Since I'm located in Taos, NM, I was curious if there would be much in the way of interest from national mortgage lenders in today's market for a loan in this out-of-the-way area. I was also obviously interested in how the process works, as I might want to recommend it to clients in the future. So, I set up an anonymous account and filled in a mortgage application with the following information:
- Home price $375,000, with 20% down, financing $300,000
- Selected "Good Credit", one step below the excellent level.
- Entered a small savings account, reasonable checking account, and a $40k retirement account balance for liquid assets.
- Credit card payments, car note, rent and other expenses were entered.
- Requested rates for 30 and 15 year fixed loans.
I submitted the application, expecting to wait until Monday or so to write this post. An hour later, give or take, a quote showed up. It detailed the information, a 30 year rate of 6.0%, 15 year at 5.375%, and a .625% origination fee. There was a lot more detail as to estimated closing costs, approximate payment, etc. There was complete contact information for the lender, including how many quotes they have done on the Zillow system.
Overall, it has been a very good experience, and the lender even gave up his cell phone number. So, to make it up to him for faking him out on a Saturday morning, thanks to Steve Felty at American Mortgage Corp. in St. Peter, MN for his prompt response. We should both take some time off later today.