Mortgage Lender Recommendations - FHA

Submitted by GaimanitePkat t3_ydxrfx in rva

I know this has been asked before but with how stupid the market's been I think it is worth asking again to get a more recent answer.

The husband and I are looking to buy a home. We are using a realtor recommended by his family, and I really like her. The realtor had 2 recommendations for lenders. Her top recommendation was the guy used by the in-laws, but I don't really like him. We met with him in August, he flashed through a lot of information and gave us nothing to take home and read over, got very dodgy about answering some of my follow-up questions, and straight up lied at least once. It felt very "used car salesman".

We have yet to meet with the other lender, although I'd like to, but I'd also like some other recommendations from you good RVA folks. Due to financial history we can only get an FHA loan. (we also make too much money for a down payment grant which is a Big Oof.) I've heard credit unions are good options.

Thank you in advance, I can provide any other info as needed.

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McFlare92 t1_itut3lp wrote

You need to talk to u/gracetw22 she is the rva mortgage loan officer queen. Helped me and many other r/rva denizens buy a home

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GaimanitePkat OP t1_itutk5s wrote

I hope she shows up!

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gracetw22 t1_itv7sww wrote

Hey there! Happy to help out any way I can, shoot me a message if you’d like or if u/mcflare92 sent you my cell then a text is great and we can set something up.

A credit union is likely your worst bet for your specific situation- they tend to have more stringent qualification requirements for credit history and score than other lenders.

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McFlare92 t1_itv94pc wrote

I sent her your website actually but it seems like y'all are in touch now either way

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manyamile t1_ituu8wg wrote

Highly recommend Maddy Armstrong.

She helped us navigate a challenging financial situation and still managed to get us below 5% on a 30 year mortgage.

We’re moving into our new house this morning. The movers are packing us up right now - https://imgur.com/a/Hr5vWtT

Office # 804-305-2344

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handle2345 t1_itvii9p wrote

Came here to post her name. She is excellent. Responsive and good at problem solving.

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gracetw22 t1_itvt0ug wrote

Maddy is delightful, congrats on the new house!

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manyamile t1_itx9xgx wrote

Thanks! If I recall, I’m very close to your new office. We’re not too far from 301/Atlee Road. Feel free to stop by next summer when the garden is in full swing and I’ll drown you in Hanover tomatoes.

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gracetw22 t1_itxckrh wrote

Yes! That’s us! Swing in to say hi if you ever need to use a printer or whatever, it’s really cool inside and no jerks in the facility.

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GaimanitePkat OP t1_ituuoam wrote

Thank you! Our situation isn't entirely what I would call "challenging" but the bankruptcy does present a roadblock.

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Therecomesdudley t1_ituxmze wrote

She was great! We were first time home buyers and did FHA and she made it really painless.

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toocapak t1_itupdwv wrote

NFM Lending has two great branches in Richmond. They just moved offices off W Cary in the city, both of the Brokers their are fantastic.

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GaimanitePkat OP t1_itupk2b wrote

Thank you, I will look into this!

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Itztdog t1_itvz31o wrote

Second them! Greg Cowart’s team is fantastic! Reach out to Matt Pritchett on his team and he will take great care of you! 804-337-0300

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Westhamwayintherva t1_ituverm wrote

Larry Nutt at Fancher Mortgage is a super solid dude and I highly recommend him. He will bend over backwards as much as he can to find the best options for you.

https://www.fanchermtg.com/larry-nutt/

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GaimanitePkat OP t1_itv0x3b wrote

Thank you!

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larrytn t1_itvg5hu wrote

It sounds like you’ve got a few options based on the thread. I’d be happy to jump on a short call to understand your finances better. Feel free to shoot me a message!

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GaimanitePkat OP t1_itvgf7s wrote

Hi Larry! I'm going to discuss everything with my husband tonight, we've gone back and forth a lot on whether or not we want to wait another few months and save more/wait for interest rates to be less scary, but I've already let him know that I've got some really great leads.

Thanks!!

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breafofdawild t1_itup076 wrote

Why are you pigeon-holed into an FHA loan? How much were you looking to put down?

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GaimanitePkat OP t1_itupbgr wrote

Got a bankruptcy that'll be 2 years cleared in mid-December. Can't do anything until it's 2 years cleared, and (at least according to the guy I didn't like) we can't get anything else until it's five (?) years cleared.

