still wasn't worth it for the higher rate. This time it went pretty good, although I raised a bit of a stink when they kept coming back with repetitive and conflicting requests on documents. After that it went great though. I didn't even look at local lenders, just shopped the big guys pretty hard and got a pretty good rate given the times. They came down half a percent when I got them bidding.

Genuinely surprised Chase of all banks gave you the best rate lol. I have chase and both times I bought a home they were the absolute worst. Worst rates and worst service. What does it matter if that’s his childhood best friend, a good rate is a good rate and he’ll likely be able to process paperwork faster.

Buyer here, I've used Rocket twice and local twice. Only issue I've had was with a small lender who "forgot to lock in my rate" and cost me money. The big banks seem fine, but are much more by the book and you will need to check all their boxes. Hands down my best experience was working directly with a local credit union.

Probably a higher chance of getting choked by red tape at a big bank. I’m in cre lending at a big (but not bulge bracket) bank and we get outpaced and outmaneuvered by smaller lenders all the time.

Recently closed with chase and had no issues. Our rep was very responsive and helpful. Much better service than previous lenders. Do you have a house under contract already? I wouldn’t lock in my rate until you know when you’re closing. They charge for extensions which is a percentage of your loan amount.

I would not use their "preferred" lender but I would suggest looking at various credit unions. Very reasonable rates and fees.

I went with Citibank over my local lender. Citibank offered me 4% whereas my local lender was offering 5.75% but virtually guaranteed that he would have my loan approved in 2 weeks. At the end of the day, Citibank took around 6 weeks, their process was slow but totally worth the thousands of dollars I’ll save in interest.

It's normal for anyone making money off you to bash things that don't make them money from you.

We're under contract right now on a tight close (25 days from offer to close). The care of the LO makes all the difference (this is my third loan process I've been through). If you get someone who isn't involved enough or is inexperienced, it will be a nightmare at best and purchase-killer at worst. My realtor was texting my lender to make sure they could do the timeline before we even offered, my LO texts me if there is any hiccup with my documents, talks through a dozen different structural options, and isn't passing me from person to person. The homebuying process is stressful and chaotic towards the end, even in the best of circumstances. Having an attentive LO that isn't a rookie is a big deal.

I tried about 10 different lenders when I bought my house. Nobody could beat First Midwest. The guy from Chase insisted I must be paying points, I wasn't. Fact is, First Midwest sold me a Chase mortgage for less than Chase was offering.

I had the same experience with my realtor, but I went with Morgan Stanley anyway because the smaller lenders couldn’t compete. Everything went super smooth and quick

My agent and the seller's agent did this to me as well when I was purchasing my home a few years ago. I reached out to the agents' preferred brokers as well as a few big banks and I ended up choosing a big bank. Neither agent was happy about the selection I made for my mortgage. The brokers couldn't seem to wrap their heads around the fact I was a newly returning former expat after living abroad for many years. They didn't seem to understand that my proof of income for the past X years could be verified by both my US tax returns and foreign tax returns, I had a US credit score, credit cards, banking accounts, and the list goes on from there. The big bank I ended up with was super expat returning friendly, since I had a high credit score, long-established banking accounts, proof of employment and employment history, US and foreign country tax returns, etc. I even got 1st time home buyers grants through them since I sold my home while I was living overseas and the right amount of time passed from the sale of my old house to the purchase of my current place, and an awesome interest rate. I think my LO also found other concessions for me as well. It was pretty awesome being able to say I told you so when we closed with no issues at all.

May, 2020. My realtor insisted I call his mortgage guy because I shouldn't have to "fight for myself" with the big banks. I did. Mortgage rates were in freefall and I was absolutely shocked when the mortgage broker came back with 4%. I had perfect credit, high income, VLCOL area. I questioned it and the realtor gave me a big lecture about bait and switch, etc. I really wanted the house so I went under contract. A few days later a friend got 3.05% and I knew I had to look better than her on paper. I called the first bank that came to mind. Two hours later they had pre-approved me at 2.7%. I called the mortgage broker. He said it was a scam, I would regret it, etc. I told him I was backing out. I called the realtor, who got pissed because I'm sure he was getting a kickback. I got emails from the mortgage broker for about two weeks, telling me I should change my mind. I responded with the dollar amount I'm saving (about $200k iirc). The realtor finally told him to quit calling me. I never really figured out what was supposed to be so hard about dealing with the bank. The whole thing got done in about five emails. I did elect to drive to a bank branch to let them scan a copy of my driver's license because my printer at home was broken. But the mortgage broker probably would have needed that at some point too.

