I met Brian when he taught a section of the Redfin (free) real estate class. I was impressed with him overall, and arranged to meet with him to discuss financing for our first-time home purchase. He came out of his way to meet my husband and me on the weekend in our neighborhood (nowhere near his home or office), and he was super helpful and detail-oriented, and taught us all about the various costs and charges which can get quite complicated even to the detail- and math-oriented. In the end, even though BECU was able to get us a slightly lower rate, we still wound up going with Brian and his team because we felt that we were better taken care of. We were out of the country the week before we closed, but his assistant was so on top of it in getting all the documentation they needed before we left. There's no way a bigger chain like BECU or a national bank would have been able to close on the somewhat tight schedule we were working with. And Brian has been available for a zillion follow-up questions, as we require quite a bit of hand-holding during this process. I would not hesitate to recommend Brian and his team to anyone purchasing a home, be it for the first time or as an investment property. My real estate agent remarked repeatedly that he really seemed to have our best interests in mind, and was so helpful throughout the entire process. Can't recommend these guys strongly enough! read more

I had a seamless experience using Brian Thielicke's team at Cobalt Mortgage. I had previously shopped around with a few other banks including my credit union, but the response times were laughable. I didn't feel like my business was valued at those other places, so I gave Brian a call at Cobalt. From start to finish, they were there every step of the way and I was really pleased with how quickly they got back to me with questions and concerns. My transaction was not an easy one. It was a 4 month short-sale and most other banks would have given up, but Joni continued to follow up with me occasionally and Mary got my loan wrapped up and closed in 3 weeks once we had a signed contract with the previous lien holder. Brian was even able to find some special discounts that I qualified for that even my Realtor and escrow company weren't very familiar with. I was so impressed that I referred my parents to them and they are now in the process of doing a loan with Brian's team. Good job guys! read more

OMG, all this homebuying stuff is hard! There are a lot of parties that need to stay in the loop and contact and a lot of documents that you need to sign your life away, and of course we had no idea what we were doing. But luckily, we had the staff at Cobalt to walk us through the process to make sure we dotted all our I's and crossed all our T's. At first, we tried looking into mortgage planning with a certain bank and our contact was very difficult to get a hold of. He gave us a business card with a phone number that he never once picked up on a ring. He only called back if we left a voicemail and if you don't pick up the phone when he calls you, you wouldn't be able to hear from him until the following day. And he was practically nonexistent via email. Our first experience with this potential lender made us feel like we were in for a confusing bumpy ride where we wouldn't know WTF was going on. But then we found Brian Thielicke and his team at Cobalt and it was like a breath of fresh air! Relative to our last experience with the bank, the Cobalt team was never too far from reach when we had questions or concerns. They were very professional with the process and very efficient with their time. And when you contact them, they are very quick to respond! I would definitely recommend Cobalt for anyone who's planning to get a home, especially first-time homebuyers. They are great consultants and very friendly. We really did have a lot of questions, but not once did I feel like we were bombarding them with too many. They even worked with us to the very last minute to try to ensure we got the best possible rates! And because of them, closing on our new home was a surprisingly smooth process! Yay!!! read more

I've worked with Brian @ Cobalt Mortgage twice - for my condo financing in 2010, and a refi this year. Both times things went smoothly and I felt all the people working there were responsive and knowledgeable. Just as importantly, I think they got me a competitive rate while being upfront and clear about their fees. I think a big advantage of going with Cobalt is they're better at dealing with difficult closings (like a short sale) than a generic big bank broker might be. As with any mortgage company, you do still need to be on top of things by double-checking numbers and sending the occasional email to get a status update. Note - Yelp's address listed is in Tukwila, but I always met them in Seattle (Eastlake once, Northgate the second time) for signing. read more

Brian was recommended to us by our realtor. We had an excellent experience working with Brian and his team. We had lots of questions and we always received a quick response. The process was very smooth and everything went perfectly. read more

Worked with Brian to get the mortgage for our home and everything went great. Considering we were first time home buyers we had lots of questions and Brian & team were very helpful, explained each step very clearly, and we were able to close on our home in well under three weeks. Would highly recommend. read more

As a first time homebuyer and as someone who doesn't know really know any other homeowners, I was a bit short on recommendations for the biggest debt I'm taking on in the foreseeable future. I don't know how many other people look on Yelp for reviews on mortgage planners, but uhh, I tried and failed. Disclaimer: It's important to shop around, but also to know how to shop around effectively. Ask your lenders to give you their quotes at the same time since rates fluctuate on their own naturally. You can and should interview them to your heart's content. Don't let the decision drag out... you will stress yourself out this way, big time! There was a natural instinct for me to reach out to the big banks. After all, if I trust them to handle my savings, why not my loan? Unfortunately, BofA has a rep for being slow -- something I can't confirm, and in any case, they totally failed me for a) giving me ridiculously high rates despite having a good credit score, and b) never telling me that my loan officer quit the company and wasting an hour on my time as I learned this the hard way of getting routed and routed again through their concierge number. Though I never heard of them before my RE agent mentioned Brian, Cobalt is actually the third highest supplier of loans in the county. Schwab quoted me sliiiiiightly better rates and lower fees, but in the end what won me over was the human factor. Brian has an extremely warm personality and is easily reachable. He is patient and took the time to explain things clearly and simply. You meet him face to face, versus somebody in AZ/FL handling your loan from afar. Brian's assistant Julia was proactive in calling me to lock my rate -- thankfully right before it spiked up! Brian is a recommended lender by Redfin, which isn't to say that they gets kickbacks, but rather, people have had a consistently good experience with him -- something you can further affirm by looking at reviews on the Redfin site (go to Redfin.com and the "financing your home" link under buying), until there are more here. :) A potential downside is that Cobalt will sell your loan, but that does not affect your loan terms, just who you make your check to (and I would guess potentially making you a little more vulnerable to fraud). But until I actually experience any negatives, he definitely gets 5 stars from me! read more

