After working with a loan officer in California for over two months and telling them My situation...I was denied a loan. This was super frustrating since nothing changed in my situation from the time I initiated the loan procedure and from the beginning the loan officer told me I was qualified. He assured me i would get the home purchase loan. I was strung along for over two months with a home under contract to purchase. This is unacceptable. Then denied. I was able to obtain a loan with a local bank but this process by Perl Mortgage was a total waste of time. I would never attempt to use them again and would not recommend you use them. Thank you Ken for your reply. I obtained a loan immediately through Quicken Loans and own another home. I appreciate your response but it's done and over. Hopefully your offices can learn from this situation and evaluate the circumstances earlier to avoid undue stress to the client. Again thank you. read more

About two months ago my spouse and I were deciding whether we would buy a place or continue to rent, so my sister who had worked with Perl Mortgage in the past and had a good experience, recommended that I reach out to this company. After doing some research, I came across Pam Harambasic's name on the internet and decided to reach out to her to ask some questions and to find out whether we (as potential first time buyers) would qualify for a loan. Since we had not gone through this process before, my spouse and I were unsure of what to ask or even how to get started. When we initially spoke to Pam over the phone the first things that stood out was that she was very personable and knowledgeable, which put us at ease and help to guide us towards our decision to buy rather than continue to rent. Pam met with us for coffee in our neighborhood and walked us through the details of the process for home buying. What my spouse and I enjoyed, was that she not only dealt with the business of applying for a home loan, but she also took the time to get to know us and to allow us to know a little bit about her, which helped build trust and made us confident that we had partnered with the right person to take us through this process. My spouse and I found a place that we wanted to buy two days after our face to face meeting with Pam. Throughout the entire process in applying for a home loan, Pam kept us informed, answered all of our questions, was incredibility responsive, transparent, professional and reassuring. The whole time along, we felt lucky to be working with someone who helped ensure that the process for us was smooth and relatively stress free. We are now in our new home and absolutely love it! We really appreciate Pam and happily recommend her to others. Should we need her services in the future, we would not hesitate to reach out to her. We could not have asked for a better experience or more outstanding Mortgage Advisor. read more

Terrible service. Got an immediate response from them after my initial inquiry. I was then told they'd get back to me in 24 hours. Never happened. I emailed them several days later. Got an immediate call back and apology for forgetting me. Was told again they'd get back to me. Never happened. I am a disabled combat vet. Perl can shove "we take care of veterans" in their ads where the sun don't shine. read more

We needed a refi on our house and so the search for a mortgage broker began. After making several enquiries, we settle on Perl Mortgage. The staff are professional and accommodating. They explain all the details to you without any rush. Even as first timers they were patient and made sure we understood what we were getting into. It took under 30 days to close out on our refi and we were able to get a 15 year loan down from a 30 year loan at lowers interest. Dealing with them was a great experience with constant and timely communication-within the hour. A point to not is that their interest rates are generally on the lower side. When you think of the efficiency in document processing, you need not look any further. Barry and his team are the best. I will be recommending Perl Mortgage to friends and colleagues everywhere. read more

My offer for a condo in the Gold Coast was accepted on June 3d. I closed on July 2nd all thanks to the extraordinary team of Dan Larkin and Terri Salerno at Perl. The communication, professionalism and efficiency through the entire process was exceptional. Because of the tenacity and focus of Dan and Terri, I am now proud homeowner of a new condo and was able to transition my prior residence into an investment property. My lending profile is probably not as straight forward as most traditional home buyers. I consistently found Dan to be knowledgeable, helpful and always refreshing to keep me on point with his affable personality. I can not praise his professionalism, integrity and industry expertise enough. Bonus that he was always quick to respond to any questions/concerns I had and never hesitated to pick up the phone and call me when necessary -- even over the weekend. Finally, working with Terri was a dream come true! She kept the process moving forward diligently and made all the difference with her optimistic outlook. At times I thought, "Why am I signing up for this torturous lending process??". She definitely has a way of keeping not only the project on point and organized, but also keeping her clients happy and engaged in seeing the finish line. Every document and cost was outlined for clarification and Dan and Terri were consistently patient with answering any questions or concerns. At my closing, my lawyer commented with a "WOW!!" noting the short turn around time to close and complimented the accuracy and organization of the documents. Dan came recommended to me years ago by a real estate investor. At the time I was looking for a property but couldn't find one. I didn't even think twice about calling upon him for this purchase as he is someone who is relationship driven and not just seeking the transaction. THANK YOU for cultivating an A+ team Dan and Terri. You will find recommendations coming your way! read more