He did advise refinancing a few years down the road to get into a conventional loan and not FHA.

We also cannot afford 20% down with no first time homebuyer grant. We barely eek over the line into "makes too much" and entire household income is counted.

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breafofdawild t1_ituqe5i wrote

No one expects you to put 20% down. That’s just to get around PMI thresholds. We have purchased two homes over the past 12-13 years in the RVA area and not once have we put down 20%. That being said, we liked dealing with Capcenter when we did our refi (they do purchases too).

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gracetw22 t1_itvud9a wrote

Would just caution anyone reading this thread who wants to go to capcenter or any other similarly structured internet lender that you can go to www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org and type in your loan officer and view their work history and see what kind of experience they have - depending on how straightforward someone's circumstances are, they might be fine with someone who is fairly new, and no loan officer is 100% flawless, but I think it would be valuable info if I were shopping lenders.

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GaimanitePkat OP t1_ituqt7y wrote

I saw them highly recommended in refinance threads here. Thank you.

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augie_wartooth t1_ituudgv wrote

I had a good experience with CapCenter lending. Do not use their realty services, though.

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GaimanitePkat OP t1_ituuppv wrote

nah I do like our realtor, just not the loan guy

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augie_wartooth t1_ituyy6d wrote

I’m glad! I just always want to tell anyone and everyone that their realty services are hot garbage. I had a hilariously bad experience.

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BubbleWrapGuy t1_itusn43 wrote

> No one expects you to put 20% down.

True. Including the down payment assistance grant, which was 2%, I put down a total of 3.5%. PMI comes to about $86/month for my home.

I believe that with FHA loans you get MIP which is like PMI except that it never falls off the loan. You have to refinance to get it removed. Please fact check that as it's been a minute since I've gone over all of this information.

Edit: Just looked this up -- from what I saw if you pay at least 10% down on an FHA loan you pay MIP for 11 years. Less than 10% down and you pay MIP for the entirety of the FHA loan.

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BlueXTC t1_ituvs3m wrote

Once you hit 20% equity you can request the PMI to be removed. I did it with our mortgage from VA Credit Union. It was removed for the next payment. You have to file a formal request and there is an appraisal done to make sure you have sufficient equity to remove the PMI

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BubbleWrapGuy t1_itv43x6 wrote

On a conventional loan, yes, you can request PMI to be removed after 20% equity and two years of on-time payments. FHA loans have MIP, which is basically the same thing as PMI but with different rules.

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GaimanitePkat OP t1_itutifw wrote

>I believe that with FHA loans you get MIP which is like PMI except that it never falls off the loan. You have to refinance to get it removed. Please fact check that as it's been a minute since I've gone over all of this information.

yeah this sounds about right. Like I said, the guy really flashed through everything so fast.

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dj1200techniques t1_itv66ls wrote

Yes but you can also do a rate and term streamline FHA refi once you have 20% equity and the PMI payment falls off.

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gracetw22 t1_itv8idx wrote

No, even a streamline FHA at 80% loan to value will have PMI. It’s a bummer but just how those loans work

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dj1200techniques t1_itv9a1m wrote

Whaaaaat ?? That must be something new. Then again I haven’t written a loan since 2008 🤷🏽‍♂️

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BubbleWrapGuy t1_itvbuuv wrote

I believe FHA loan rules changed in 2013 (based on the one source I checked this morning).

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gracetw22 t1_itvk1cz wrote

Yep, you can put 50% down on an FHA loan and the MI never drops off. I think it changed in the last 10 years but can't quite remember when.

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gracetw22 t1_itv8bsg wrote

Ughhhh I would love to know who you talked to because that’s not right- there’s only a five year waiting period on conventional for multiple filings. The FHA plan is likely still the right one but I hate when people give out bad info to borrowers because it’s too much work to look up the right answer. See it all the time on the Reddit, too.

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[deleted] t1_itusmn2 wrote

[deleted]

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dj1200techniques t1_itv6016 wrote

FHA will let you buy 2 years from a BK

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gracetw22 t1_itvp0cm wrote

CH 13 you can get an FHA loan as soon as you have made 12 on time payments on the plan, it's just a manual underwrite which means more thorough documentation. Different waiting periods for different circumstances and loan programs- sorry not trying to pick on you just wanted to make sure there was info here for anyone maybe reading this thread and getting discouraged.

