You can go to an online mortgage broker to save as much money as possible. Or you can pay a little…read moremore for a full service mortgage broker with expert advice and great service. They may matches interest rates, but they'll get you on fees or points. Chris Bridgman at Absolute Mortgage is a rare breed that offers both competitive rates/fees as well as high touch service. He gave us a loan program that had interest rates and fees that matched any online lender. Believe me, I checked after he quoted us a rate, and there was no money to be saved by going elsewhere. On top of that, Chris helped us figure out how to work around our non-standard financial situation and credit complexities. When things started to look dicey, he was able to quarterback the communication between the various banks, credit agencies, and underwriters, getting them all to work together in my favor. Without his tenacity and creativity to find solutions, our loan would have fallen through. No discount rep would put that much personal effort to get it done.

Do not use this bank. They have a charge of $625 for the initial pre-qualify letter -just a…read morestandard letter to say that you're qualified for a loan! They did not disclose this to us and once we decided we would go with a different bank, they decided to tell us about it. I've written more details on my blog: http://absolutemortgagereview.blogspot.com/

My wife and I were looking for someone to handle our refinance and we were routed to Kimie based on…read moreYelp. Kimie more than met our expectations when it came to handling this process for us. She has immense knowledge and resources regarding refinance options and really helped guide us towards our ultimate goal. She gave us clear information and always ensured she was providing us with accurate and detailed informed so we could make an informed decision. She was extremely flexible and communicated every step of the process to us in a timely manner. She went above and beyond to answer our questions or research any issues we needed to complete on our end. We have Kimie to thank for impeccable and timely service in our refinance process. Her professionalism and eagerness to help us get this process complete and work with our schedules was truly amazing. Kimie went the extra mile to ensure all our needs were met and was diligent in helping navigate us through questions and concerns even after our loan process was completed. We would highly recommend her for any of your mortgage needs and will ensure she is our go-to person for any future mortgage business!

As a real estate professional there are certain qualities I look for in a lender. I met Kimie over…read more15 years ago. What I can say about her is that she is very hard working, very honest, and is very competitive. She has ALWAYS closed on time with new money purchases. She will take her time to explain the process to first time buyers and they tend to love working with her. I trust her enough to finance my own house through her, refer her to my mother, brother, and all my clients.

First home buyer here! Jay has been absolutely helpful in our journey in home ownership, not just…read morethe securing mortgage part. He was my go to person for all things financial related to home ownership and he knew i could count on his honest advice. He always delivered the honest feedback regardless whether or not we'll end up with his services or not. He also did fair price and rates comparison with other providers and was always available to answer any questions or take those lengthy calls if needed. But not just that, he also offered the best rates in the town which always helps financially. 10/10 from us. I'd highly recommend working with him and his team!

Great job with our initial loan and refinances. Clear, proactive, professional, and helped educate…read moreus along the way.

Jeff helped us refinance our home at a good rate. This was during the pandemic, so everything was…read moredone online. We only had to meet in person for a few minutes with a notary to sign the final papers, which was a short stack because the rest of the final papers were e-signed. Overall, the process was smooth, and Jeff is very communicative throughout the process and transparent about explaining the numbers. He also sends helpful emails along the way with FAQs that anticipate the questions you probably have at each step. I was referred to Jeff by a colleague, and I would recommend him to anyone.

We used Jeff's service for refinancing our home. We experienced great service and communications!…read moreAll questions were answered promptly via email. And refi process went through without a glitch.

Nikki and her team came highly recommended. After they assisted with our home purchase I can…read morepersonally say this is the team you want. Many aspects of a home purchase can be complicated and stressful, but not with her team. Nikki James and the Opes team were excellent all around. With their communication and detailing all the documentation we needed. Not only were they efficient, but this was a fast and seamless process. Do not hesitate to add Nikki to your home purchasing team.

While we weren't familiar with Opes when we initially started looking for a lender, many of the…read morereal estate agents we talked to were. They were quick to tell us how much they like partnering with Nikki (at Opes) because of how reliable, fast, and efficient she is. Needless to say, that kind of validation from third parties in the industry was a very strong signal. Our first meeting set the tone for the relationship; Nikki is such a warm, friendly person, and she immediately made us feel comfortable. She wasn't trying to give us the hard sell on anything, instead spending time getting to know us and patiently answering all our questions about the mortgage business. We came away from that initial encounter feeling confident that we'd found the right person to help us through the stressful and intimidating process of acquiring our first home loan. What especially appealed to us about Nikki's approach is that she analyzes her clients' overall financial picture to help them figure out how much they can afford to spend on a house and how much they should borrow. She spent a couple hours with us plugging in numbers and making several (conservative) projections based on a few different scenarios. Although I consider myself to be fairly savvy when it comes to managing my money, as a first-time home buyer I found this exercise to be tremendously helpful and informative. It helped us feel more comfortable with purchasing a home and taking on a mortgage because we were able to understand what we could truly afford. Perhaps more importantly, it's a responsible business practice in an industry with an otherwise poor reputation for protecting customers, and was a signal that Nikki was looking out for our best interests. We were initially a bit worried that this level of service would come at the cost of higher rates or extra fees. That wasn't the case, however; we spoke to several other lenders and the interest rate we got from Nikki was as good or better than any of the other quotes we got. When our offer for our home was accepted, things got real. Because of regulations, lenders require a tremendous amount of financial information before final approval of a loan. It's an overwhelming process, but Nikki and her assistant Niki (yup, you read that correctly) were with us every step of the way. They sent us lists of exactly what which documents and details we needed to provide, were quick to reply with answers to any questions we had. I can't think of a single reason why anyone wouldn't work with Nikki to get a home loan. She was lovely to work with, and her level of service, integrity, and competitive rates made our decision to go with her a no-brainer.