I refinanced twice with Fred W. from a referral from two other co-workers. Fred is very knowledgeable, will work through your personal situation to figure out the best rate and terms for you and is really no non-sense and to the point - I love that!! I almost did my second refi with a different bank (had a supposed discount through work) and from dealing with this other bank, I'm almost ashamed I didn't just call Fred first. Honesty is really the best policy and especially when dealing with your hard-earned money! Will definitely work with Fred in the future! read more

I would like to commend Shelley Malkin at Perl's Belmont office for helping us get financing on our terms at the best rate I was able to find in this difficult market. Shelley helped me every step of the way, even on issues outside of the financing discussion. This is the second time we have used Shelley at Perl for a home purchase. If there is a third round, I will be using Shelley and Perl. Great work. Truly grateful for her experience and guidance through our transactions. read more

I've been on a bit of hiatus with reviews, but my experience with Perl mortgage, has made me want spread the good word. Just recently did a refi through Perl, and I'd like to echo all the great things everyone has mentioned about Barry. Barry and his team made the whole process extremely quick (under 30 days) and easy. From my experience, everyone at Perl was extremely quick to respond to emails, return phone calls and clarify any questions/issues. It doesn't get any better than that, does it? :) If you're shopping around for a mortgage I recommend contacting Barry. read more

This review is from a technically 3rd party perspective since I did not directly purchase a mortgage through Perl, but was in the middle of dealing with them since I was helping a friend during the whole process. I have re-financed my house a couple of times and I have worked with a couple of different companies. Due to my experiences, I definitely felt that I should write a review regarding Barry and his team. I made the first call out to Barry and he was definitely an easy going person to talk over the phone. Right of the bat, he was very clear about the process and the fees. FYI if you are over a certain amount, the re-fi is free. ( I feel that I should not put the exact number down, just in case it changes over time !!) He talked about the way Chicago handles taxes and assured me that we can have this done in 30 days. I was skeptical at first just cause it has always taken me 2 ish months to finish refinance but ok. His team (especially Jennifer) went into action and it was a constant stream of documents as expected but very timely and done in a thorough manner. The refi took just over a month but mostly because of delay's from my friend's condo association. At closing, there was a difference of $175 which was not accounted for and one email to him took care of the issue right away. He was prompt, courteous, detailed and hey if there is no cost to me, that's just was too good of a deal to pass up. It was a pleasure doing business with Barry and I don't think I will hesitate using him personally or for my friends in the future. read more

The Run Around! I applied for a refinance and sixty days later I still had not closed. Every couple of weeks they asked for something new. I was asked to pay for an appraisal. I paid for it and they submitted it to underwriting. Two weeks later they told me that I needed a FHA appraisal which is totally different. Seriously, I really think they should have known beforehand what appraisal was needed. After sixty days, I called QuickenLoans. I applied and closed with QuickenLoans in 28 days!!! read more

I just closed on my 3rd transaction with Pam Harambasic at Perl and she is always really pleasurable to work with. She is very quick to respond, friendly, and interested in making sure her clients have a good understanding of the details of their transaction. This most recent transaction, Pam reached out to me to see if I was interested in a refi considering the super low rates. She provided a few different options and laid out all of the differences very clearly. As it turned out, I had been thinking of refinancing and her help and guidance made it possible and easy. I highly recommend Pam for your next mortgage transaction if you're looking for a really kind and conscientious person to work with. read more