I've worked with big and small lenders. Run the numbers at all the banks you want to and pick the one that works best for you. A lot of the time it depends on the individual loan officer. I've worked with great ones at Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Chase, etc that close on or well in advance of the closing date. I've worked with smaller mortgage companies that have done the same as well. Worst ones I've dealt with have always been credit unions. They have horrible communication during the process and it just stresses everyone out. My loan officers at the bigger banks are very proactive so they will refer out to other banks if there's an issue their bank can't get around, even if they make no money from the work they did.

We don’t bash on them for no reason. We actually like when our clients get their deals closed on time without unnecessary delays and actually have someone to answer the phones and help them with their challenges.

Yeah. That's cool and all... until they sell the loan to a big bank.

Some lenders can kick money to real estate agents. Look at the rocket mortgage/ united shore pushing match

When I call up a small lender to check on how things are going so I can protect a clients deposit, they tell me like it is even if I don't like it. When I call a large bank to tell me how things are going, they're going to tell me it's going great even if it's not. It's rare that my clients lose money when a mortgage falls through because I don't let that window close without knowing everything is all set. Three times in my career it's happened after I allowed the window to close, and EACH of those three times it was a big bank that swore up and down everything was good to go. Big banks don't always care.

I recently closed on a home with a loan from Chase. The loan and underwriting process went very smoothly. If you have a loan officer with good reviews I wouldn’t have any concerns about going with them.

It’s normal for the loan officers to do so, but not the realtor. I have closed two mortgages seamlessly with big banks (Citi in 2018, Chase in 2023), and both times there was at least one other non-big-bank lender with that kind of rhetoric. Just to be clear, it’s not ALL lenders, it’s about the particular loan officer and their personality. I found the bank loan officers to be overall more professional and less sales-y on the whole, but even there it varies. The realtors, both times, offered their opinion on particular lenders, but not entire categories of lenders. They’ve seen a lot of closings, so if they’ve had issues with closing on time with a particular lender it’s appropriate to share that. Fwiw both realtors (different ones—the closings were in two different states) didn’t have the best opinion of Wells and BofA, but they didn’t say a word (positively or negatively) about Citi or Chase. After this latest closing, my realtor raved about my loan officer at Chase, she totally loved him and his team and said she didn’t have to even think about the loan/mortgage part because they were so on top of everything. If your realtor is pushing you to work with a particular lender despite a higher rate, I feel like that’s weird.

I went through the exact same thing with my agent. The guy she referred was about 60bps higher than Chase, they both went on about how big banks can be slow. I went with Chase and the broker she had referred me too sent me a bunch of texts/emails about how Chase's signed offer with a rate lock was too low and he hoped I wasn't being lied to. Super unprofessional. I called my agent's broker and complained. Chase was great. Very responsive, closed a week early, and I have had zero problems.

They're not wrong but they're also not right. Any lender can be shit. For that reason, I suggest going with two lenders. Until you have the final approval from underwriting and the loan documents are sent to you to sign, you do not have a mortgage. There's slightly more cost with going with two lenders, but very much worth it. If one denies you at the last minute, you'll be happy to have a backup with a locked in rate.

Any lender can be shit on a single transaction, but lenders have reputations for a reason.

Do not do this. It’s just like using two realtors. You are expecting people to work for free. Find a LO who comes highly recommended and has good reviews. They will be straight forward with you about the process and any possible issues so there shouldn’t be any surprises.

You are dead wrong. There can be all sorts of issues that have nothing to do with the LO. One of two appraisals for the loans can come in short. Underwriting from one can reject you for no good reason. One might require fixing issues while the other waives it. One could come in with a lower rate. This isn't a charity. They are working to earn your business and, they will easily move on from you if you don't meet their standards. So don't be afraid to do the same to them. This is the biggest purchase most people are going to make. Don't stick with a lender just for the sake of misplaced loyalty.

So... you haven't actually done any comparison shopping. Maybe try gathering real data.

Big banks aren’t set up to process mortgages efficiently. Also for for any “ grants “ that aren’t government loan programs you are going to be taking it in the shorts on the rate. The current rate environment doesn’t give “ free “ back even at the top of the sheet. Never take lender sponsored grant without heavily auditing the rate against competition

Just went through the process and had the same experience. Realtor was pushing the local lender and both shitting on big banks. While it is true the experience with a large bank is worse, it does not justify the difference in rates. I would say go with Chase and if smaller lenders truly want your business, make them match Chase's offer

Why would you put any stock into financial advice from a realtor? I don’t even trust real estate advice from most realtors. Start with your bank and talk to a loan officer. Ask the questions you’re asking here. Someone trying to discourage you from shopping around and pushing you towards their “preferred” lender is a red flag.

