Chris Mason aka Dr. Mortgage is the absolute best in the business. If you are passionate about details, appreciate thorough processing, love a detailed approach to administrative requirements...please stop scrolling - do yourself a favor - and schedule an online consultation with Chris. He will answer all your question in seconds. Seconds. Long story short we were pursuing a survival va loan. A very specific loan. This caused a problem with loan origination company....but we had already started the process. Chris called 15 other lenders to no avail. Then he called the first lender...went to bat for us. And essentially forced the lender to give us a better rate than we originally had been offered. When Chris called - he didn't tell me we have a problem. He said ..."we have a problem but we already solved it." How often does that happen? 10/10. The absolute best. Call him right now unless you hate exceptional service. read more

I found Chris through a friend's referral, and I'm so glad I had him for my first home buying experience. I was working with another lender previously and was unhappy about how complicated things were. From the get-go Chris was super transparent about everything: costs and the process, and he provided a customized Google Sheet of all the cost breakdowns that I used heavily. Pre-approval process was much easier and less stressful than with the previous lender, and during escrow he was really quick, responsive, and thorough. Honestly couldn't have asked for more. Grateful to have worked with him and I'll definitely recommend him in the future. read more

Chris really helped my husband and I secure a loan for our first home. We signed up for an urgent consultation and he made himself available and talked us through the entire process of what it takes to get a home loan. He helped us every step of the way all the way up past close with helpful advice as well. Could not recommend him enough! read more

As first time home buyers, my spouse and I stumbled upon Chris' name after a thorough search in Reddit (and other sites like Yelp) for solid mortgage broker recommendations in the Bay Area. If you've stumbled upon my review while shopping for mortgage brokers, please do yourself a favor and connect with Chris now! And why should you do that? Chris is communicative, extremely thorough, and incredibly knowledgeable. Read on for more! First: If you are a first time home owner, you probably have a billion questions. And Chris has systems in place to make himself easy to reach, and to help his clients understand the A-B-C of every single number behind the finances of borrowing for a home. He will also answer questions "you didn't know you had". Second: Buying a home is an emotional decision, and Chris does an amazing job in keeping you grounded as a borrower, using fact-based advice. When running the numbers, he will help you evaluate a number of alternatives and combinations (even ones that didn't even cross your mind) and all with the borrower in mind, before going to shop for the best rate. Third: In this fast-paced unpredictable market, you'll also probably hear from your agent that partnering with a reputable mortgage broker is one important factor that can make a difference in getting your offer accepted. So to that end, I'll quote my agent: "Chris Mason is way ahead of the game. We will be leisurely making our way toward the closing date." - - Yes! Leisurely! Last but not least: Have you ever heard of a loan ready to close in less than 10 days? I have. If you really have your docs ready to go, Chris will make everything else look like a walk in the park and absolutely nail every step of the way until you are cleared to close. All in all, I'm proud to say partnering with Chris has made an otherwise stressful process one where I felt I had an amazing team member guiding me every step of the way. Thank you Chris! read more

It was a pleasure working with Chris as a first time homebuyer. Not only was he deeply knowledgeable about different lending products that we could use as a first time homebuyer, but was also extremely thorough, diligent and transparent during the entire process. His communication was top notch and he made sure we were kept in loop with everything going on as well as made sure to follow up diligently with documents to be returned to close escrow on time. Also his closing time was very very competitive and definitely gave us an edge over the competing offers. He was in fact able to beat his already challenging closing time by 5 days to make sure we get the property ahead of time with the locked rates. I would like to add that, having shopped around a bit for best mortgage rates, we could confidently say that Chris was offering the best terms overall and goes above and beyond to get creative with financing. Overall, Chris was exceptional and we would be using him for all our deals moving forward. read more

Chris came highly recommended from a family member and did not disappoint. He expertly, quickly, and patiently walked us through 2 refinances and a purchase with a VA loan after we struggled with a high volume broker who did not meet our needs after months (and months) of working together. We feel so lucky to have found Chris and will continue to recommend him to our friends and family for his knowledge, attention to detail, and genuine interest in getting us the right mortgage and best rates. read more

