This review is for Mark Richards, the DC area senior loan officer for Citizens Bank / Citizens One…read morehome loans. Working with Mark Richards has been a most interesting and exasperating experience. On the one hand, you get the best rates on your mortgage in the DC area -- by a lot. The competition doesn't even come close to matching what he can offer. On the other hand, you'll spend 3 weeks banging your head against the wall in utter frustration as Mark's people skills and customer service are on par with a toddler. He won't respond to your email questions (or only partly respond), will give you timelines for receiving important documents that are mere suggestions, will keep shifting blame for tardiness to the underwriter or his processor, and will disappear from the office for long periods of time without giving you any notice. In my case, he went on vacation to Italy in the middle of our closing and failed to notify me or leave anyone in his office in charge of communication. I only found out several days later from his assistant when I didn't receive a timely response that was promised. To be fair, the issue here is communication not competence -- Mark did move along the closing process and we closed on time. But the communication is a challenge and ultimately its a tough call. You can deal with this anguish for 3 weeks and get it over with. Then you can enjoy up to 30 years of paying less interest on your mortgage. For most people, thats a worthy sacrifice. If that doesn't float your boat, I'd recommend looking at Chris Washburn at Caliber or Alex Jaffe at FirstHome. In my search, those two were extremely responsive and offered good rates. Ultimately, as far as Mark goes its a shame. If he can improve on his customer service, heck even hire someone to manage his clients, he'll make a killing in the DC area mortgage business with his rates. If you're a first time home buyer like I was, then dealing with Mark can be a real pain. If you've done this before and have a good sense of timelines and closing requirements, then its a no-brainer -- go with him. The savings are worth it!

Citizens home loans need to address the incompetence within its escrow department. Their employees…read moredon't know how to do basic addition and subtraction that a child in first grade can do. The customer service reps are absolutely horrible. I had to request one to pull up her calculator just so she could understand that there was an error when Citizens said I had a shortage on my account. They refunded me $600 when I was supposed to be refunded $2k. It's basic math that they can't do. Now I have to contact them for the fourth time for them to correct the error.

Nick Muro and Roger Zuniga made the two months leading up to the purchase of our new home so…read morestressful and needlessly complicated that what should have been one of the most joyful moments of our lives was turned into a nightmare that we simply wanted to end by the time settlement came. Every document we received from FHM contained mathematical errors which corresponded to wildly incorrect estimates regarding our monthly payment and cash to table. Five days before closing, we were able to have the VP of this location step in to provide some oversight and make sure the deal got done on time. If it weren't for my own vigilance--as well as that of my real estate agent and the settlement agent--I am certain that this deal would have been a disaster. It was clear that Nick did not care about his role in our transaction. His complete unwillingness to take responsibility for his missteps demonstrate that he will not improve in the future. I strongly caution anyone who has other options to steer clear of FHM and I recommend that anyone who must use FHM get any loan officer other than Nick Muro.

Nightmare. I second what the other reviewer said with the one-star review in the other Yelp entry…read morefor this company. Despite repeated assurances over the phone initially that they could do a 30 day close and that they do them all the time, this company did not have its act together and put my purchase in jeopardy. It is beyond me how this happens. My agent and I had to stay on top of them like it was our job because our officer, Chris, was asleep at his. I actually think if not for our repeated calls and reminders of deadlines, my closing wouldn't have happened and I'd be out a ton of money. Every time we spoke to Chris it was like our calls prompted him to actually do his job. How is this allowed? We shouldn't have had to work so hard to stay on top of him like he is a terrible employee and we are his supervisor. I'm a first time buyer and I trusted this company to actually do what it said it would. I responded to document requests within the same day, I am completely on top of my stuff and available, so it wasn't for lack of trying on my end. My agent said she had never seen anything like this. She worked around the clock to make up for what they lacked. Staying on top of them became like her full-time job. They jeopardized my appraisal contingency by having my appraisal scheduled AFTER the deadline in the contract. Then they tried to tell me it was no big deal, especially while the sellers weren't going to agree to extend the appraisal deadline. They repeated told me they had all the documents they needed and were on track to close when they would suddenly play dumb and say things like "we didn't know what title company you were using" which was inaccurate because my agent and I told them on multiple occasions who we were using. They ended up NOT being on track to close even though we called them every single day leading up to the closing. My closing got pushed back. I didn't get the CD in time and when I did it had inaccurate information. This whole experience caused many sleepless nights and was super stressful and anxiety provoking. Do not recommend. Their lackadaisical attitude is appalling, particularly in a situation where you the buyer, are relying on them to follow through.