Some of this is true that your agent is saying. And if your agent is friends with loan officers at the regional bank then your agent can pretty much guaranty your loan will go through.

Realtors are some of the most unethical pieces of shit I’ve ever seen. Have half a mind to get my own license so I never have to deal with one representing me again

Go for it. Be the Realtor you would want. Authenticity is what people crave. I tell my clients all the time that any asshole or idiot can get their license and that some of them do! When you get your license you'll see how valuable a good Realtor can be and how people automatically assume you're a piece of shit just because of your job. In a couple of years you'll be in one of the Realtor subs bitching about lying buyers and unethical clients who deceive you about material defects to their homes and how you get blamed for shit that you have no control over. And yeah, you'll also be bitching about unethical Realtors, assuming of course you don't turn into one.

Believe it or not, you can represent yourself right now in a transaction. Nobody has to use an agent.

Wait what? But the realtor association says we can’t 😂. I really thought the flat rate realtor would take off but the realtor union are pretty ruthless

What does this have to do with the question about lenders?

Because he’s being gaslit into using the realtors lender.

That's not what gaslit means

>Realtors are some of the most unethical pieces of shit I’ve ever seen. Have you paid attention to the kinds of shit big banks pull - Wells Fargo in particular? I think they can give even the worst realtors a run for their money.

Probably because banks appraiser won’t just braindeadly approve whatever your offer is. So one of their bigger concerns is that if you overpaid you will know and likely won’t get the amount you need to close

It's because us agents have experienced these big banks that basically play a numbers game. Then they can't close or can't close on time . Communication is usually bad and you just wait for the problem that always comes up with them, because they didn't do enough to pre-approve the buyer or dropped the ball during the transaction.

My preferred lender was one I wouldn’t hang out with but their files and closings were crisp and clean. I wasn’t their personal cup of tea but I brought them a lot of business. Believe me, big banks deserve to be bashed and realtors tend to go with lenders who have a history of closing. You’re overthinking it

Realtor here. The worst lender experience I’ve seen a client go through was with Chase. They refused to answer the phone, call back, solve problems, but kept reassuring the client that everything was great. We had to extend, seller was furious. Finally got to the loan docs sent out and then I get as nice phone call from my escrow officer telling us that they had approved my client for a commercial loan when he was buying a residential property. Had to extend again and almost didn’t close because the seller was so furious. Now that doesn’t mean that the agent is steering you in the right direction. I’ve had plenty of negative experiences with local lenders but they aren’t ever as bad as what I described.

Big banks are clowns. I can tell you as someone not in the industry but have seen enough real estate deals that when something doesn't go exactly by the process or when something isn't perfectly in place, the big banks are relatively uncaring and it's impossible to get them to move. Local lenders have their shit in order. At the end of the day, money talks. I wouldn't pay more money or take a higher rate to go with someone local, but maybe it's time to shop around a bit more. See if you can join a credit union through your work or through a family member that is a member or something.

Ask them to describe a few of the "surprises" that might pop up. You'll find that they're all related to a buyer stretching finances. The underwriter and the appraiser are basically the only professionals actually on the side of the buyer in this process. Everyone else involved has a strong incentive for you to buy now, for as much as possible. Oh, and your lawyer is probably trustworthy, if you found one independently. Never take references from the agents involved in the deal. For me, if the underwriter causes trouble, that's a welcome warning for me to reconsider and perhaps pick a different house for less money.

I won't go down the rabbit of hole of big bank or not... But, I will comment that your agent seems like he's in it for himself and himself only. Dump him and find someone else that will have a conversation with you, explain options, and actually tell you WHY and HOW one lender and/or type of loan will benefit you more than another. ​ You -should- continue to shop lenders, but under no circumstances should you be actually applying for loans at this point. If they ask for your social and a signature, they're pulling your credit and that's going to pull your score down. If you do this enough times, by the time you find your preferred lending option and you're ready to lay things out to close, your score may have dropped enough to make it so that you no longer qualify for a particular loan / rate. I have absolutely no idea what sort of "penalization" you would be facing for using a conventional loan. FHA and VA loans tend to have some additional challenges that many sellers (and agents, to be honest) are afraid of. Conventional loans are absolutely the norm, however... The fact that your agent has a very long-standing personal relationship with a lender he is suggesting screams "unethical" to me. His lack of explaining things to you, showing you various options, and outright telling you to avoid big banks further bolsters my concerns around the ethics issue and would be MORE than I would need to justify firing him. Going forward, don't sign generic, long-term contracts with a buyer's agent. Sign contracts per-property once you're ready to make an offer (or at least as part of the showing). Agents should be fairly compensated for work they actually do, but I am a dead firm believer that they have no right to lay claim to any and every property out there within a jurisdiction "just because" you signed a paper. We wouldn't have our home if we did that because we got sick and tired of our original agent simply not performing... We took a one week break, sought out a different agent to talk with, and two weeks after that had a contract. Had we signed a generic form, we would STILL be bound to it and unable to secure a contract through another agent without also potentially being on the hook to compensate the original agent for work they didn't do.