My husband and I used Perl Mortgage to buy our first condo and had a fantastic experience. I worked mostly with Mike Parilla Jr, but also interacted with Mike Parilla Sr. I appreciate the time Mike spent to explain each part of the process so that we always knew what was needed and the next step. Mike Sr also came to the closing to ensure everything went smoothly (it did!). I highly recommend that you use Perl Mortgage for your next mortgage! read more

I came by here yesterday to drop off some documents and chatted with Jennifer at the front desk for a few minutes. She was kind, professional and hope PERL genuinely appreciates the professionalism and grace they have up front. read more

Perl Mortgage - Mortgage Brokers Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I don't doubt that David Hochberg has done wonderful things for his customers (at least I would like to believe the sincerity) but I'm having the damnedest time getting anyone to return my calls. So far, I've placed around 4 calls that always are routed to who-knows-where and have yet to hear back from anyone. Maybe there is a reason nobody called back because it turns out I found another company who not only returned my call about 3 minutes after I left a message, but also explained things in such complete depth and detail I have to feel this is the broker to go with. It's just kind of lousy to hear all these commercials on the radio about David Hochberg and have the personal experience of feeling so insignificant so as to not even rate a return phone call. read more

After almost buying a condo several years ago and having had a not-so-pleasant experience then, I have to admit that I have been leery of mortgage brokers. I put them in the same category as (stereotypical) used car salesmen...never focusing on the client's best interest and just trying to weasel more money in any way/shape/form that they can. But then I met Barry Schwartz. I had a lot...and I mean a lot(!)...of questions. General questions, questions about almost everything in the Good Faith Estimate, questions about closing, and sometimes questions about questions. Barry answered them all very patiently, quickly, and honestly, although he inevitably was handling many different clients many of whom probably had more significant mortgages than mine. I kept waiting for the 'the catch', but there was never one. I successfully closed without a hitch, and I honestly couldn't be happier about the experience. read more

I first went to a traditional bank in order to obtain a cash-out mortgage. After having multiple appointments canceled on me I decided to look here on Yelp for a good mortgage broker. Perl Mortgage caught my attention. The firm founder and CEO worked directly with me to help me obtain my cash-out mortgage. Not only were they efficient, on time and honored all their appointments, but Perl obtained me the same mortgage I was seeking with the traditional bank (Chase) for less fees (much less) and a rate .625 less than what Chase quoted me. I am extremely happy having worked with Perl Mortgage and I am currently recommending them to all my coworkers. Thank you Perl Mortgage read more

I called David Hochberg on a VA loan and was routed to another loan officer that was not David. It was suppose to be a VA team or Veteran Loan Officer and it was all fake. The loan officer was not a Veteran and neither was the support staff, which I was told it would be Veteran helping Veterans The loan officer tries to play off like he is. Veteran without coming out saying those word. Perl Mortgage is trying to take advantage of Veterans, total scam. I don't even know if the loan officer knew VA Loan products because it was the opposite of what the VA was telling me. All Veterans do not use David H. Or Perl Mortgage they just use us Veterans for the loan and don't care about us the Veteran. David promotes on the radio to get business and tells you to call him.... but he doesn't even call you back it's a female assistant that turns you over to someone that "can help you" Very disappointing process read more

