After we submitted our application and got charged individually on credit report fee, Michelle went for vacation for 10 days without notice. After her vacation, she didn't respond. No updates on our application at all even though we tried to reach out to her via email, phone call, left her text messages. We were able to talk to her assistant Sarah. Still nothing. This is very frustrating! We were charged for nothing. If I could rate zero star, I would. I do not recommend her at all. Imagine you open escrow and she disappears like this, good luck! read more

We had a great experience working with Michelle and her associate, Sarah, on our first home purchase. Everything was handled efficiently, and we closed on time thanks to Michelle's effective handling of any issues. Highly recommend! read more

She must have some deals with first time home buyer agencies since she makes you take a course prior to even being selected, saying its mandatory, but actually it is not. No transparency and very slow to respond. read more

I had the best experience purchasing my 1st home from Michelle Ota @ Blue Vista Mortgage!! Michelle is personable, knowledgeable, has great work ethic, she's helpful, resourceful and knows all the County & City program out there. Michelle helped me access additional programs that totalled up to be 122K in help for me to buy my new home!!! I was especially pleased that she kept me informed throughout the process and was always accessible and very professional throughout my purchase! Michelle went above and beyond to get me in my new house and I'm forever grateful!! I'm definitely referring her to all my family and friend!!!! read more

After navigating the first time homeowner maze for some time, I found Michelle Otta who demonstrated an abundance of knowledge, professionalism and personalized service. Michelle answered my emails after hours, returned my calls, she was there from beginning to end. I successfully closed escrow on my first home with Michelle, and when I purchase my next home I will be reaching out to Michelle. If you're a first time buyer, make sure you have all your p's and q's in order and reach out to Michelle. You won't regret it. Thank you Michelle. read more

Blue Vista Mortgage will always be my first choice for a Loan Officer. Michelle Ota did an outstanding job with our loan. She worked diligently and swiftly to get us the best rate for our first time home purchase. She answered any questions we had, made sure we understood the process and documents while working with our best interest at heart. I will always recommend her and her company to my family and friends. 10/10 stars!! read more

So here it is 15 years since Michelle helped me with my first-time home owner process... she maintains personable relationships with anniversary emails. Thank you Michelle for your knowledge, professionalism, and personal touch! read more

I went to Michelle Ota for mortgage assistance on my first home. (That was in 1995). I was totally in the dark about everything financing my new home entailed. I was a nervous mess when I went to her. She calmed me down and explained everything to me step by step in layman terms. She made sure I understood. She kept me abreast of everything that was occurring. Yes, the process was hectic. But, she and her staff were there each time I had a question. Michelle went over and beyond to assist me in achieving my goal of owning my own home. I have gone back to her for refi's and I will return to her when I purchase my next home. Michelle is very rofessional as is her staff! Would I recommend Michelle Ota to my friends? Yes! I have recommended them and they too were very pleased! read more

First time buyer here! ... The pros: Michelle will give you helpful information to obtain your first home. Cons: Michelle, does not return your call whats so ever, im the type of gal that if i call/ text you im relaying on you to return my call/text. After meeting with Michelle with the requested doc's I never never heard from her again, she totally forgot about my husband and I :( ... I had to go to a different realtor to help us seek for a home. Would not recommend this mortgage company. read more

The WORST company to work with! Don't ever work with the people here. They are VERY slow and unprofessional. Even after our escrow deadline we never received a call regarding the status (which I understand escrow can end up longer than expected). We waited for their call for 2 days and no response. We then called and asked what was happening. They asked for a couple more documents so we promptly took care of it. We waited for 1.5 weeks asking everyday how it was going. Their response was, "we will let you know by today", for 1.5 weeks everyday! Of course our sellers were upset; we were upset as well. The sellers ended up putting the house back in the market, then received a cash offer, and our offer got canceled. This was one of the worst experiences ever. Don't ever work with this company. They never keep their promises and are SUPER SLOW at everything! read more

I am incredibly upset with Michelle. I won't go into details, I will keep this short. Basically she made decisions without consulting with me first and it lead to messing up my plan. She went behind my back and discouraged homeowners from selling their homes to me saying I'm "most likely not going to get a loan" while giving me hopes. I found this out through the homeowner's agency and they told me the things Michelle has said. I immediately quit working with Michelle and found someone else and I DID get the loan. She could care less for my situation and my ideal plans. Had she kept me updated, we would've had better communication and things wouldn't be the way it is now. She's very unresponsive... It takes forever to hear back from her and if I finally do get in touch with Michelle, she's not helpful what so ever. I've wasted my time waiting for her emails/calls. Now that she is out of the way, I am able to buy my dream house. Poor communication & service. I will never use this company again. My experience with her was horrid and offensive to say the least. EDIT: The recent 5 star reviews are fake, everyone I know in Torrance district who knows Michelle has nothing pleasant to say of her crappy service. She is very well known to be unprofessional and incompetent even amongst the other real estate agents and mortgage brokers. Those five star reviews gives me chuckles. Nice try. read more

When I made the decision that I wanted to purchase investment property, I knew Michelle was the best person to contact. The Blue Vista team are professional and diligent, they always kept me informed throughout my transaction. When your making such a big investment it's important to have people you can trust and you know are working in your best interest which is exactly what I felt through the whole process. Looking forward to doing business again with Blue Vista Mortgage. read more