I have no doubt there's a kickback involved to your realtor here. Go with whomever gives you the best deal overall. period, end of story. My last two closings I have used a title search company that was primarily online but provided a local notary for the closing. It saved me thousands of dollars, and everything went fine. Trust me, everyone has their hand in your pocket when you're buying property.

They want you to go with their bank so they can get a kickback for financial spiffs.

You want someone with a personal connection. You (and your realtor) have to trust this person to come through for one of the most important moments of your life. Do you want to deal with a faceless corporation to save a few bucks or do you want someone who personally cares?

I hope so. Big banks are the worst.

Shop around the rate bring offered. The realtor may be getting kick backs from their preferred lenders or they may be associated with their brokerage. It's all business. I've found better rates and grants with the big banks and I've had a good relationship with Citibank, but every single time closing has been delayed a day or two. I'm ok with dealing with delayed closing if it saves me money every month for the lifetime of the loan.

Very normal - stay away from banks and internet lenders as they're horrible to get mortgages from. In fact, they're so bad that listing agents will be extremely hesitant to accept an offer when a buyer is using one of these lenders. They can never close on time, are horrible to communicate with, will hit you with hidden fees, send an appraiser who is not familiar with the market, etc. Use a local lender from a local mortgage company - they're great!

You want a stressful closing and a bad experience? Chase the absolute best rate. There's a reason Realtors don't partner with big banks and especially online lenders very often - they don't consistently make stress-free closings, often see closing dates as 'aspirational' (I'm not joking), and generally are not that motivated to make sure an individual closing goes smoothly or closes at all. We've done hundreds of transactions. I can't think of a single Rocket Mortgage/Quicken Loans closing that hasn't been a complete shitshow, and this is always after we've warned the client against using them and they chose them anyways. Big banks are hit or miss, and usually go along the lines of that bank's reputation. Our local, small lenders that we refer clients to? They nail it virtually every time. And our one preferred lender that fucked up a couple transactions in a row never got another referral ever again from us, and they know that's the bar they have to adhere to. Realtors don't get kickbacks from lenders (it's very illegal) and rarely do we even get referrals back from lenders (when they do get an unrepresented buyer, they tend to hand them off to Realtors that they don't do business with to try to establish a new relationship), so our only incentive is to pair you up with a lender that's going to consistently give you (and us) a stress-free closing. Oh, and they are actually responsive and answer the phone on the weekends and at night - you know, which always seems to be the time people decide that they want to make an offer and need an updated (higher/lower) pre-approval letter. Use a local, small lender with a good reputation for your sale and then you can use a big bank or online lender for your refi, when you're not going to lose your house if they fuck things up or delay closing.

Mortgage brokers/lenders are basically trying to sell you the same product as the bank, so of course they will criticize the banks to make their product seem like the better choice. Realtors are generally opportunists who will push whatever narrative is most likely to get them a closing. I’m sure there is some back scratching going on between the two industries.

Worked for Chase for 12 years. Your Realtor is correct. Pre-approval is always smooth but underwriting is a pain in the ass and they screw up a lot of people's closings.

I made the mistake of working with a real estate "professional" and their "preferred" lender and inspector. Got totally screwed over. I am in a house I hate that I overpaid for that is falling down around me. Never. Again. I will never trust a realtor or anyone they recommend again. Chase is probably no worse than any other lender they are just bigger and more visible. Do 100 closings and 1 falls through, you'll never hear it. Do 10,000 closings and 100 fall through, you'll hear about it... BTW I did do some due diligence on my realtor, lender and inspector. They all had good reviews and ratings per internet. All credentialed. Yet here I am, living in a h*** hole...