Chris is professional, well-spoken, VERY knowledgable, and takes his time to make sure you understand all of the details regarding your mortgage options. My wife and I bought our first home last year with Chris as our broker. That was the best decision we made during the home buying process, except for the house we chose! For first timers like us, having Chris as a resource was truly invaluable. If you're looking for a home loan you can stop now that you've found Chris. Thank you Chris! read more

Chris is someone who is not only knowledgeable, he is able to explain things in a way that is easy to understand, even if you are just embarking on your home buying process. I learned more in a 45 minute phone call with Chris than in the month I've been trying to educate myself online. Chris makes it simple to schedule time with him and uses that time extremely efficiently to assess your needs and point you towards your next steps. His communications are quick, clear, & concise, with the right mix of personal touch to make sure you know what's needed at each step to keep things moving forward. read more

Chris was very helpful in the purchase of my home. He moved very quickly, was very transparent, and communicated very clearly of what to expect in the process. I'd definitely work with Chris again! read more

Knowledgeable and experienced. Chris wouldn't put you in a financial situation you can't afford it would eventually lose. He cares for his clients wellbeing. read more

Chris Mason appears to be busy, difficult to get a hold of, and slow to respond. He'd forget details about my loan file, and I'd have to rehash details on a repeated basis. I wasted a lot of my time by going with Chris Mason. My refinance loan was conditionally approved with one year tax returns. After a long drawn out process of satisfying all of the punch-list items that took months to complete (the appraiser canceled and wasn't rescheduled expeditiously/there was a faux title issue), I was informed by Chris that I needed two year tax returns and that my loan was going to be denied. A quick "no" would have been ideal instead of wasting my time and causing me to incur expenses. The bottom line is that I ended up with no funding, a $600 appraisal fee that I incurred personally, and a lot of my time wasted. Not cool. I can't imagine what it would be like if I was in escrow. read more

I'm a financial advisor and recommend clients to a lot of different mortgage lenders. Chris is the only mortgage lender that I personally work with. He has a no non-sense approach and does a great job breaking down the numbers. If you need someone who is bubbly, Chris is not your guy. He's all business and refuses to sugarcoat your situation. Just straightforward honest advice. read more

Chris is absolutely a wizard with loans and I highly recommend him! He walked me through everything and had a super personalized plan for me. He also has closed on many deals and is really experienced working in the real estate community. He walked me through all sorts of cases patiently and clearly. His application process was straightforward and his team was SUPER fast to reply. If you're looking for a lender, send him a message! read more

Chris patiently and thoroughly prepared me for the process of purchasing a home, from advice on how to get and improve a credit score to pre-approval to walking me through the state of the market and eventually closing on my first offer. He took special care to explore options for my status as a resident alien to avoid insurmountable hiccups. He went above and beyond to make sure the process moved smoothly and I felt comfortable and assured throughout. Ultimately the experience was great and I've been recommending him to my interested friends. All moved in and the place feels like home! Thanks Chris!! read more

As a first time home buyer, Chris was great. His posts on an online real estate forum had already helped to educate me on the topic, and so, he was the natural choice when I sought to purchase my first house in the East Bay. Although I did shop around, I found Chris to offer the best combination of fast closing, rate, and communication/transparency. In this tough buyers market, fast closing and having a lender willing to proactively bat for you with the listing agent are crucial, and Chris is able to hold up his end of the deal. Everything was done via an online platform and docusign, and thus was very convenient for us. I saw another review complaining about communication - in my experience, the best way to get a quick answer to a question is to call or text him directly, rather than emailing. We closed 4 weeks after getting into contract, which was a great feat given the nationwide appraisal shortage. If I ever need another mortgage or potential refinance down the road, I'll know who to call. read more

Simply one of the most knowledgeable loan officers Ive ever met. As a real estate agent who has to work with 10 or 15 loan officers a year, Chris is right up there at the top for competency and knowing how to get a complicated loan done. Hes saved a number of deals that other loan officers fumbled. 5 stars without question. read more

