The first time I was introduced to Babak was in August of 2016 during our first home offer. In…read morecomparing, CPLC rates were significantly better tha 5 other lenders I reviewed. When the home purchase fell through due to other reasons, I kept Babak's contact in mind for future offers. Life happened and we were out of the home market for a while, but during that time, Babak kept us on his mailing list so we could be updated on how the housing market was doing.
Forward to September 2021 and we were finally back on the housing market. We found one that we liked and checked with Babak along with a few other recommended lenders for rates. Only Babak and one other lender asked more questions, which showed me lenders just throwing out "low" rates vs those actually working to give the best rates. But Babak took the edge due to timelier responses; never having to wait more than a business day. This was crucial because of how hot the market was at the time with offers being reviewed within a week. Pre-Approvals and Desktop Underwritings needed to be included, so that Sellers would not reject offers due to questionable loans. So I asked Babak if PAs and DUs could be completed to include with the offer and he worked diligently to provide them within a day (that evening actually). Unfortunately, we were outbid and the next offer was a similar scenario where the sellers were reviewing offers within a week. Babak promptly delivered the PA and DU within a day, and again our offer was rejected. This vicious cycle happened a total of 12 times over 10 and a half months. But I can impressively say that all the offers had PAs and DUs included. Babak would often follow up and when we broke the news to him, he would reply with encouragements like "Hang in there!". These were great, especially when you just lost the opportunity to purchase a great home and you start wondering if you'll ever buy a home.
In July 2022, we finally found a home in a new community and were ready to move forward with our home loan. The Builder's Home Loan Department gave us their rate first since we had to prequalify through them and assured us that their rates were the most competitive and that shopping around would be pointless. The Builders Loan Agent (BLA) said they would include a possible builder incentive (cashback), a 1pt reduction from the interest rate, a 120 day rate lock, and a rate renegotiation at the date of closing (if the interest rates had dropped). I took that information back to Babak and after he reviewed the home and finance details, advised that even with the 1 point reduction, the BLA rates weren't competitive at all. He could easily provide the same rate with 0 points and urged me to verify if there were any actual builder incentives, additional fees for the renegotiation, and to be cautious of any inquiries that were taking long to answer or being ignored (meaning they may be hiding things). I took Babak's advice and emailed the BLA and all that advise bore truth when after WEEKS of waiting for a reply, the BLA finally responded that there were NO BUILDER INCENTIVES AT THIS TIME and that A RENEGOTIATION WOULD INCUR A HALF POINT FEE! When I asked why this was not told to us up front, he stated that IT WASN'T COMMON PRACTICE and HE DIDN'T THINK HE NEEDED TO MENTION IT. While this was all occurring, Babak was already working on getting me a 90+30 day rate lock, closing date renegotiation with no fee, and sending me the interest rates twice a day! Even more so, Babak didn't use force to pressure me into doing business with CPLC. He sent one kind reminder that he had been providing services to me for many months and that he was really looking out for my best interest. I wholeheartedly agreed, but just asked for his cooperation as I explored the builder home loan option for due diligence. His reply was that of a true professional... "Completely understand. Will wait to hear from you." He didn't push me into a corner, he didn't bully, and he definitely didn't guilt me to move forward with him because he had provided 10 months of service to me at all hours of the night. He showed true UNDERSTANDING and PATIENCE!
When I decided to go with Babak and told the BLA the rate quoted, he replied with, "THERE'S NO WAY! YOU HAVE TO SHOW IT TO ME IN WRITING! EITHER WAY, WE CAN MATCH IT! JUST GIVE IT TO ME IN WRITING!" At this point I was done and replied, "Why would I go with you to 'match the offer', when MY LENDER already did all the work?!"
From that point forward, everything was smooth sailing with constant communication from Alissa and Babak. Even after dealing with Builder delays and our rate lock nearing expiration, Alissa kept calm and helped us stay calm. When the final approval was received and we only had 5 days before the rate lock expired, Alissa rose to the challenge and finished everything we needed in 2 days!
Definitely recommending my friends and all of you to talk to Babak and Alissa!