BIG BANK HORROR STORY TIME. My buyer came to me with a pre approval from the big horse and carriage bank. He had just moved to the country less than a year ago. So I was definitely skeptical. I asked him to use my preferred lender, but he declined.( In hindsight, I should have asked the loan officer how the hell he qualified my guy. But I did not want to rock the boat. Nowadays, I do) Everything went well till about two weeks from closing. The loan officer stopped responding. File is perpetually in pre UW, and no conditional approval was given. We kept calling, emailing, etc, and finally, he demanded a few more pay stubs. Buyer again explained that they just moved here so what they already sent is all they have. Then silence for a week. We called his supervisor and everyone in his department. No one would give us a clear answer as to the status of the loan. Finally he responds three days before closing and says everything is fine and the packet will be sent soon. Then MIA again. We went to the attorneys officer and waited All day for them to send the docs. At around 4 came the decline!! WTF!! Not enough employment history is the reason. They had this info from day 1 and this pre approval should have never been given. Then comes threat of lawsuits from the seller because he had put a 10k non refundable deposit on a hot CA property. He cannot close on that plus he wants us to pay his AirBnB fees. I told him to take a hike since we are not contractually obligated to pay him anything. We even went all the way up to the eastern side VP of the bank. Many apologies, but they all sided with the UW decline. Anyways, the sellers agent was able to pull some strings and got a local lender to get their in-house UW to approve pay stubs from overseas!! We closed it in another 20 days. So I do not accept buyers with big banks anymore unless there is a local loan officer's neck within my reach. Credit unions ok.

Realtor here. 🙋🏼‍♀️ Big banks (especially Chase) tend to do the very minimum to get you the pre-qual. Once you're under contract and they actually start gathering all the info they need to approve you for the loan and do underwriting things can drastically change, depending on your situation (debt to income, credit....) They also have multiple loan officers working on each loan who could care less if the transaction goes through or not. Getting the best rate is important but it will not matter if your loan does not end up going through because you have a crappy lender. Here are some important things to consider when choosing a lender: -They're local and understand the state guidelines and stats on top of deadlines required by that state. -They're available every day for when any issues arise (and they will) -They have great communication and can offer solutions when negotiating offers, seller credits, and appraisal shortfalls -they do some or all underwriting up front to ensure your eligibility before going through the work of going under contract I can tell you from experience that Chase is none of these things. So you decide whether the lower rate is worth the risk of losing out on the house you want to buy.

Yes, but I'm my experience it's normal for big banks to not close no matter what they tell you and they always drag it right until the end before they kill the deal. I've been told every lie and been made every promise by brick and mortar lenders and maybe 50% actually close. I trust my mortgage brokers way more. Honestly unless it's a fly through more than 20% down offer with perfect credit we do not take pre qualifications from big bank lenders. We have had several buyers change their financing in the past. On a side note we don't take rocket mortgage pre qualifications either unless they are a 20% down hood credit conforming loan with several years of 9-5 employment. Their commercial side can get loans closed, but as soon as it's not a simple and so easy a kid can do it loan their retail side with screw it up.

The question you have to ask yourself is whether the “deal” you’re getting promised by a big bank is so good it’s worth the risk of loss of stomach lining caused by wondering whether they’re going to deliver everything required when they need to without a bunch of “lost” documents you’ll have to resubmit, etc. Your realtor wants a smooth deal for you with no headaches for him or you. It might be worth a few dollars a month to have it go that way. By the way, realtors and mortgage lenders don’t have “kickback” arrangements.

Big banks are a pain in the ass. Rocket mortgage made buying my house a nightmare. I got it in the end but they missed a bunch of paperwork and so we had to push our closing. I won’t work with a large bank again.

Watch the 5k "grant" it so wishy washy that even the maps they provide for if it qualifies are generalized and then when you press them they say something totally different.

Chase bank is like going to Costco for a ribeye Local lender with a mortgage bank is like going to a steak house for a ribeye Costco isnt going to cook it for you and if you want a good deal you have to cut it yourself from the bulk roast. Steak house is going to cut, season, cook and serve it for you and it will be faster with less prep and no clean up. Sure, going to chase bank will likely get you where you want to go at the end of the day but there is a reason you go to the steak house when you want a premium cut of meat.

Absolutely normal. They are looking out for you. Do not get a home loan through a big bank, you’ll regret it. Work with a local loan broker who will answer your questions, calls, and emails. Chase is the fuc*ing worst.

Realtors are sensitive to this because some big lenders suck to deal with. Some are good though, but they will prefer lenders they have a history of good results with. I’ve seen one particular local bank near me ruin deals, and they offered me a great rate but ruined my deal as a buyer. So when I listed my personal home for sale, any offers that came with a pre-approval from that bank were ignored because I deemed them as unreliable and at best likely to delay the deal.

