TL;DR - Beware! Nice people, great customer service -- but they delivered the WORST possible result for me. (Worked with Ryan and Mark at KAL Financial.) My advice - don't be fooled by their great customer service, but if you do engage them - don't rely on them. Run a parallel process with other lenders.
I've finally, finally gotten out of the bind that KAL Financial put me in - and finally have the time to de-compress and reflect -- and frankly, I finally have the time to get angry.
As a first-time home buyer, I was referred to KAL Financial by my real estate agent - and they were great. Got pre-approved for a mortgage, they helped me to improve my credit score, etc. etc.
When I found a place I liked (new construction), I worked closely with my agent, KAL Financial, the developer -- all of it. I distinctly remember KAL Financial saying it was all do-able and that they'd be able to deliver. We even negotiated for a 60-day close period to give them sufficient time.
They pulled together a package for me: not the best package (rate was really high), but they said it was the best they could do and I figured that I could re-finance after 6 months as my credit score improved. So my loan was conditionally approved and then we started working through the outstanding conditions.
LITERALLY TWO WEEKS BEFORE CLOSE OF ESCROW, THEY CALLED ME TO SAY THAT THEY HAD TO PULL OUT.
The reason? They had not accounted for some project-specific risk for the property that I was purchasing -- and they had to go back and re-review some documents and no longer felt that they could approve the project. (They needed Fannie Mae approval of the condo project - which I'm told wasn't likely to happen.) It had nothing to do with me, or my profile -- it was all related to the project being developed.
The problem was that all of this was foreseeable and addressable - it's a basic question of competence. I would have much preferred if they had told me upfront that they didn't think they could finance the transaction -- at least then I would have been able to go find another lender.
What did I do and how did it all finish?
I had to scramble -- negotiated for an extension to the close of escrow with the developer and then looked for other lenders. I finally ran a parallel process with two lenders and got approved by both. The kicker? BOTH LENDERS NOT ONLY APPROVED MY MORTGAGE, BUT THEY ALSO OFFERED MUCH, MUCH BETTER RATES. THE LENDER I WENT WITH OFFERED ME A PACKAGE THAT HAD A LOWER RATE BY 1.5% AND NO POINTS FOR THE FINANCING COST.
I'm signing the loan documents tomorrow and should get the keys early next week.
Nuts, right?
My advice? Don't be fooled by their frankly great customer service and friendly demeanour. And if you do choose to engage them - RUN A PARALLEL PROCESS. COMPARE THEIR PACKAGE TO SOMEONE ELSE'S. read more