I'm not sure about all the rave reviews about Perl Mortgage?? My experience was totally different. The ineptitude of Perl's finance team leaves me shaking my head. I spoke with Rudy to start, and I will say that he was always courteous and friendly. From the start his attitude was that this is going to be quick and painless, which is what you want when trying to close on a house. He knew my situation from the start, a little less than a year at my current full time job following about 5 years of semiretirement, 800 + credit score , IRA's totaling just south of $400k, debt to income ratio of 5 to 10 percent. We were trying to get a 10 year note on an $80k fixer upper. Had the 20% down plus Perl's inflated closing cost estimate of around $8k to $9k. In fact, on Rudy's promise of our pending closing date, we moved our RV to our new home town so we could get started on the essential repairs that needed to take place before we could move in. That's when the troubles started! Now it seems like we are needing more and more documentation from my employer, because Perl's underwriters are viewing my truck driving job as commission based instead of component pay, which it actually is. They wanted a note from my company stating I was guaranteed 2000 miles a week, (even though my previous 10+ months I averaged 2500 miles a week) before they would proceed. I did get the note through an email from my supervisor , although it was not good enough because it was not on company letterhead. Then they started requiring more guarantees like the following: "The only way we might consider it non-variable would be if the employment agreement/contract/whatever indicated that the employee at minimum received $960 (.48 x 2000 hours) per week and then .48 per mile for each mile above 2000 - regardless of whether the employee drove a minimum of 2000 hours every week...where they didn't have to pay the employer back if they didn't drive at least 2000 miles." I'm not sure about y'all but I can't get 2000 hours out of my week??? This is when I knew Perl Mortgage had no concept of real world situations! I notified a local bank the day I received this email and I closed on the property 10 days later with closing cost at a little over $3k. So really I guess I should thank Perl Mortgage for their ineptitude! Don't waste your time with Perl Mortgage unless you truly enjoy wasting time!! read more

Alex and his team were one of the recommended lenders provided to us by our broker. Alex and Terri were extremely responsive, answered all of our questions within a few hours, sometimes even minutes, and walked us through the lending process step by step. What could have been a painful and confusing process was stress and pain-free thanks to Alex and his team. This was our first time buying a home and they made the whole process run smoothly. We would definitely use PERL Mortgage again and would without a doubt recommend them to family and friends. Thank you Alex & the PERL Mortage team for helping us to purchase our first home! read more

I could not recommend Alex Margulis and Perl mortgage any more. They were amazing start to finish. They accomplished for us what Quicken could not. Again, I highly recommend team Alex and Perl. read more

They are very slow and not informative. Set multiple closing dates and would wait until the night before to tell us everything wasn't ready. Told us everything was done and then would say they needed more stuff. So frustrating since I am 6 months pregnant and wanted to move in and have everything ready before baby is born but they stall so much this prolly won't happen. Also didnt like how they kept switching who was assigned to our transaction, never know who to talk to. So done with them and want it to be over. Don't think they deserve a commission of our sale. read more

Worked with Alex and Megan recently on the loan for our new home. Alex was awesome throughout the whole process - we always felt super informed and really appreciated him clearly outlining our options. As first time homebuyers, we had done a lot of research on our own, but never felt like we couldn't ask a ton of questions and really understand our loan. Would absolutely work with Alex and team again / recommend him to friends and family. read more

If you get a mortgage through Perl it will be immediately sold to a different lender. My lender has changed 4 times in 11 months. It is a pain in the ass having to create a new auto payment so often. It also makes it very hard to keep accurate records when the lender keeps changing. I would not trust Perl with another mortgage because you cannot know or trust whoever they may sell the loan to. read more

