To: Whom It May Concern From: John Warner Topic: Mortgage Processing with JP Morgan Chase (Big Bank) vs. a Reputable Mortgage Bank My wife, Kathy and I, decided to buy a condo in Redington Shores, Florida since one of our daughters lives in St. Petersburg and we have no reason to stay in Dublin, Ohio in the winter. I was going to pay cash for the condo, as we have for our other 2 homes, but the Real Estate company that I invest in reminded me that they pay 10% and I could get the loan for about 4%. Without thinking, I went to JP Morgan Chase where I bank and have a preferred "Private Banking" relationship. What I discovered during the process should NOT be repeated by anyone. These points, as I found out, apply to most or all multidiscipline large banks. Major Points of the Process Included: * An inordinate number of arcane rules in addition to stifling interpretation of regulatory rules such as Dodd-Frank, etc. * As an example, I receive about $800K a year from my investments. I don't usually pay taxes unless they sell and I end up with capital gains taxes. Even my real estate holdings have sold at about 2X and cover my capital gains with gains in cash and equity to re-invest. Chase said "we don't recognize revenue unless you pay taxes on it". All of my income was non-taxable but shows up on my K-1's as capital distributions. As a result, with a multiple of 8 digits in net worth and 800+ credit rating, they decided that they could only lend me 65% of the purchase price. * In addition, I set up an LLC and had that wholly owned by a revocable living trust to keep anonymity over the purchase. * Because this is not their main business, I ended up dealing with 9 groups at Chase including 2 attorneys, the mortgage banker, 4 levels of underwriting and approval, the actual system processing group (for whom I had to help fix a bug in their system) and yet another level of QA in the process. This resulted in: o 9 delays in the closing date o Extremely displeased sellers who threatened to back out and go with another offer o Additional personal expense and frustration with process o A .05% interest rate increase associated with the delays and market rates o Groups who asked for the same information, did not communicate with each other, had different assumptions, and, in short were purely dysfunctional in this process o At one point I said "This process was more painful that my father's funeral" and I meant it. What I would suggest to any one in need of a mortgage loan, is working with a highly reputable, single discipline Mortgage Bank, period. Their only business is the origination and funding of mortgages and their reputation and future is completely based on the client's satisfaction, BBB rating, reviews, etc. Let's Look at Guaranteed Rate https://www.guaranteedrate.com. As pointed out below they are a top 10 lender nationwide with an A+ Better Business Bureau review and a 95+% Customer Satisfaction Rating. These numbers are incredible for a mortgage banker. If you look at the reviews, this is their total business and their process is streamlined, easy and professional. I chose them for this comparison because of their rating and Wikipedia.org's glowing review: Awards and accolades[edit] * Guaranteed Rate recognized as one of the most successful private companies in the U.S. for a fifth consecutive year by Inc. Magazine * Guaranteed Rate named a top private U.S. job creator by Inc. Magazine * Guaranteed Rate ranked as a top workplace by the Chicago Tribune in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 * Guaranteed Rate was named the Lender of the Year by Chicago Agent Magazine * Founder and CEO, Victor Ciardelli, III was named an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award winner in 2012 * Better Business Bureau A+ Rating * Guaranteed Rate wins Moxie Award For Best Corporate Digital Innovation 2013 for Guaranteed Rate's Online Mortgage App Furthermore, if you look at Today's rates, Guaranteed Rate can meet or beat JP Morgan's rates and do it in 1/3 the time and with an infinitely simpler and easier process. If you want more proof, talk to any Realtor. I have since talked to a few and they all tell me the same thing. Sincerely, John T. Warner read more