Thank you for the info on the USAA mortgage staff; their reviews in that department are not that great either. iFreedom Direct seems to have good reviews. Can someone tell me if the VA loan interest rate is the same regardless of the lender? Being a first time buyer; I am totally in the dark. If this is the case then it really doesn't matter which lender you use other than the quality and professionalism that they provide, correct?
Starting Score: Experian 593 Equifax 552 TransUnion 550
Is the VA interest rate going to be the same, regardless of the lender. If so isn't more a matter of quality of work and ability to get your loan through quickly and properly. Although I am a member of USAA, and really like them, I am not hearing good things about their mortgage department. iFreedom however has very good reviews. Also IFreedom already pulled my credit but the cottage I was looking at has a locked offer. It now looks like it will take until Mar-Apr-May to find a suitable place. Will iFreedom need to pull another credit check or can they use the one they have? If the do another CR pull won't that hurt my credit score?
I'm not an expert in anyway but my understanding in talking to two lenders when I was applying is that the VA loan rate "could" vary between lenders. There is no rate really given until you lock in your loan at some point in the process. In speaking with NFCU and USAA the rate they quoted me for that day, if I was locking, was the same. I'm under the impression rates can even vary slightly during a day.
I went with USAA because their promise way to get to loan completion and close faster than NFCU. In the end we missed their first closing date by 7 weeks.
Also I would guess if you were going to delay for several months the lender would need another credit check to make sure there was no new derogatory info cropped up.
Don't worry about the score. With VA you were either qualified or not qualified. There were no rate tiers for a higher or lower score. I did get 4.25% in 01/11. If anything rates have come down slightly since then and probably won't take a dramatic upshift in your time frame.
What is the loan application costs and origination fees through iFreedom direct? The federal reserve board provides the following info. Is this paid up-front or rolled into the loan?
Application fee
Imposed by your lender or broker, this charge covers the initial costs of processing your loan request and checking your credit report.
Estimated cost: $65 to $640, including the cost of the credit report for each applicant Median cost: $365
Loan origination fee
The origination fee (also called underwriting fee, administrative fee, or processing fee) is charged by the lender for evaluating and preparing your mortgage loan. This fee can cover the lender's attorney's fees, document preparation costs, notary fees, and similar charges.
Estimated cost: $2,130 to $3,105 with a 5% down payment; $1,984 to $2,865 with a 10% down payment
Median cost: $2,734 with a 5% down payment; $2,537 with a 10% down payment