Marty Sievers from Mountain West Financial, and her assistant, Samantha, are a stellar team!
We were not an "easy" loan by any stretch, since we were doing a refinance of our primary residence, with a cash draw, as down-payment to purchase of our vacation cabin. We were already told by Wells Fargo they would not do it, since they require a "pickling" period on a subsequent purchase, with a refinance/cash draw.
Since we have very good credit scores, we commenced financing through an internet vendor, Amerisave, who "posted" the lowest rates; we talked to the agent, who assured they would do this sort of loan. Our primary residence is in a canyon, where no two homes are alike; it takes a seasoned and fair appraiser to get proper appraisals. Our home has premium finishes on a large lot with a private drive, not perched on the busy canyon road; it is unimproved horse property. Amerisave sent an appraiser with no experience in this area to value the home. He was bitter, and, we found out later, overworked and underpaid. Amerisave also uses appraisers who understate values because that's how they make their money, charging high dollar to consumers for the appraisals, then acting like you don't meet loan to value ratios to justify the great rate they quoted you. Their appraiser compared our residence to old homes, remote sales in time, and remote geographically, on small lots with shag carpet on the main canyon road. I'm not kidding; sales are freely visible on the internet. Their appraiser ignored a true comparable literally one street away, which sold a month prior (sales prices had climbed). Come to find out there was a large class action lawsuit where Amerisave had to pay the plaintiffs large fees, due to such tactics. Stupidly, we stuck with Amerisave for a while, because the rate we locked in was great.
Amerisave had no justification to decline us, because we accepted their bogus appraisal. Instead, they strung us along and asked us for the SAME documents, over and over. It was truly a game. So, when we found a cabin we wanted, in and the right price range, we put in a bid that was accepted. The seller had an all-cash back up offer behind us, so we did not have time to mess around with Amerisave anymore.
Long story longer, that's where Marty and Samantha came in. They were efficient, quick, professional, true to their word, and gave us a fair rate, with a complicated loan, as I described. Their independent appraisal company gave us fair appraisals; they knew the area, and took note of property features impacting value (granite counters, hardwood floors, low e windows, etc).
The lesson is, go with a loan agent and company that you trust, particularly when rates are climbing, and you want a fair appraisal, and do not have much time. Place high value in competency and trustworthiness, and read reviews! We highly recommend Marty and Samantha from Mountain West Financial, and could not have been more satisfied with their performance.
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