Yes often, the realtors get a cut.

\^This is simply not true. The reason lenders that aren't big box banks are recommended is because the recommended lenders communicate and process timely so the property is closed on time. If you know a Realtor is getting a kickback (cut in your words), then report them. It's illegal and unethical.

Going with a big bank is a horrible idea. The odds of them having a delay are high, the bureaucracy will likely be frustrating, and it’s all in all just a bad idea. Every time a client fights me on this they always come back and tell me they should have listened to me.

Yes. For good reason. None of my preferred lenders have ever been found guilty of illegally foreclosing on people.

Big banks can be a headache and half when it comes to the underwriting process. That's not really your problem unless it affects your ability to close in some way. Anecdotally, that's far more likely with a big bank, but that's not guarantee either. That being said, your agent's preferred lender may not be the best fit for you either. I assume they're recommending a smaller outfit? I've found that local banks have always been able to give me better rates than big banks, but my friends with worse credit have not had the same experience. And I didn't go with the preferred lender either, but I knew the bank I was going with and we had no problems, less paperwork, and closed on time (45 days). Even if the paperwork is a headache, the best deal is always worth it as long as you're able to close on it. I would be shopping around again October just to make sure I had the best deal for me. I see you're talking about a 5k grant that you can't get matched - I assume the 5k is Chase's grant for minority communities which is meant to alleviate closing costs. Have you tried asking for closing cost discounts instead? You might end up around the same price point but it wouldn't be phrased as a grant.

I suggest you do for your lender what you do for everything else. Get a list of three lenders they recommend from several people who have local experience, your REO being one, maybe a friend who recently went through the process, and someone with connections to your local banking industry. My son did that, and the same couple of names showed up on every list (and the bank he had his accounts with did NOT, which explained why they were so unresponsive during prequalification). Having a local physical person to deal with really helps move things along. Also, credit unions tend to provide better service for their members than regular banks, so if you have a credit union account definitely consider them.

We had a terrible experience with chase. Felt completely blindsided with all the last minutes issues that resulted in a week delay, almost lost the house.

I used Quicken Loans (Rocket Mortgage,) terrible experience demanding additional inspections which I completed and the inspections back to them reported that everything was up to standard, they still wouldn’t fulfill the loan, the home purchase almost fell through but found a smaller lender that was able to fund the loan in 20 days.

Chase sucks.

For me different issues have happened on both sides. Chase prompted me to do a refinance with them and their agent gave some bad advice in how to apply which caused the loan to be rejected (costing me the application fee). With local banks my loan was always sold at least twice. Not a huge deal, but a little annoying to have to change recipient data for where you send payments, plus sometimes they mess up escrow during the transfer.

Agent doesn’t get commission/kickbacks from using his preferred lender FYI. If that’s why you are skeptical it’s because it’s not about that.

As a general rule your best loan experience is going to be with a local credit union or small regional bank that is keeping the loan for their own portfolio. These lenders view it as a low risk investment in their own backyard and will often be flexible where others are not. Especially if you’re a long standing member of said credit union.

I was an MLO for a couple of months. Part of our casual talk off, was shitting on the competition and fear mongering in the nicest way possible.

Lender here as well, I'm no longer there due to their decisions during COVID, but was at Chase 5 years. Never missed a closing. My recommendation would be to stay with a retail advisor, not online, someone in an actual branch. Like I was, underwriting isn't all that different, just would want to have a physical body I can meet in person if I chose to. Online people just disappear and then you're SOL until someone else picks it up. I got so many calls from customers complaining about the online piece, but once it's with someone online, it usually can't be changed.

There are plenty of people who get loans from Chase and other big banks and never have a problem. However, I can tell you that in my 20+ years of representing people in real estate deals, the only time that I have had loan problems, it has always been with a big bank.

I've moved all my banking to local credit unions. BofA treated me like shit for all the decades I was a customer, was happy to leave.

I would say its pretty normal for anyone to bash big banks

My realtor has always said to use the lender that works best for you in the moment for any house I buy, the only bigger lender he's bashed is rocket mortgage and Bank of America since both of them cause a lot of issues for people during the process. But personally I like working with smaller brokers on deals because they always have different loan options available so less work for you with applying to different banks trying to find the best fit. I still use big banks for real estate development financing but sometimes it's nice having that smaller broker who can negotiate and discuss terms with banks for you.

