I don't recommend either Nationstar nor Citibank to originate a mortgage.
Here is why: After the mortgage meltdown in 2008 the banks changed their underwriting criteria and loan process- especially the big box banks. They have tighter, much more conservative ratios and their process to underwrite a loan is awkard and frustrating. Your file is handled by intake type personnel that have no idea of underwriting criteria - rather than taken by an experienced LO. After you have supplied your info and paid for an appraisal and been processed for weeks, you file finally makes its way to an underwriter. The underwriter may or may not be experienced, but it will be the first time a person that looks at your file that has any knowledge at all of bank guidelines. By then you have spent at least 3 weeks and the funds for the appraisal. If there is an error on your application (any kind) it is difficult to fix at this stage. If your debt exceeds the banks guidelines, you don't get the loan. Even if you could get it elsewhere.
An example: lets say your total debt ratio (with the new loan) is 48%. A big box bank is likely to say no to your mortgage whereas a regular mortgage lender that does nothing but mortgages would say yes all day long - assuming the rest of the file is okay. I had that happen this year (I'm a Realtor) on one of my listings where the buyer made application with Chase with a very large down payment on a small purchase ($280k purchase with $100k down). Chase turned him down after 30 days because his total debt ratio was too high (they said). He went to a regular mortgage lender the next day and got the loan - we closed 25 days later. The thing is this: ratios take about 15 minutes to compute (max) and it took 30 days for Chase to notice that the ratios were too high for their own guidelines (not Fannie Mae's or Freddie Mac's). Total waste of time, money and effort for the buyer.
It is typical for the big box banks to have tighter guidelines and to not properly process the file. Not always, but frequent enough that most of us in the business in my area now shun big box banks for mortgages. Go to someone that only does mortgages, not checking accounts, not credit cards, not car loans etc.