I was referred to Brian through my real estate agent. Our family was trying to buy a house that would reap up multiple offers once it goes on the market, so we were in a hurry to get a pre-approval letter. Brian was so fast, very responsive, helped us get organized, and got us the pre-approval letter that we needed in less than 24 hours! That's unbelievable. Our family eventually had to go with another mortgage company, because they had an affiliation with the builder that would us save more money. But I love the fact that Brian disclosed the facts--as much as he would like to have our business--going with the other company is a better decision for our family in the long run. I really really appreciate his honesty and business integrity. Definitely recommended! Having Brian' guidance definitely reduced a lot of stress in the house-buying process. read more

Brian Thielicke and his team are extremely responsive, knowledgeable, and looking out for your best interests. I've been working with Brian for over 8yrs and have used him several times. He is always upfront with the facts and is not afraid to tell me his opinion. It's important to me that I have real estate professionals that are willing to consult with the long term in mind! read more

It was a pleasure working with Brian! We were referred to Brian @ Caliber (formerly, Cobalt) by our real estate agent. As home buyers, we had few unique characteristics. Given the competitive nature of real estate market in Seattle area, Brian's approach to our case was transparent, rates were best, and his advice had our best interests in his mind (as validated by 2 3rd party agents.) We were in discussions with Brian via voice and emails on a daily basis, where he patiently clarified our questions on our approach to funding the down payment and the mortgage process. read more

We had an incredible experience with Brian and his team. They exhibited a high level of expertise throughout the process & went above and beyond to ensure we received the perfect loan for our needs. We would highly recommend Brian to anyone looking to purchase or refinance a home. Thank you for providing exceptional service & knowledge through our home buying experience. read more

Horrible experience! Cobalt Mortgage was recommended to me as one of not too many companies who does HAPR refinance. After a quick talk with Brian Thielicke on a phone my application was forwarded to Joni LaClair. For two months she was telling me how difficult the process is and how the source that Cobalt has to use (since they need to broker my loan out) is not reliable and has a bad customer service reputation! Well, after two months of doing absolutely nothing (I didn't even get a Good Faith Estimate from Cobalt) Joni notified me that they lost the lender and don't have a source to place our loan with! Wow! read more

I love Joni! She made what could be a pretty excruciating process much more pleasant. She responds immediately to phone calls and emails and never makes me feel like my questions are dumb or that I'm being ridiculous by reviewing every detail. This is my first home purchase and she really guided me through. I feel like we really spoke the same language. I am almost done closing on my house, and she has done a great job keeping me in the loop and letting me know the next steps. read more

Being a first time home buyer and totally new to the whole financing thing, we wanted a lender who could hold-our-hands and guide us through the loan process. We found Brian Thielicke @ Cobalt from the Redfin preferred lender's list and contacted him on recommendation from our agent. Right from our first phone interaction I was very impressed with the kind of support Brian and his team rendered. He met us personally at a coffee shop and sat down for hours to explain the entire financing process. I can't stress how useful and important this is for first time home buyers and we learnt a lot through this process. Brian is very transparent and honest about the rates and I found his rates to be competitive. All through the application process he answered all our questions truthfully and would respond immediately to our phone calls or emails. I made repeated requests for different types of quotes, which he generated with no qualms. He has a lot of knowledge on different types of loans, that I found lacking in other agents when we shopped around. I would definitely recommend Brian for any home loan needs and definitely for first time buyers. read more

What a fantastic experience! Brian, Joni and team are wonderful to work with. I will trust them with all of our future mortgage needs and you should too! read more

I found Brian from the Redfin ratings. His office was fantastic! I had a lot of questions since this was my first purchase, and him and Joni were very helpful. For the first condo I put an offer on (which ultimately fell through), they even found an old lawsuit which had been filed involving the property, which ended up being very important information for me. After that I put another condo in contract, but the sellers wanted to close early. I called Joni, and she said there would be no problem getting it all taken care of in the shortened timeframe (less than a month). Sure enough, everything else taken care of a few days before closing, with myself and the sellers reponses taking the longest parts! I'm very happy with my experience! read more

We had great experience with Brian and his team. As a first time home buyer, he is really knowledgeable about mortgage. He and his team are really patient with every transaction and detail. His team are really accurate/serious and didn't make any errors during our transaction. He made everything (his fees) clean before had, no increase or bump up anything unexpected. His team is awesome and quickly respond whenever you have questions or need something like pre-approval letter from them. I recommend at least talk to him, he is the one of the best lenders we have met so far. read more

I am extremely impressed with the amount of professionalism, cooperation, and communication shown by this group. I was dealing with a short sale negotiator/ escrow person from hell and Cobalt was there fighting for my purchase the entire way. Always available when I needed them and not once did I feel ignored or forgotten. They will be my number 1 referral when anyone is in need. read more