Having followed Yelp to Perl, I want to provide some caution because my experience was by no means super-smooth -- I drafted the contract on the house to accommodate Perl's timeframe, and we still needed to get consent from the seller to extend the financing contingency period because Matt Cochran at Perl couldn't manage to get my materials to the underwriter on time. Matt said we could have had everything done in a month; I gave him six weeks and he took . . . every . . . last . . . day. You should pick a mortgage broker based on diligence and attention to detail. Based on the reviews on this website, Perl would be a good choice. Alas, my experience with Perl does not line up with the experience of other folks who used them. As for diligence, I got every document Perl requested to it in a day at most. At some period after I'd provided documents to Matt's assistance, communication from Perl basically stopped other than occasional "everything's okay" responses to my queries. By two business days before the closing was set to occur -- and after the financing period was extended -- "everything's okay" kind of rang hollow when it became apparent things hadn't been sent to the underwriter. Mine should have been a simple case, but I'm not sure it's fair to assume that there was nothing in my file for which the underwriter could potentially have requested more information. Maybe it worried be because I had money at stake and Perl didn't. That's not how a professional service provider should make a client feel. Perl wasn't great on details either. The financing issue was caught by my lawyer with no tip-off from Perl. Matt's email to me contained the incorrect payee for the money I needed to bring to the closing. There was a period of time when I'd only submitted an application where Perl didn't return my calls because they thought I was someone else. He also gave me the impression in phone calls that "everything was okay" when he hadn't reviewed the file, which I know because he later requested additional information. Look: My transaction closed on time. I'm happy with the rate. But Perl was by no means flawless in my experience. I would neither use them again nor recommend them. read more

TERRIBLE - RUN!! They could not close on time even after extending the closing. Treated me like they were doing me a favor by working with me. Lousy service, they cannot be trusted! I Fired them and got another lender who was able to close in about 2 1/2 weeks.If Perl Mortgage treats customers like this, they will go out of business soon. They say one lie right after another. All those giving them high ratings must me family or friends. RUN!! read more

Never ever again. Jim does not return phone calls and pawned us off on a loan assistant in Colorado. I have bought 3 homes refinanced 3 times . Like I said never again. Extremely unprofessional. So happy when it was over. read more

Hi Ken, I'll be calling your office tomorrow. My middle name starts with an M, that's why you can't find me in your client list. Thanks for reading replying to my review. I did want to note that during my purchase chaos I did try reaching out to the Belmont office to escalate my concerns. My call was never returned :( read more

If I could select 0 stars I would. The main person I worked with was nice enough, but I learned quickly- nice does not get the job done. Not only did my closing get delayed, I eventually lost the property due to the failure to communicate or misleading communication the lender continued to provide. Despite asking repeatedly during hte process and getting shrugged off by his assistant, it was not until 24 hours before scheduled closing WHEN I HAD TO ASK that I was told there was an issue and we had to delay. This continued for weeks. I understand due to building issues they had to outsource the loan and this does cause complications- why was I not told of this when I repeatedly asked how things are going? I am still not sure if they are going to charge me for the "services" they provided- but interested to see how that goes. The lady I dealt with was rude, condesending, sent me other clients information and shrugged it off like an "oops." I have not yet seen what they are considering to charge me for their inability to secure a loan. I do know I already have a bad taste in my mouth and as a 27 year old professional it is unfortunate because not only will I not be recommending Perl to any of my friends as we are all becoming homeowners, but I will actively work to ensure they do not utilize Perl due to my terrible experience and loss of my property. read more

Stop searching for a mortgage broker and call Barry. End of Story. My husband I spent 2 excruciating months working with a different, larger mortgage company (to remain nameless) when trying to purchase our new home. I will admit our loan was a bit complicated (we were living in different states at the time and hadn't sold our previous house) but we were both extremely qualified candidates with great credit so I didn't understand why we were being forced to jump through so many hoops! Three weeks before closing, this nameless company informed us we would not be getting the loan (or the house) unless we could come up with 20% down (reminder - closing was three weeks away and I was fresh out of friends and relatives giving away free money). On the brink of seeing our dream home slip through our fingers, I turned to Yelp and saw the great reviews on Barry and his team. I picked up the phone and gave it a whirl. Barry's response, "We can do this no problem." After a short period of shock and disbelief that this painful process could be so easy, I handed over the reins and all last hope of our new home. True to his word, Barry got us our loan in less than three weeks and we closed on time. Throughout the entire process he was always available and extremely patient with any questions we had. You can tell he is very passionate about what he does and will do whatever it takes to get the job done and make his clients happy. On top of all of that, his rates are extremely competitive! I think the only frustrating thing about this whole process was not having called Barry sooner! read more