From start to finish, we got what could be at best described as an "inadequate" customer experience from Chris... First off, we were never preapproved (even though he told us we were). This was obviously a huge red flag for our agent when we were about to make an offer on a listing we had found out of the blue. Who doesn't run a full preapproval in order to prepare for house hunting in the Bay Area? Second, they recommended we work with a realtor in the east bay (who I won't name here). She seemed nice and what we wanted for awhile, but only after 2 months of looking at open houses, she told me, "Oh, I've never worked with Chris Mason." Are you kidding me? Who does that... who recommends someone having NEVER WORKED WITH THEM?!? But I told our agent that it was a miscommunication on both of our parts and to give Chris a chance. That's when the fun started - for the next 30 days, every question we asked Chris was met with a non-answer answer. No direct answers from start to finish to even the most basic of questions, like, "Should we fax or email these documents?", leading to a ton of stress and duplicate efforts on my wife and my parts. It all culminated in an email to us at the last minute from Chris on day 29 saying that the full approval would be 3-4 days late... which obviously could have been helpful to know from our agent/seller's agent's standpoint. It was obvious to us that he knew he had screwed up, because he hadn't even sent the communication to our buying agent, who would have been more responsible in communicating the delay. We should have asked him how long he had been in the mortgage business BEFORE working with him, because we would have gone with someone who had been in the business at least 5 years and not someone so green like Chris who had only been in the business 3-4 years. We at least got an ok rate (not fantastic, not horrible) with Chris at the end, and it seemed like he managed to keep fees within the realm of reality. Chris may know his stuff on the technicalities of mortgages in the Bay Area, but his bedside manner needs a lot of work. Your mileage may vary working with him, but my wife and I would not recommend working with him for a first time homebuyer. read more

Another great loan with Chris Mason! Super thorough, knowledgeable and one of the nicest guys to work with! Super happy with my original purchase loan and now my refinance! You can get a super fast closing when you're in the right hands! He's extremely knowledgeable and will take the time to explain whatever may be your concerns! read more

I'm really glad I went with Chris Mason to help set up my mortgage. I had shopped around with various brokers/lenders ahead of time and Chris came recommended via a friend who worked with him on their refinancing. I was really impressed with his responsiveness and how hard Chris worked. His communication was direct and clear (and often funny) every step of the way. I appreciated that he gave me the pros and cons for going with various mortgage options. read more

Chris was absolutely fantastic! As a first-time homebuyer, I've talked to three other lenders before finding Chris. All three of them would tell me: "This is the amount you can afford" without explaining what goes into that decision. Chris, on the other hand, tells you exactly what affects your number, and how you could improve it. This was huge for us. I also loved that everything was done online. You don't even have to leave your house. When I was working with a bank, they had me come in to the branch, make an appointment, print out my documents (like people have printers at home!), then come in again to sign something, and only at the end would they tell you what their fee is. Long story short: I didn't go with the bank. The whole process is transparent. You are not hit with an unexpected expense at the end, because you know what all of the fees are up-front. Chris is prompt to respond, which is super useful when you're putting in offers and need to show pre-approval letters left and right. Learn from my mistakes: save yourself a bunch of headache and a LOT of time and work with Chris from the beginning. I am definitely going back for our next purchase. Thank you so much, Chris! read more

Chris helped my wife and I purchase our first home! Chris thoroughly explained all of our options in terms of interest rates and points. We originally thought we'd only be able to qualify for an FHA loan, but he went above and beyond to present conventional options we would qualify for as well. At this point we were already under contract, and in our case, we were able to change loan products without affecting our closing date, which was set to an aggressive 21 days. Chris was helpful and transparent throughout the whole process, and will recommend him to anyone seeking a home loan. read more

Chris is the most knowledgable loan officer out there. There are others who claim they know the business but there is no one else who knows it like Chris. Always super helpful with all the questions, and thorough in his analysis. One conversation with him, will make you see the difference. Truly recommend him for all your lending requirements! read more