Brian was fantastic to work with throughout the mortgage process. He was responsive, knowledgeable,…read moreand took the time to explain every step clearly, which made a stressful process feel much more manageable. He shopped options, answered questions quickly, and was always transparent about rates, fees, and what to expect. What stood out most was how professional and steady he was from start to finish. I never felt pressured, and I always felt like he had my best interests in mind. If you're looking for a mortgage broker who is sharp, trustworthy, and easy to work with, I would absolutely recommend Brian.

Brian was absolutely outstanding, and guided us through the entire mortgage process (as buyers)…read morewith poise and humor. We would absolutely use Brian again if we needed to get another mortgage. Cannot recommand him highly enough!

Will Mitchell and the team at First Savings Mortgage are basically like a team of wizards…read more What is a group of wizards called again? A coven? A Hogwartz? Basically, JK Rowling should write another book entitled: "Harry Potter and the easiest mortgage ever executed" I'm telling you, the first time I bought a house I dealt with another mortgage company (which I... obviously didn't use again). Why did I not work with them again? Well... basically I put in an offer on a home, it gets accepted, then we'll just call him "Zack" - Zack gives me an estimate of how much money I'll need to close on the home. Then a week later that amount increases by a couple of grand. Then a week later the amount increases by several grand. And I'm like... dude... what is happening?! My breathing room right now is about equal to those little air pipes they used to use in coffins in case someone gets buried alive. The day of closing finally comes along weeks later and I put down every shiny cent to my name to close on my first home. I barely made it. Now comes along Will with his mortgage wand for my second home, yeah the interest rate core of that wand is a little thicker, and yeah the closing cost wood it's made out of is a little more expensive cause it's a townhome and not a condo. But man o man, not only did the estimated cost to close not go up during that closing process, it went DOWN. Yes DOWN. AND Will and his team (The Order of the mortgage) we're able to get everything approved and finalized within... jeez... I think it was 12 days. Will literally works like a boss. He's available at pretty much all times. He always took my calls, he always informed me of any changes. He was super responsive, he was on top of everything. I mean... he is professional and shows not a sense of urgency, but a glut of urgency. His team was also very responsive and organized with all the paperwork we had to do. I don't know if you've ever bought a home before, but it can be very stressful. For usually weeks you're balancing getting paperwork to the mortgage lender, paperwork to the real estate agent, going over paperwork from the seller's real estate agent, you inevitably have a billion questions even if you've done it before cause it's just a whole process and every home purchase is different. It's basically like a part time job for a month buying a home. This home purchase was accelerated cause we were trying to make a very aggressive and appealing offer to a home where we KNEW we would have competition during the initial height of home buying season. I just can't say enough about Will. It also didn't hurt that Will knows my real estate agent Kris Nelson and has a good working relationship with him. Just such a solid solid team. Oh... did I mention that NOT JUST the closing costs were down, but my monthly mortgage payment went down as well! Now, this isn't gonna happen with every transaction - so don't go in there expecting it. But, I will say that if there's anyone who can make it happen, it's Will and his team over there. Early on in the process another mortgage company called me and tried to get me to switch over to use them for the mortgage. They must have gotten my info when my credit was pulled. I went back to Will and basically presented their offer to see if Will could beat it. Will pointed out A NUMBER of incorrect items on their offer and basically explained to me that it would actually end up being more in the end cause they under estimated on a few items and I basically would get "Zacked" again. And honestly, it's because of Will's firsthand and deep knowledge of real estate transactions in this area. So... I know this goes without saying by now... but I'll put it here in writing. If you're looking for a well trained wizard of mortgage lending, winner of the tri-wizard lending tournament, professor of magic mortgage history, and leader of the ministry of mortgage... just go with Will. Trust... I won't ever make the mistake of NOT going with Will again.