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ConstantRunnerVA t1_itus4kr wrote

My wife and I have worked with Chris Parks at McLean Mortgage twice and he's been great both times. He and his team are really responsive, which was great when we were buying our first home. The only way we got in in this crazy market was because we promised to close in, like, 15 days. Chris and his people made it happen.

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GaimanitePkat OP t1_itutjct wrote

Thank you!

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deenda t1_itvtdqd wrote

I second their recommendation but he is no longer at McLean, I forget the name of his new company.

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Campwithchamp t1_itv41mz wrote

Talk to Duane Buziak at Christensen Finacial. He got us an interest rate under 5% in August of this year. Super nice guy, and very straightforward. He even helped us think creatively during the offer phase to figure out how to put together a competitive offer when you dont have suitcases of cash to put down.

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Neither_Toe_961 t1_itvniel wrote

Aubriel Rivera at NFM lending! super knowledgeable with lots of experience & expertise in all types of loans!

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batkave t1_itw2fv6 wrote

We went through Freedom Mortgage who helped us not only buy the house but also refinanced and everything was made amazingly smooth.

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804allday t1_itw50xc wrote

Kimberly Garnett at Guild mortgage was amazing for us!!

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Spongewifey t1_itupu4y wrote

We used Southern Trust initially to get approved and it was then sold to Planet Home Lending. I have had a good experience with PH and they have already offered us a refinance offer to get lower rate without any out of pocket. Best of luck!

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gracetw22 t1_itvuv9z wrote

When did you get your loan initially? Curious about a servicer with a refinance option that is soon after closing, normally they fine the initial originator if someone refinances too soon, so I am intrigued how often that is happening

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Spongewifey t1_itvvaqx wrote

You are right there is about a 6 month waiting period. They have given me the information but I have to wait until January before I can pull the trigger.

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Spongewifey t1_itvveh8 wrote

We had done the same with a different lender previously and got down to 2.4% interest at that time. Definitely not what we got this Spring but you know…

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gracetw22 t1_itvxlzy wrote

OK that makes more sense. There is no prepayment penalty on the vast majority of mortgages, but if it is paid off within 6 months for whatever reason, then there are major penalties to the originators. I helped someone out last year around christmas whose house sale wasn't going to close until after he needed to get into his new home for the holidays, and I was really up front "hey I know you are going to get a lot of money selling your house, please agree to make 6 payments and THEN pay it off, or else I actually will owe money for doing this loan, that is why no one else would help you because of the risk..." Of course he said no problem and of course I had a 4000 dollar fine taken out of my paycheck as my christmas present when he paid it off a week after closing. Rude, not illegal. That is just why I wanted to ask if they were encouraging people to do that inside the 6 month period because I would be rather upset at the prospect.

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WontArnett t1_ituzfzk wrote

RVA Financial has been great for me so far, although I have a conventional loan

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WashCaps95 t1_itvpu7c wrote

We used cap center recently. They make everything really easy, only have to go in once to sign the title transfer.

Just know your really not getting a mortgage through them, they sell mortgages in bulk to other companies. They sold mine to Wells Fargo before I even made my first payment

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[deleted] t1_itusb88 wrote

[deleted]

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ILikeYourHotdog t1_itv32dy wrote

Congrats on your great rate, but that must have been months ago.

Current rates are in the 6-7's.

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GaimanitePkat OP t1_itvt2xq wrote

we had a friend buy at 2.7 iirc. This was either pre-pandemic or right at the start. I cry a little when I think about it

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ILikeYourHotdog t1_itvuipb wrote

We refinanced at the end of 2020 and got 2.25%. It was crazy times back then.

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GeauxSaints90 t1_itvkbrx wrote

HIGHLY recommend Tony Markland with Alcova. If you need his contact details just shoot me a DM. He’s one of the top mortgage lenders in VA

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maz108 t1_itvmjf4 wrote

I recommend not buying a house right now.

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GaimanitePkat OP t1_itvpmyd wrote

We're at the most financially stable we've been in 8 years and for various reasons buying a house is something we both really want. We are willing to wait if we have to, and we've discussed it several times, but we'd rather not if we can help it. I know the market is really really stupid but based on listings our agent has been sending us we can still get something nicer than what we have without killing ourselves financially.

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Charlesinrichmond t1_iu2ge73 wrote

Honestly that's great thinking. Buy a house when it makes sense for you. Don't worry about the market as a whole, worry about your own finances and the houses you are looking at

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