The worst business experience of my life, hands down. Tried to get a construction mortgage through…read moreHomestead. They began requesting documents, we would submit them and weeks would go by before we got updates, generally only after we asked for them. It took 7 months from first contact until we could close! At month 6.5 we were told that the longest building period they would give us was 8 months to build an entire custom home with a $5500 a month penalty for going over. They refused to give us a clause saying that time spent waiting for inspections and disbursements on their end wouldn't count towards the 8 months, even though every other thing they did took way longer than it was supposed to. Finally, they pressured us to close with 2 foot of snow on ground in middle of winter, and when I asked to postpone closing to spring they threatened us with "lots of fees". Finally, when we told them we wouldn't continue with them under these terms, they sent us a $105 bill for "adjustments" to costs of things that we already paid months ago. Do yourself a favor and use a real bank for your mortgage. Everything about the experience was head and shoulders better than with Homestead.

I had a horrible and stressful experience working with this individual Rick Solosky as well as his…read more"manager Peter Tull. First he'd reply to texts very quickly ( either from a boat or from lunch or from vacation never in his office) mainly why his answer never made sense or were half the answers or was gibberish and it appeared he responded without even knowing what he was writing and his answers made no sense. Even when communicating worthy he attorney via email his communication was a disaster and I had to ask him to correct. Mostly every time clarification was needed. Used copy/paste loan application from one property to another adding incorrect charges to the loan. At the end, he took 25% down when I had agreed to do 20% down. Processed the loan and as I informed over and over this was not what I had agreed to, his response was "this is what you signed". Loan types and details were not explained properly, he never picked up the phone to explain exactly what was going on, only pointing out the "advantages" of the loan. The incompetence and disregard is out of this world and sadly we ended up closing with them after all attorney and appraisal was done. After so many complaints with his work, I was referred to his so called "supervisor Peter" who was even more incompetent. They kept passing me from one person to another and each time the experience was worse! I definitely do not recommend. They are liars/misleading and they will lure into signing a loan where they present one thing but make you sign another. Be very aware because at the end, they will simply say that's what you signed. And they give you no option to go back or cancel.

we worked with bill hoogkamp... his patience and knowledge was so appreciated as we were first-time…read morehomebuyers: nothing we said or asked was disregarded and he always kept us informed and involved with every step of the process. of course, we would go back in a heartbeat next time we need financing, but for now we're enjoying the fruits of their help. we can highly recommend maple tree funding, especially bill.

Great to work with. I worked with Ray - always answered all of my questions and helped made the…read moreprocess as easy as it could be. Always set my expectations as well. If I were to purchase another home I'd go through them again.

Cannot talk to anyone without needing to leave a message (Escrow Department). I waited two days…read moreone time, and today, I have still not heard back from a message left, and it has been six hours so far. It is 4:10, and they close at 4:30. I spoke with a manager too. That did nothing. Good luck if you go with SEFCU Mortgage Services.

Sefcu Mortgage services are the worst!!! Especially their Escrow dept. When you house isn't…read morereassessed, and your taxes haven't changed, how is it that they cant seem to get it right?? 1 year they give me a check for $1500 saying they charged me to much. This year they raised my mortgage payment by $270! Saying they didnt take out enough! I would highly advise EVERYONE TO NEVER GO TO SEFCU for a mortgage!!!

I recently hired an agent from Gucciardo Real Estate Group, Guiseppe Tropiano, to sell my house in…read moreAlbany and had an absolutely terrible experience with him. He disregarded all of my requests and broke clear agreements which had been made before hiring him. He was aggressive and applied maximum pressure and threats to get his way, which a sales price far below the true market price. He was only after a quick buck without doing any work. Beware of this guy. Do not trust him. A company is only as good as the people they hire and Guiseppe's behavior is a reflection of the culture of Gucciardo Real Estate Group. You have been warned. This is a true review from an actual verified customer.

I agree Anthony does great work. He's the one honest person in a sea of questionable real estate…read moresalesmen and saleswomen in Albany, all seeking to get rich and do it quickly. I'm very afraid his business will suffer due to the recent class action that effectively eliminates the role of "Buyer's Agent". If the seller won't pay my agent, I'm going to be forced to cut him loose. That's how most folks think.