I purchased my current home with Rainmaker about a decade ago! Alex paired me with the right…read moreperson on his team to work with. I always felt I could go to either of them with questions and concerns. Through the years, we've stayed loosely in touch. Recently I asked Alex his thoughts on a second property, sharing my concerns and parameters. He had/has really good ideas, has experience with handling different situations, and I didn't/don't feel at all pressured to purchase. When it comes, hoping the second time goes just as well!

We never thought we could get the dream home after seeing the massive traffic at the open house,…read morebut Yao Li made the impossible happen! She is incredibly knowledgeable, strategic, and resourceful, navigating this competitive market with expertise. Her support didn't stop at closing--the unexpected and valuable after-sale service (including offering resources & connections to help fix small issues) truly sets her apart. We are immensely grateful and feel lucky to have had her as our agent.

Julie was recommended to us by our real estate agent and we are so happy she was. Julie (and her…read moreteam) worked with us step-by-step to get us through the mortgage application process. She is professional, courteous, and approachable. In short, we are delighted with Julie.

The only time I write Yelp reviews is when a business goes above and beyond my expectations. For…read moreme, Julie met that high bar. I was very impressed with her dedication and patience as I asked question after question... (hope it wasn't too much, Julie!) If you need someone who's got your back during an often stressful time in finding a mortgage, do not hesitate to give her a call!

In the last 2 years, I have purchased two separate homes. Not ideally selling the first home to buy…read morethe second. It wasn't exactly the plan, but when you fall in love, you have to jump. For both of these purchases, there was no one I would rather go to than Sara Hoag. With her real estate experience running the gamut, I was confident that she would be the right person for me to work with on getting the best loan that I could get with as little pain as possible. To say I was correct in that assumption would be a massive understatement. Sara worked with me from start to finish making sure I was completely in the loop. She even helped me outside of normal hours, especially helpful since I don't work a typical schedule. Never once did I have an issue contacting her about any question or concern I had. She was incredible! Sara's communication skills didn't just end with me either. She worked extremely well with my agent, as well as the listing agent. Any question they had was answered promptly and precisely while still keeping me apprised and making sure all my little duckies were lined up exactly how they needed to be. I couldn't have asked for a better experience and couldn't be more thankful to Sara for her hard work and dedication. I will forever be grateful to her for her support, patience, and kindness in such a stressful time. Thank you so much Sara. You're the best!

After showing supreme dedication in getting us into the market just two years ago by working her…read moremagic in getting a CalHFA loan program for us to purchasing a condo in south San Jose with just 5% down and two subordinate loans. There was only one person we trusted with our refi to take advantage of an increase in equity in our property of $75k in just two years!!! We couldn't be happier with the communication and personal explanations of a complex situation with our new refi taking advantage of a greatly reduced APR and a $50k Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC). We can't recommend Sara any more highly she is incredibly knowledgable in all mortgage options and is a pleasure to work with. Your are in safe hands with Team Sara !!!!

if I could give more than five stars, I would in a heartbeat. You would be making a big mistake to…read moreuse anyone other than Brenda for a home loan. Brenda and her team are absolutely amazing. This is the fifth house I've purchased in my life and this was the first time I didn't panic during our loan underwriting. Outside of this experience, closing on time always felt like it was at risk. This time, we had 3 week close and actually closed a few days early. Brenda was extremely proactive, communicative, and responsive. We could not believe the seller went with us despite not come in with the highest offer. We were told through their agent one of the reasons they accepted our offer was because of Brenda's reputation. You can't ask for more than that

As first-time homebuyers, we couldn't have asked for a better experience than working with Brenda…read moreand her team. Brenda took the time to meet with us on multiple occasions, walking us through our mortgage options with patience and clarity. She even recommended a rate buy-down strategy which we successfully negotiated for the seller to cover. Thank you Brenda and team for making our first home purchase such a smooth and rewarding journey!