Mike at Westlake Mortgage has been a total game-changer for me, honest, low-pressure, and genuinely…read moreon my side. Two years ago he walked me through refinancing, knocked a full point off my rate, laid out every number crystal clear, and made the whole thing painless. Saved me serious cash without any surprises. Then this year he popped back up, had spotted an even better deal, another point drop, and didn't just wait for me to ask. He proactively hunted it down, explained why it made sense, and handled everything again. No sales pitch, no hidden fees, just real savings when it actually mattered. He's not out to nickel-and-dime; he's looking for the big wins that actually move the needle. Feels like he's working for me, not the bank. If you want someone who'll keep an eye out for you without the hassle, Mike's your guy.

Mike is a true professional! Very communicative and knowledgeable. He creates a seamless…read moreexperience.

We worked with Ruby at Salmon Bay for about a year and a half as we searched for and bought our…read morefirst home. At the end of the process, my husband said to me, "Now that we've experienced Salmon Bay, no other services are good enough anymore. I want everything I interact with to be as good as Salmon Bay - banking, insurance, everything." A few things we loved: responsive and crystal-clear communication from Ruby and her entire team, sound education for us on how home loans work (I feel like I ACTUALLY understood what was happening and what all the numbers meant the whole way through, as a complete novice), proactive check-ins for 1.5 years just to make sure they stayed updated on our thinking and finances, professionalism in all forms of correspondence, a team that inspired so much confidence with their expertise (special shout out to Paige), kindness and cheerfulness without exception, proactive outreach to the seller's agent within minutes of us making an offer to assure them we were in a strong position to buy (even though it was a major holiday), local credibility and relationships that certainly played a role in getting us our house even though there was a competing offer for $50K more, a clear roadmap for closing and frequent video updates for the whole buying/selling team along the way, willingness to answer all 5,000 minor questions I had during closing as if each one was important and worthy of attention and time, and absolutely no surprises the entire way - not a single surprise. I can't recommend Salmon Bay highly enough!

Ruby and her team were so friendly. They ran scenarios for me and made the refi process quick and…read moreeasy. The weekly video updates were a whimsical touch. Thank you!

Mike has helped us with a refinance on a home and the purchase of a new home. He was always…read moreavailable for a quick phone call to answer questions, crunch numbers and help us figure out what we could afford. When it came time to purchase our home, he got the paperwork processed quickly. Buying a home isn't an easy or quick process but Mike made it as painless as he could. We would definitely work with him again if needed.

I worked with Mike for over two years while house hunting and dealing with ever changing…read morecircumstances that caused us to delay and restart the process due to personal life changes. Throughout the entire process Mike was a wealth of knowledge and extremely accessible. He was also very keen with deep experience in solving some of the unique problems that we ran into. When we were finally ready to make an offer, he created a tailored offer letter and made sure all our paperwork was in order. We were able to lock in a great rate and closed within 35 days. Very smooth process and extremely pleased with the final outcome. Thanks, Mike, for your relentless patience over the years and helping deliver us into our happy home through your great work!

OMG, the service in this place is SO bad! I got a loan with…read morethem, always paying on time for years via automatic payments to arrive on the 1st of the month. One day they changed their accounting system (I'm guessing), and no longer does it recognize my payments as on time, but as days late, because it's now expected on the 21st. I called and spoke with a rude and unhelpful agent, didn't make a difference. I've paid already the equivalent of 10 months mortgage this year, but Caliber still thinks I'm late on my payments. I've sent extra mortgage payments at least 4 times this year, but Caliber changes them to "principal only payments"! I cannot stress how bad this company is!

We were referred to Umar Gebril to buy our next home and he expertly guided us through several…read moredifferent stages - pre-approval, possible bridge loan (didn't end up using, fortunately), how to best use our $$ while processing our new loan. Once we found the house we wanted, we were already well positioned to make a strong offer! He also was able to close our loan in as little as 15 days - and in the Seattle market, you HAVE to have a strong offer and your lender's reputation and ability to close on time is critical. Also, Umar is just a great guy overall - we enjoyed his candor and felt very confident following his guidance.