Chris and I met in an unusual way. I had posted to Reddit, asking lots of questions about how to buy my first house. He answered some questions on the thread, and then invited me to meet up and go through my questions more thoroughly. No doubt, my initial reaction was, "Wow, that's a little creepy. What's his deal?" So I got some advice from my mom, and realized that it's just his approach to finding clients. Curious, confused people reach out online, and he hangs out, being helpful. It's as simple as that, Chris was just very very helpful and informative. So, we met up, he gave me a ton to think about, some dos and don'ts, and left it at that. He wasn't pushy, and was very forthright and genuine. So I took the information, and started running the numbers to figure out when I would be ready. Fast forward some 4-5 months and I had another batch of questions, so I reached out to reddit again, and he was there again! He invited me to a phone call again, and we quickly set up a timetable. Just a few months after that, he got me pre-approved for my first mortgage (5% down, on a cheap fixer in the East Bay). I took the numbers to a few friends of mine, and they seemed totally legitimate, so I was off to the races on my house search. Once I found a realtor, it turns out that she and Chris already knew each-other, so that gave me all the confidence I needed. I was in the market for about a week when my realtor showed me the house that I eventually bought. Chris absolutely held my hand the entire way, was proactive about making sure I knew what was needed of me, and set up everything so that the paperwork went smoothly. I cannot genuinely tell you how complicated this process is, because he (and my realtor) just kept making sure that everything that needed to happen was happening. That said, not knowing what all is entailed with making sure the paperwork is all in order, I would say my favorite part about working with Chris is his generosity with his time. He puts himself really far out there to be actively reaching out and making sure I, even more than being technically covered, feel confident that I know what's happening and where I stand. He's just a great teacher! So knowledgeable, and so patient with my ignorance, and totally willing to dork out with me over spreadsheets! Last night, ~5 months after closing, I reached out to Chris via E-mail to ask a question about what it would take to bring my equity up to 20% and end my mortgage insurance. Today he called me and gave me *lots* of great information about what is needed, and what pitfalls are involved. I said to him "what I've been scared of most is the things that I don't know that I don't know." and I realized that's exactly what Chris is great at; he's just good at making me feel informed, and confident! read more

When my husband and I were purchasing our home from my Dad in Oakland, Chris' innovative solution was to set it up so that our total cash to close was less than $1,000 with no PMI! He even pointed me in the right direction for the parent to child Prop 13 property tax reassessment exclusion, so that I could keep my Dad's property tax bill of $2,200 per year, rather than having it to up to $8,400 per year. Going that extra mile will save my family over $6000 per year in property taxes alone, in addition to not having to pay PMI, I didn't even know about any of this before he told me! Chris' knowledge truly made a difference to the financial wellbeing of my family. read more

If you're looking to refinance your home I highly recommend Chris Mason, located in El Cerrito. I was nervous about the process, but he was very patient about explaining how everything worked and followed up quickly with any questions I had. It went faster than I expected, and I also got a better rate than I was offered by the other three places I had checked out before I talked to him. It was a satisfying experience. read more

Chris and Brian were great. They answered all questions and made a potentially stressful situation feel easy. I defiantly recommend them to anyone who needs a home loan. This was for our new home but he also explained investment and 2nd home loans including the different down payments required read more

I first met Chris online through a real estate forum and noticed he answered most of the questions that were presented with solutions that solved the issue. We were researching a move to a new home and gave Chris a shot at providing a mortgage for our new property and our situation was complex with the numerous mortgages and rentals. Chris and his team got the work done in a timely fashion and we closed the loan on time and within budget. I will recommend him to anyone's real estate team. read more

Chris Mason is a brilliant and down to earth mortgage broker. He was able to quickly explain and walk my girlfriend and I through all of the complex paperwork we needed to get through in order to buy our house. Thanks to Chris it was very easy for us to make the right decisions when selecting what kind of a mortgage we wanted, and he helped us understand exactly how much we would be paying and when so there were absolutely zero scary surprises. If you need a mortgage, this is the guy to call. read more

I am a real estate agent and Chris was referred to me by clients who ended up not buying but I was so impressed with Chris' work ethic and the fact that he was always available for me that I stuck with him. I call him my magician, he is the bomb! I work a lot with artists and people with less or unusual income patterns and he will work with them (one set of clients he worked with for over 8 months to qualify) until they clean up their credit, fix their bad money habits and qualify for a mortgage. He is always fun to work with, patient and super smart! After 3 years working with him, I call him part of my team. Love working with you Chris! read more