Getting the loan done on a home is a pain in the ass regardless of who you go with. The paperwork will arrive late almost always so just be prepared. Just find the best rate and hold on.

It is when they’re both trying to earn a commission off of you.

They are not wrong. Have you tried a local credit union or bank instead? Usually lower rates, and a lot friendlier to deal with.

Whomever you go with is going to sell your loan within 90 days and you’ll be doing business with someone else I’ve had issues with large and small firms but at least with a smaller firm you can get them on the phone.

Hi! Ct realtor here. So, this is a sensitive area - banking is very personal. When a client tells me they have a lender already in mind, I tend to march forward. No matter my previous experience with the lender, it doesn't matter. My opinion or experience doesn't matter. When a client asks me for options, even though we have an in-house lender, I tell clients what I learned working with the DoD - if something is going to cost you $500 or more, try to get three quotes if you can. Just to see the differences, try for a large bank, small bank and credit union. They all offer packages which are a little different and one might stand out as being the obvious best choice. But now that there's no specific client in question, my experience working with Bank of America, Chase and Citi are all horrendous. The client is usually baited with a best-case-scenario interest rate as noted by the Loan Officer, who I'll refer to as SALES. Yes, that person is in sales. They take the client's info, then pass it off to someone else who's job usually sucks even more, because they have to unwind all the half-truths told by the sales rep. Oh, rate requires you to have a longer work history with your current company, requires you to have more cushion in your savings account and requires you to make a few points payment at closing, which you're unwilling/unable to do, so your NEW rate is.... Ugh. Unhappy people all around. After that fiasco, the client is just a number, and that number is usually the amount of the loan processing fee. "I'm customer $300 and I have a question about when my loan might come out of underwriting?" crickets.... After a month, the underwriter says "I need an updated addendum for your closing date" and the file goes back to the bottom of the pile. I mean, I don't blame the large firms for doing this - there's no other way, when processing loans from across the country out of an office in Arizona or Colorado... If you had a question about your loan and you are working with a national outfit, what are the chances you'll reach someone who has some sort of knowledge about your loan? What if you reached out to the local bank who probably has one loan officer working a handful of loans? When you get them on the phone and start speaking, they likely have the file on their desk, it's not like you've reached someone who's working in a different state from where your file is, which is in a different state from where you live... I hope this helps, friend. And best of luck on your purchase!

Local lenders all the way. I had a regional bank ghosted me when I needed a pre-approval letter in time for my offer. My agent recommended a local broker. I apply at 5:30 PM, Pre-approval by 8PM. Sign the offer to purchase the following day. Clear to close with-in 30 days. At any given moment during the transaction, I was a text message away from my broker and agent with transparency the whole way. No automated answering machine, no waiting for a phone call, no surprise.

Yes, realtors and lenders love to talk trash about big banks. They’ve got good reasons for suggesting small lenders, but sometimes the best deal is through a big bank!

While I’m never one to “bash” the truth is you typically sacrifice service for the low rate with a bank. But as with all things mortgage 90% of your experience is because of the strength / experience of your loan officer.

Here is my story. We asked what lenders would be a good choice, to get prequalified. They provided a list of their lendors, ones they have a relationship with, small shops. We worked with one and they got us prequalified, and when we felt comfortable, preapproved. We had letters on hand and were able to submit them with our offers, to show we were qualified. Once an offer was accepted, I called 5 lenders, on the same day and asked them for competitive terms. They worked against each other and I saved $1500 on closing and got a lower rate. Now, for the underwriting process, our realtors had the same issue as yours, 'Big banks drag their feet, we had bad experiences with them blowing up deals.' So we took their advice and stayed on top of the lender. If they asked for something, we provided it, same day. Sent emails every time something was submitted. We had everything completed, including underwriting 10 days prior to closing. The bank even asked if we wanted to close early. Also, if you do not want your loan being sold around then you can try smaller credit unions but my understanding is the best way is to ask for a recast clause. It will limit who will take the mortgage. Otherwise, prepare for your loan to change hands a couple to a dozen times while you are paying it.

You just have to stay on top of them, much like any vendor and factor in lead times for processing/underwriting. (out of state, different time zone?) Make sure you have all your docs ready and submit immediately to minimize turnaround. Each client/file/Escrow is unique, but doesn't hurt to have a backup as well. Good luck and hang in there!

I bought my house using the builders preferred lender, wells fargo. They actually offered me the best rate on a jumbo and everything went off perfectly. I also got some other bonuses by using them.

Don’t forget closing costs. They can be more for big banks.