We were first introduced to Umar over two years ago, when scrambling to submit an offer on what we…read morehad believed to be our "dream home." Umar was exceptional. He was incredibly responsive, turning around a pre-approval in record time, and walking us through every step of the first-time homebuyer process. From that time to now, I'm pleased to say that we did indeed finally secure our "dream home," in no small part due to Umar & the Academy Mortgage team's partnership & support. It was thanks to Umar that we were able to offer competitive terms, including the fastest close that I've ever heard of, even in spite of holidays. If you're in the market to secure a home loan, I highly recommend Umar & the Academy Mortgage team. They're THE BEST.

Jon was one of five in a list of recommended loan agents provided to me through my real estate…read moreagent. I contacted all 5 at the start of my loan process, and Jon was the clear "winner." He was prompt in responding, had a great website and other methods of communication, and was the most understanding of my vague (at that time) yet somewhat complex financials. Jon walked me through the entire process and was sure to only request the minimal necessary information at each step, something that was very important to me. I had many questions both at the start and throughout the entire process, and Jon was careful to answer all of them. I also very much appreciated his weekly check-in calls during the process. We were able to close quickly which is important in the Seattle market. Thank you, Jon, for your help in securing my new home!

Jon is easily the best mortgage broker that we have ever worked with. From our first interaction…read morewith him while we were considering other brokers (he won us over with his current, easy to understand document upload tools) to our very last minute closing issues, he was attentive, knowledgeable and helpful. His advice was solid and thoughtful. In a very competitive housing market he was almost insanely reliably responsive, much more so than it is fair to expect. In the house we ultimately won, we asked for an updated approval letter well after the close of the workday and, still received it that night. Along the way of our housing quest we bid on and lost an offer and he was gracious in the acknowledgement and support. In our ultimately successful offer, we had a miscommunication about insurance and he handled it professionally, and then we had a very last minute issue with the underwriter - necessitating many things including a conference call with the IRS, and he was with us in every step, seemingly like we were his only client (we very much were not). He uses a very hands on approach, and even swung by our escrow signing to apologize for the last minute stress and issues (even though they were not his fault) and thank us. My husband and I highly recommend Jon and his team, and would work with them again in a heartbeat.

Seth Aiken of Cobalt Mortgage went above and beyond to help us with our mortgage. This was our…read morefirst home purchase, and Seth took considerable time explaining our options, running estimates, and providing excellent advice at every step. Seth worked well with our buying agent, and often offered better explanations and advice. He gave us the personal attention we needed, and he followed up with phone calls and emails. I tend to be obsessive about gathering information and getting the best deals when it comes to major purchases, and I feel confident that we couldn't have done as well as we did without Seth.

This mortgage keeps an escrow account after closing even I paid more than 50% downplay and have…read morearound 800 credit score. It caused big trouble because Bay equity sells the mortgage right after closing, so do not accept request to close the escrow account. It is very clear no borrower wants to have escrow account to save property tax and insurance beforehand, no interest and lost control. I was not being asked and explained during mortgage application process. Bay equity is also very pushy especially when asking me to sign, I was not being given enough time to ask all my questions, I was told that version is not final, only after I signed they could schedule appraisal to keep closing in time. DO NOT RECOMMEND unless you are super clear and all hidden agenda in mortgage!

STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY AT ALL COSTS. I would leave 0 stars if I could. they will not…read morecommunicate with you throughout the process and then they will rush you at the very last minute. You will be ignored, pushed around, transferred to different contacts, and will be working with inexperienced loan officers in training. DO NOT TRUST THIS COMPANY.

Back with another review from a VERY happy customer! Christian and the team have done it again…read morehelping my wife and me get into our dream home! We put a contingent offer in on a house and Christian was right there with us every step of the way (for nearly 3 months!). Working with such a strong and capable team gave us great confidence as we stepped into the new chapter of life, I would recommend them to anyone!

it was great working with Christian and Team Crowell at Cornerstone. Things went very smoothly and…read moreI signed on my new home today! Everyone was very pleasant and supportive through the process of buying a home across the country. the sun is shining here and I am excited. Judy Casler