Just bought my first house with Chris! Chris is extremely knowledgable, patient and thorough. The loan process can be a daunting one for first-timers, but not once did I feel unprepared because Chris explained everything I needed to know along the way and answered all my questions. He's definitely the tell-it-like-it-is kind of person and could speak fast at times, only because there's so much he wants you to know and he doesn't want to hold anything back! Just ask him to repeat anything you missed and he's more than happy to clarify (I sure asked the same questions multiple times). He's also super responsive. You can easily reach him via email, phone or text. Chris made the process an easy and painless one for me. I'd highly recommend him for any homebuyer. read more

I just wanted to put in a good word for Chris, who's one of the hardest working people in an industry that may not be known for folks willing to go the extra mile. My wife and I had a pretty difficult single family home purchase that stretched out well over two months (multiple offers and negotiation rounds with the seller, followed by underwriting issues due to county confusion with a subdivision and property line changes). Chris is really knowledgeable about the Bay area and ultimately got the job done, for which we are very happy. Furthermore, after having to close with a more expensive loan from a different bank (due to the underwriting issues), Chris was able to get the loan servicing transferred back to our "plan A", resulting in a non-trivial refund. read more

I'd give ten stars if I could - And I didn't even get a loan through Chris! I found Chris in an online community about real estate. I was contemplating a move back to the Bay Area from Virginia, and needed some advice on financing. I had dreams of cashing in on the surging housing market and was trying to find ways to finance a multi-unit property without a lot of liquid cash. I sent Chris a note asking for assistance. What I got in response was completely unexpected. My initial request for help turned into a series of conversations lasting months in which Chris answered all my questions and ran through scenario after scenario of lending options, cost calculations, and even his experiences with alternative funding sources and arrangements he's seen his other clients try. Even when it looked like I was not going to be able to make anything happen, Chris was still available for assistance and advice. I'm writing this review now because Chris just sent me a note to check-in and see how I was doing, almost a year after we last spoke. Please, don't waste Chris' time like I did, I'm not writing this review to send bogus clients his way. I'm writing this to show my appreciation and offer my advice to people who might be considering working with him. You should. I would trust Chris 100%. In fact, I do trust Chris 100%, because with his advice, I was able to find a loan here - 3000 miles away - that is far better than anything I was offered before I talked to him. I knew what to ask for, how to weed out the shady lenders, and what I could and could not afford. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Chris to my family. I recommend him to you too. read more

Chris Mason was patient when we were late or had trouble with documentation. He was creative when trouble arose halfway through escrow. He use docusign for everything to make it easy to get documents back and forth. He walked each of us through the process and paperwork when necessary. He worked with the appraiser to raise the appraisal. He got along well with our agent. He kept checking on us throughout the whole process. His quick response is what got us our house. read more

Chris and his team are truly amazing at what they do. The communicate properly and everytime i call them they are there. I would recommend him to anyone that i know. read more

Want to be asked for a different piece of paper everyday? Never actually get a real pre- approval? And waste your time? If so, go ahead and work with this company. If not, save yourself and work with someone else. read more

Chris Mason is amazing. He is well versed in many loan nuances most particularly important for us, VA loans. He worked long and hard for us, even when he didn't have to. He helped us identify areas to improve our credit to ensure the best rate for our home loan. In the end, Chris saved us over $15,000 with all the extra work he put in for us and that was after he pre-approved us for the amount we needed to purchase our dream home. So if you're looking for a loan officer that works with you and in your best interest, Chris is the way to go. I know that had we not found him, we never would have made it into our dream home. Best of luck to everyone in their journey to their forever home. read more

Chris Mason helped us get a mortgage loan for an investment property July 2018. First of all, not all lenders are knowledgeable about this, I found that Chris was recommended in a few different investment forum posts and decided to contact him. And the experience turned out to be extremely positive from beginning to end. Once we found the house we wanted, the sellers requested a quick closing and Chris worked to meet the aggressive deadline. Everything was done almost a week before closing. Very painless and thanks you Chris for all your help! read more