Stop comparing. Stop shopping around. Stop the confusing mortgage hunting nightmare. Call Barry at Perl and everything will be so much easier. Best rates, best customer service. Easy to work with - speaks in actual human words - not alien banking/dothraki unintelligible mortgage language. Would recommend to anyone! read more

I have been through the refi process once before at Chicago Bancorp over 5 years ago, and they tried to drop additional $500 of closing costs on me at the last minute. Luckily, I was able to fight those off. The experience made me leery of mortgage brokers in general. When I saw rates had dropped to under 3 percent on 15 yr mortgages, I figured it was time to refi AGAIN. I asked for references and put in my information on Lendingtree.com, and ended up with about 10 brokers to choose from. I was getting rate quotes between 2.75% and 3.1%. That's a HUGE difference. Many of the brokers were in other states, and fast talkers, so I didn't feel comfortable working with them. In the end, i finally put in a loan application at Perl Mortgage. The best rate with the lowest closing costs and B.S. I worked with Dean and Jeremy throughout the process. They were willing to accept all my documentation through Google docs ('cloud computing'), which made it a lot easier for everyone, I hope. No lost email attachments. We closed on our mortgage refi yesterday, everything went without a hitch. There was some shuffling of numbers between the GFE/loan application and the HUD-1, but they made it work so I was not paying any higher closing costs in the end. So, don't panic if the HUD-1 doesn't look exactly like the GFE. You just have to ask some questions, and they will guide you through the numbers without making you feel foolish or prying. read more

Filed bankruptcy not including my mortgage, 3 times my attorney sent authorization for me to make payments, they claim they dont have it and won't let me make a payment, so now putting the house on the market to take the business away from them. Won't do business with them ever again. read more

Barry Schwartz was clear, responsive and completely on top of things while we were shopping a for a home mortgage. We needed a mortgage in 30 days and we were determined to get the best possible rate. Barry impressed us with his knowledge of rates, lenders and potential hurdles. Once we made the decision to go with him, Barry and his excellent associate, Jennifer, were on the ball from day one. As Barry said, "You hired me to lose sleep for you. Get a good night's rest." Well, we met our 30 day deadline and got the best rate in the market. If you want a mortgage guy who spends the time to understand your needs, is sharp, responsive and oh, yes, funny - Barry is your guy. Oh, and did I mention he charges almost no fees? Now that is a deal. read more

To update my original review written on 6/22/2010: After being very satisfied with Dan Fogel and his team at PERL Mortgage the first time around, I used them again just a few months later when I refinanced. Dan and his team again exceeded my expectations. He personally showed up at my closing due to my request, which was good because he was able to actually negotiate more favorable terms with the closer in a couple of areas, including a lower initial escrow payment. He also did a nice job clarifying a few things for me and the closer. After the refi was closed, PERL retained my mortgage for a couple of months until it could be sold. They did a nice job facilitating payments and answering questions. Their service is always personal and professional. When the mortgage was ultimately sold to Chase Bank, all of the documentation and math was in order and correct. read more

Just dropped off the last of my closing documents - one of the most arduous refi processes in which I have ever been involved ... thank the heavens for Pamela H.!!!! I think we started this process in late February - there was literally snow on the ground. We got a great rate and it was due to the tenacity of Pamela at Perl Mortgage. Professional, excellent follow up, gentle reminders when you owe her information (which I need for situations like this because who really wants to dig out your old tax returns, bank statements, paycheck stubs, etc.?!). Our financial advisor (Colin Chase at Mindful Money, also about to be reviewed for five stars!) referred us to Pamela at Perl and I am so pleased with the quality of service. Like other reviewers, I have dealt with large brokers and ones with small firms, and cannot say that I have received very good service at all. But Perl Mortgage is a completely different story - excellent from start to finish. I will refer any friends/family/business colleagues to Perl. read more

