NWR: Mortgages & Banks..

ginny26 Posted: Mar 14, 2006 12:38 PM

NWR: Mortgages & Banks..

Hi everyone,
I posted on the Home board but I figured I'd try here as well: can anyone share any good/bad experiences with the following banks (we need to get a mortgage commitment letter within 45 days!!): Washington Mutual (offers a discount to teachers), Astoria Federal, Bank of NY, Nassau Educators? Any feedback I can get would be much appreciated!!! THANKS!

hocus Posted: Mar 14, 2006 12:50 PM

Re: NWR: Mortgages & Banks..

We went to Washington Mutual and they couldn't help us (no co-op) though there were helpful overall.

Meaghan729 Posted: Mar 14, 2006 12:57 PM

Re: NWR: Mortgages & Banks..

wamu gives specials to teachers?? thanks for the info!

ginny26 Posted: Mar 14, 2006 01:21 PM

Re: NWR: Mortgages & Banks..

I just called WaMu and the guy said that teachers get a 1/2 point interest discount (which brings 6.6 percent down to 6.1!)

BklynItaliana Posted: Mar 14, 2006 01:41 PM

Re: NWR: Mortgages & Banks..

i'm not a big fan of washington mutual(JMO)

Anna506 Posted: Mar 14, 2006 02:13 PM

Re: NWR: Mortgages & Banks..

My FH was applying for a Home Equity Line of Credit from WaMu... he filled out all the info, faxed in required documents but they never got back to him! Needless to say he went with a different bank.... HSBC. My parents like HSBC too.

Good luck!

thelilacone Posted: Mar 14, 2006 02:19 PM

Re: NWR: Mortgages & Banks..

I've never really had any good experiences with WaMu. They screwed my aunt over when she was starting her business, the made it very hard for her to do anything.

On a happier note, my folks just got a HELOC, and they used Lending Tree to find the best rate. I recommend using that to find yourselves a mortigage. We ended up using Wachovia cause they gave us a rate .25 below prime and the people there were really nice, even though I called like a zillion times with questions.

HTH and good luck.

maybride03 Posted: Mar 14, 2006 02:27 PM

Re: NWR: Mortgages & Banks..

We had tried using WaMu for HELOC, and they were helpful up until they got our application fee, and then they were super unhelpful. We ended up not being able to get the HELOC from them, and we were told we would get the application fee back, but we never got it back, and it has been over a year despite our best efforts.

ginny26 Posted: Mar 14, 2006 03:27 PM

Re: NWR: Mortgages & Banks..

Thank you for all your input!! I'm going to check Wachovia too, and some other banks. HSBC also. THANKS and keep the info coming if you can!!

ginny26 Posted: Mar 14, 2006 03:34 PM

Re: NWR: Mortgages & Banks..

It seems that the closest Wachovia is in the city...not too convenient for us, although their rate is lower. How often does one have to travel to the bank during the mortgage process??

thelilacone Posted: Mar 14, 2006 04:07 PM

Re: NWR: Mortgages & Banks..

the wachovia loan center is actually in NC, so they FedEx'd all the paper work to my parents, and they just had to go to a notary to sign it and FedEx it back. They did not set one foot in an actual branch.