I'd rented in DC for a number of years before finally getting on the market in earnest to buy a…read moreplace starting last year. Carter K. at First Savings patiently worked with me all through last summer-fall, and then again through this spring's market, until we found the perfect place earlier this month. Not only was he diligent and communicative with getting quotes to me, he also proffered valuable input about where he thought rates were, specific instruments (like the wonderful HomeReady program) that I wouldn't have even known about, and just tactical guidance so that we could navigate the process as efficiently as possible. When the time came to close, it's no surprise that Carter (and his amazing team) pulled off the deal in 20 days, satisfying the sellers who wanted the transaction done by the end of the month, which we achieved by closing on the last day of May. He had the appraiser's report in within five days of ratifying the contract. What's so thoughtful and wonderful about First Savings is how they take care of so much of the hard work for the borrower, like setting up insurance policies and escrow accounts. I would work with Carter and co. in a heartbeat if I ever refinanced or bought another place.

Purchasing my first home in Washington, DC was truly a journey, but one that was absolutely worth…read moreit thanks to David Toaff, his team at First Home Mortgage, and my realtor Terinee Bonds. I was originally introduced to David through Emily Atwood back in May 2019. After a minor setback, I was reconnected with him by Mr. Bill Milko in June 2022, and from that point forward the process officially began. From June 29, 2022 to December 11, 2022, this six-month journey taught me patience, discipline, and the importance of having the right people in your corner. At first, I found a condo in Northwest DC that I absolutely loved. The price was around $220,000, which was amazing for DC, but unfortunately FHA would not approve it because the HOA reserves did not meet the required percentage threshold. While it was disappointing at the time, everything happens for a reason because I later found another property for $325,000 that turned out to be the right fit for me. I was also approved for the DC HPAP First-Time Homebuyer Program along with DC Open Doors, which were both incredibly helpful programs for low-to-middle income homebuyers. I highly recommend anyone looking to purchase in DC to explore those opportunities. There were definitely bumps along the way. In August, I had to resolve my 2021 tax bill, which became part of the process. Throughout everything, David remained patient, professional, knowledgeable, and personable. He genuinely cared and always kept my best interest at heart. He also stayed on me about my spending habits, especially my DoorDash spending, making sure I stayed financially on track to successfully close. David also made sure everything was taken care of through his amazing team, Josh and Danielle. They consistently checked in with me through calls and emails at least three times a week, making sure I understood every step of the process. That level of communication and support made a huge difference because buying a home can feel overwhelming, especially as a first-time buyer. They truly walked me through the process from beginning to end and helped make things much less stressful than they could have been. What really stood out to me about David was his personality. He is truly a people person and just an overall down-to-earth guy who genuinely believes in helping people achieve homeownership. You can tell this is more than just business for him. He wants to see people succeed and become homeowners, especially those who may not think it's possible for them. That kind of authenticity matters during a major life decision like buying a home. Terinee Bonds, who I originally met through Redfin in 2019 and who is now with Keller Williams, was equally amazing. She consistently checked in, advocated for me, and helped guide me through every obstacle that came up along the way. Like David, she was personable, caring, patient, and truly invested in helping me succeed throughout the process. In the end, I only had to bring about $3,250 to closing, and I also received seller credits, which made a huge difference. I am beyond grateful for David, Josh, Danielle, and Terinee. I highly recommend First Home Mortgage and Terinee Bonds to anyone looking to purchase a home, especially first-time homebuyers navigating the DC market. Their professionalism, honesty, communication, patience, and dedication truly made this dream possible. He will really work for his clients and it's worth it. Trust his word he is extremely knowledgeable. 10/10 overall!!!

David was instrumental in helping me find the right loan product for my first home purchase. He…read morethoroughly explained the process, answered all my questions and was clearly a trusted advisor, rather than someone trying to just sell a mortgage to me. He also helped me snag a great discount on a local title company that did solid work. I've since referred a friend and know I can trust David if questions arise.

Alex and his team made becoming a first time homeowner possible! We had such an incredible,…read morepersonalized experience with quick response times, enabling us update our offer almost overnight and secure our home before someone else could snag it. Can't recommend enough!

I had everything I needed a 60,000-down payment, credit score, and a mortgage certificate. I…read moresacrifice everything and, wait for years to get house of my own. They didn't at all help me. They rejected my application, and said I need another down payment of 60,000. A total of 120000. They crush my dreams and I'm still living in hell.