This review is for loan officer Dan Chookaisian and his team: Jim Wrzala and Ralph Perez. Dan worked with my buyers on the sale of my town home in a mixed income leasehold community. This community had replaced Cabrini-Green in Chicago's Old Town community. It is one of the most legally complex communities in which to obtain financing. Dan and his team worked through every hoop, hurdle, and pot hole in the road to my buyer getting financing, even giving up his mortgage to Chase without having sold them loan. That is an honorable service-above-self quality that demonstrates an unwavering commitment to the buyer. On my purchase I had taken tax advantages that lowered my income to the point where I almost could qualify for a small mortgage. Dan came up with a creative solution where I paid off my car loan to get the loan product I wanted. Dan was laser focused on my objective of paying off my debts, having a 15 year mortgage, and a house that I could afford on only half of my salary. I moved from a decrepit community of degenerates into a beautiful well appointed suburban home that has brought me peace space and freedom from a retched condominium association. It would not have been possible if it wasn't for the knowledge professionalism and dedication of Dan and his team. read more

Today we closed on our new home in Hoffman Estates, and while I don't write reviews on Yelp often, I feel like I need to share what an easy, and effortless experience we had with Perl Mortgage. Michael Parilla Jr. was our broker, and I will recommend him to everyone I know when they are ready to secure a home loan. He really went above and beyond to get us the loan we needed at a rate we were comfortable with. I have used large mortgage companies in the past (Quicken, Guaranteed Rate), and while they were able to close the deal, it was a very impersonal experience. Michael made our mortgage process feel personal. He was professional, friendly, and put us at ease every step of the way. He was always quick to return our calls and emails, and he made us feel like we weren't just a number. Buying a home can be a stressful process, but our experience with Perl Mortgage made us feel like our mortgage lender was on our team. Today we are new homeowners, and we are in our new home thanks to Michael Parilla Jr. and his team! read more

I have done a purchase and two refinances with Perl Mortgage and Barry Schwartz. I had a great experience each time and Barry and his team were very helpful in moving my paperwork and making sure everything was on time. When I went to make a purchase on a second home, unfortunately the particular day that I needed to lock, Perl's rates were a little higher, but now I'm completely regretting my decision! Because of this other broker's mistakes, my latest purchase is in jeopardy!! Until now, I had never worked with another mortgage lender, so I didn't know just how important being timely during lending can be... it can really make or break a transaction. And you can tell Perl knows that and has the knowledge and care for your transaction to do everything possible to make it happen. read more

We just closed on our refi and I couldn't be more satisfied by the work that Shelley Malkin did to get us to closing in just 35 days from the date that I first called Perl. I just want to affirm all the other great reviews about Perl. Shelley expertly guided us through the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) and took us from a 30 year to a 15 year loan with a considerable interest rate reduction. Throughout the whole process she kept us well informed and was never too busy to answer our questions. I would definately recommend Perl and specifically Shelley! read more

My husband and I called Barry Schwartz at Perl Mortgage on Belmont to refinance our mortgage. We had read some good things about Barry online, and they all turned out to be true! Barry (with the help of his assistant) handled our refi from start to finish, and it couldn't have been a better experience. Barry is not only knowledgeable, prompt, and thorough, he is personable and an all-around nice guy. And he's always direct with you, very honest and upfront about the entire process. Not traits you see that often in the finance biz. Our refi was a little complicated because (1) our property value had taken a hit after the economic decline of 2008, and (2) we had a 2nd mortgage on our home. But Barry was able to work everything out. And he got us a GREAT rate reduction, at no cost to us. He is very knowledgeable about the mortgage business, he writes a weekly blog for Perl. The blog is both informative AND entertaining (Barry has a good sense of humor :-) If/when we need another refi, or sell and buy another home, we will definitely return to Barry for help with our mortgage. The experience with him was top notch, and I have already recommended him to friends and family. read more