First of all, I have had an awesome experience with Blue Vista mortgage! Michelle went the extra mile to make sure that my loan was closed and that I was able to purchase my first home in 2016! I have gone back to her 2-3 times since closing on my home for advice on refinancing, credit, and just being a new home owner. I HIGHLY suggest Michelle for any home financial needs. Secondly, she has made herself available for me to even come in and sit down to go over financial plans. If you are patient and do your part in the process, she will make sure to do her best to work for your best interests! Michelle has been the most honest and caring lender I have worked with (I had several in the journey of trying to purchase a home). I highly recommend Blu Vista Mortgagage and am soo thankful that they exist! read more

Michelle is an AMAZING mortgage broker , was quick, professional, patient ... all her staff were so helpful She got me the lowest interest rate . I am very happy with the whole process and her service. Highly recommend her to anyone! read more

Michelle and her team at Blue Vista Mortgage secured my original mortgage as a first-time homebuyer and recent refi. I feel like I am in great hands with Michelle. Her experience and guidance have been invaluable. I would and do recommend her to my friends. read more

I recently purchased my first home, and had no clue about the process! I felt very lost! Michelle and her team are so welcoming and inviting with any question, concern, and/or thought. They never made me feel bad for asking or that I was a hassle to their time. Also, they are very thorough with explanations. They are one phone call or email away with a quick response time. After we closed, the team still continued to help me with anything I asked them. I highly recommend them! The team at Blue Vista is a pleasure to work with! read more

I can Honestly say Michelle made our first home buying experience a very pleasant ,from our first conversation she explained each and every option that was available to us. First home buying is a truly insane process ,Michelle was the most helpful person a first timer could hope for. Her team (especially Gino) navigated us through phases of every process well beyond. Michelle acted positively on our behalf when the process met some very unexpected hurdles, because of her help,we were calm and still think this is just a process. Michelle is a professional in every sense,Extremely Personable,asks the right questions,Possesses expert knowledge of the lending process. I can't thank you Michelle enough for all the work and patience working with us as a true person not just a broker.She'll be the first and only recommendation to my friend on looking to buy their first home. read more

In late 1996 I was 34 years old and I wanted to buy my 1st house. The home owner I was working with introduced me to Michelle Ota. Michelle took me on as a 1st time buyer. By August 1997 I owned my 3bd 1bath home along with my boyfriend as equal owners. Then in 2000 we had Ms. Ota do our Refi which went well. Next when my boyfriend and I sold our home after 9 years Michelle convinced me to stay out of the market for 3 years so I could be qualified once again as a 1st time buyer. Michelle was right again. 4 years later In 2011 with Michelle full guidance I bought my next home by my self in a better neighborhood then previously. And once more Michelle came to the rescue by handling my refi. Michelle Ota has proven in 19 years of doing business with her that she under promises and over delivers like no body else I've ever done business with. It's safe to say with her guidance I've made sound real estate investments with the two homes I've been fortunate to own. If you want to work with a steady, reliable professional Michelle Ota is a sure bet. Camber Hill, Long Beach, CA read more

The team at Blue Vista are very professional and a pleasure to work with for my first home purchase. Michelle was very helpful and informative and was able to get me qualified for a great rate. She was even able to get me a mortgage credit through the state of California that saves me thousands of dollars every year. Other lenders I spoke with didn't even know about the program. I was also paying PMI because I didn't have 20% down payment and Michelle was able to help me get that removed when I went back to refinance earlier this year. I would highly recommend Blue Vista and have referred many friends to Michelle and her team. read more

Went through Blue Vista for first time home purchase. Was referred to Michelle through a friend and was not disappointed! She and her team made the sometimes confusing and overwhelming process so much easier. They were all so helpful and friendly. Would definitely recommend them and use them again! read more

Michelle, Gino, and the entire Blue Vista Team delivered under the gun on a multi layered, tight time constraint loan, to secure the purchase of my new home. My home qualified for an HCIDLA program (requiring a Second) which dictates various areas of constraints (lots of additional paperwork). Not only was Michelle extraordinarily knowledgeable about the "extinct" program I was pursuing (a program that had not been executed by anyone for 2+ years), but was incredibly patient with me as a first time home buyer who would not sign things I did not understand. Michelle took a significant amount of time to explain and elaborate on the information provided and also managed to keep up with my proactive communication. On a personal note, Michelle is incredibly kind, personable, and a hardworking business owner, who makes it a priority to meet her clients' needs (Subway parking lot paperwork exchanges, included). Sending my thanks to her and the entire Blue Vista Mortgage team. read more

If you're looking for an unprofessional loan officer who can lead you down an 80 day escrow and not get the home Michelle is definitely a person you want to work with. It's extremely difficult to get in touch with Michelle because according to her receptionist , "she's with a customer." I would go for almost a week without hearing from Michelle. As a first time homebuyer you want to make sure everything is going according to plan but you're not going to get that kind of attention from her. Michelle would leave it to the last minute to advise us of dramatic changes such as quit your second job to reduce your income today, and turn in your leased vehicle three months prior to lease end, and oh I forgot to mention you have to take an 8 hour homebuyers course by the end of his weekend. It was a horrible experience and I hope no one ever has to go through this again. I would leave 0 stars if it were possible. Michelle does not have her clients best interest. Do your research when working with Michele and get all of her ridiculous requests in writing as she often would lie and make up conversations that never took place to blame us for her mistakes. read more