After quite a bit of deliberation, we went with Trustco for our mortgage. We felt this was a better…read moreoption for us because Trustco - unusually - allows you to not pay PMI if you can put down 10%. It was really hard to stomach the idea of paying PMI for the life of the loan everywhere else and we just did not have the full 20%. Trustco is antiquated in multiple respects when it comes to transactions. It's kind of frustrating, but do-able. More importantly, there were some inconsistencies between what we were told by our rep (who was the branch's manager) and what was actually true. For example, we were told that we would not actually have to pay for the credit check because Trustco does it "in house" and didn't use a third party, but, lo and behold, we paid for the credit check. There were a couple of other situations like that when all was said and done. Of course, shame on us for not getting that in writing from him and taking his word. We should have been more skeptical. The closing process was a pain and Trustco's rep came across as a bit rude and incompetent. She even made a comment about having (coincidentally) viewed our house when she was house hunting and saying that she didn't feel it was worth the price (before it was dropped to the amount we got it at, which was below market rate). That came across as a very strange, sort of tactless thing to say. The seller's rep and our lawyer told us that Trustco is notoriously frustrating to deal with for mortgages. There were times we had to just sit and wait while Trustco's rep corrected something that Trustco had messed up, which took a while. Even the process of cutting checks at the end was interminable. I've worked for a bank and have cut checks - it's a simple process. Lastly, there is a $300 mortgage application fee. Our realtor said it was sometimes waived, but that was not the case for us. Be careful about your credit score before paying this fee as they have high standards. We made sure to specifically ask before we applied to ensure we were likely to make the cut. We felt that $300 once was better than a monthly PMI payment for 30 years, though. All in all, it was worth going with Trustco to not pay PMI, but not ideal if you have the 20% down payment. PS: We closed on our mortgage in September 2015.

My experience recently with closing on a Home Equity Line of Credit was not good. After our…read moreclosing with David (who seemed very nice, however is clearly not knowledgeable about the business) we went home to wait on our checks. About 3 days after the closing we noticed $15,000 in our checking account. We had no idea why it was deposited there. We hadn't received our checks yet, so we figured we'd wait to contact Trustco until they came. The following week we received the checks and we called Trustco. We were informed by two employees (one being David) that we were supposed to then redeposit that money back into our Equity Line. We were not informed of this at the closing. They told us that we would have to pay the weeks worth of interest on this $15,000 ($8.11) even though we didn't use it at all and had no plans to touch the money for at least a month. After listening to the staff talk in circles I asked to speak with the manager Becky. She also informed me that I'd have to pay the interest and that there was nothing she could do about it. I then told her I'd be looking into changing my mortgage and new equity line over to another bank. She promptly then informed me that she would send a request to have my interest credited. It took a couple days, but that did go through. Another problem was that when we originally signed up for the loan at Trustco in Wynantskill we were informed that the interest would not begin until we wrote our first check. We were encouraged to sign up for the equity line right away so it would be available for when we needed it. When I spoke with the manager Becky she said that this was false information and that the lower interest rate (2.99% for 1 year) began at our day of closing. I feel as if in general the company was not straightforward with any information. Had they told us originally to transfer over the money I would've done that. Had they told me that the lower interest rate would begin on the date of the closing I would've waited on the closing. Based on this experience I would still consider switching my banking because I feel as if I was not provided with clear and accurate information.

I cannot say enough good things about Chris David and Fort Orange Funding! We have worked with…read moreChris on 3 mortgages and, each time, he has gone above and beyond the norm to assist and guide us through the process! We would highly recommend Chris to any friends or family!

I have NEVER left a bad review but I have to keep it real. Nick Lemme was a terrible loan officer…read more Not only did he make my experience stressful by being so distracted when I needed answers to questions. He actually yelled at me on the phone and told me he had too many people reaching out to him while I was on the phone with him asking him questions. Really! Try concentrating on my questions while you're talking to me!! Needless to say he NEVER updated me throughout my loan process. I always had to call him for any updates, only to be yelled at. UNPROFESSIONAL I was also inadvertently added into an email chain where he insulted me. I confronted him about it only to be apologized to. Too late! damage done and you already said it. If Nick Lemme picks up the phone to help you, hang up!!

We purchased a home through Homeowners Advantage Mr.Daniel Alix and Ms.Melissa Miller did a great…read morejob perfect guidance throughout the process appreciate their service.Thank you for full filling our dream homeJoseph shibu George Ash Georg

Excellent service Ray and Brendan have been amazing easy to deal with and we were first time home…read morebuyers and they always responded would recommend to anyone.

Jim worked on the biggest loan I've ever undertaken. How fortunate it was that he's the most…read moreefficient lending specialist I've ever worked with. The entire financing process was straightforward and transparent. No fluff, no unwanted salesmanship, no use of time that didn't seem flawlessly planned. We managed to do nearly everything over e-mail and text. The lone exception was a five-minute phone call. Jim's demeanor was pleasant and professional, but it's clear he knows how to operate efficiently and pragmatically to deliver quick effective solutions that fully address his clients' needs in the fast-moving world of finance. After eight previous mortgages, and multiple refinances, I thought I'd seen it all. Yet Jim managed to redefine excellence in lending.