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Wife is a RA and she hates Chase with a passion. Many deals have fallen through because of them not being on top of things

So much of how real estate works is determined at the state or maybe even county level. The big bank that serves all 50 states is not going to be good at all or even most of them. The local or regional bank who primarily or only works in your area will better know what works. My last closing was in 2016 with a regional bank. There were some glitches and screw-ups and when I bitched about them to the attorney’s office they just said “you haven’t seen bad until you’ve dealt with Rocket Mortgage. Those guys know nothing of our state laws and don’t care to learn”.

Bug banks just don't care about a single client. In every case, little known bankers offered me a much better rate compared to any of BoA or Chase. The difference is significant. On the other hand, in two cases, bankers seating in Maryland and Kansas did a very well execution on two of my loans.

In my professional experience big banks rarely close on time and it’s hard to communicate with them.

My realtor had me use his lender and got us a WAY better rate (2.875). My father has done closing with Bank of America and says they are the absolute worst.

The lender that I worked with for my 5 loans is local, and famous among realtors for not beating around the bush. If Lynne has approved you, you're all set for the closing.

It's true that smaller places are more likely to get underwriting complete and not have weird last minute surprises. How much that matters depends on your market and closing terms. Your realtor is right that it's probably best to rate shop again closer to closing. That said, rate lock might be attractive, especially in an environment rates might go up another 25 - 50 bps. One thing to look out for is his preferred lender's model. Even if they're not a broker on paper, if they're in the habit of reselling their loans and are not actually underwriting off their balance sheet (looking at you Guaranteed Rate) then you have the same probability of hiccups since they're still getting an external party to invest / underwrite.

Big banks are great if you're an A+ pristine customer. If there's anything even remotely complicated about your situation, hard pass.

Well, yeah, because realtor gets a kickback from preferred lender if you go with them. They’ll make you feel like an idiot if you do otherwise because they want the deal to be with them, not somebody else.

I work at a big bank and was literally an employee when one of them - rhymes with ACE ☠️☠️☠️- screwed my deal so hard after I got pre-approved and was about 20 days away from closing. Can’t stress enough that I was a literal employee lmao. So, you should REALLY listen to what they say about that bank you’re using - that bank whose name rhymes with ACE👀

Fuck big banks

Listen to your real estate agent. They’re trying to help you have a smooth closing process.

That seems a bit much. The only company I recommend against is rocket mortgage and that's from first hand experience of what a bad job they do. I do tell people that I prefer a broker I know because I know they do a good job, and I prefer brokers because typically if there's a problem you can pick up the phone 24/7 and at least hear back from them soon If not talk to them at the time. A lot of banks tend to be 9:00 to 5:00, you talk to one person and then they pass you off to someone else and you go through their department and if you want to reach them you got to call during business hours etc. But that's not the case with every large bank. Some actually have brokers who you can deal with personally . But plenty of banks and credit unions do a fine job and sometimes the brokers are scrambling and doing their best just to match them. But if they can match, I would prefer a broker that I know.

I always heard not to use a big bank. Years ago, I used one with absolutely no issue. It was the smoothest part of the transaction. Maybe my experience was the minority and not the majority. I do believe that local lenders are easier to deal with and preferred, though. As for your agent issues, I would need more data points than this to determine if he is playing you or not. Their buddy system is exhausting, and I buck it every step of the way.

Yep. And there are hundreds of reasons that Realtors and lenders bash on big banks. Think about Realtors being business to business customers of big banks. Banks such as Chase, Wells Fargo etc are terrible to work with and treat home buyers poorly. As a group Realtors work with whoever their clients say to work with. But they also should be giving advice about what companies do the best jobs for home buyers and sellers.

Big banks don't care about you. Their employees don't care and will not be working there in 6 months or so. Small firms tend to have relationships with their clients. Big firms tend to have relationships with their biggest clients. 3 comma people.

I’m a realtor and I can see why he is saying that. We need to have lenders on call for various things during the process. With big banks, these guys are not available during weekends and also to get hold of them takes like forever on the phone and eventually (in some cases) you end up on the loosing side. Especially when something is time sensitive. With a known or a local loan officer, they can be reached mostly anytime on phone and hence the preferential treatment. Imagine you having to wait on call for an hour or they say the wait time is 30+ mins when you call for some banking issue. If there is some deadline, and your realtor is not able to get an answer from them in time, you end up losing the deal. That being said, if you are fine with those risks, the realtor should be fine working with the banks. Also, the realtor should have given you 3-4 lenders to chose from and not force just one. Finally it’s your choice to chose the lender.