Tips & Advice on choosing a Pennsylvania Mortgage Lender

What to avoid:

• Out of state lenders.  Without being intimately familiar with our state your fees will likely be wrongly estimated, and there are not going to be established relationships with high quality appraisers and title companies that we have across the state.  An appraisal problem can be the unwelcome end of your mortgage application.
   
• E-lenders who are solely or primarily web-based, including mortgage clearinghouses and bidding sites.*
   
• Lenders who will not give you their loan officer's cell or home phone number.  Our customers frequently need to reach us on weekends and evenings, especially on a purchase, where problems may arise in the home inspection and they just want to talk or they have questions, need to know if they can change loan amounts, etc.  You should not have to wait until Monday to speak with someone when you have a concern Friday.
   
• Being swayed by a Real Estate Agent to use their lender.  Expect this, and scary stories about buyers who have found their own lender being taken.  YOU know if you have found a good mortgage company.  If you follow these tips your lender will be better than any Realty Agency Affiliate.  You are best to look out for yourself here, and find a lender who will look out for you, not the Real Estate Agent.  The agent has a goal to sell the property and get paid, and they are NOT on the buyers side first, or really at all.  With your own lender who cares about your satisfaction first, you will find information out before closing that may be on the appraisal, and nothing will be hidden as your lender and their appraiser are not working for anyone but you.  Rate drops will be passed on to you rather than the Realty agent.   Also, kickbacks both legally set up through "Affiliated Business Relationships" and illegal ones, are usually paid to agents, and it will be you who ends up paying for it. Read news article supporting this tip
   
• Lenders lacking a clean record with the BBB.  Click here to check any company.  The BBB states the mortgage industry receives the most complaints against them. 
   
•  Accepting a closing cost estimate without a maximum fee guarantee.  A Good Faith Estimate as required by RESPA states "the fees listed are estimates - the actual charges may be more or less".  Lenders are not bound to it.  This is why people complain about "hidden fees" or "surprises at closing".  It is 100% legal for lenders to add or change fees.   We guarantee our fees. 
   
•  Giving your application to a data entry clerk over the phone (a sign of a clearinghouse and cost cutting measure.)  It takes at least two years to become a seasoned loan officer.  Work with someone with the skill to advise and inform and make sure they aren't newly in the business.   Look for stability because when a loan officer quits their loans often are dropped.
   
•  A company who does not offer a definitive written free float down option to current market rates if rates drop before your closing.
   
•  Lenders who underestimate prepaids (interest per diem and tax escrows) and title insurance fees.  These fees are set by the state and it is illegal for title companies to give any discounts other than the standard 3 discounts they ALL will give (new developments, 7 year reissue, and 3 year reissue).  If a lender quotes a lower title premium than is on the state chart it is a sign they are obviously "low-balling" their closing cost estimates and are giving you a worthless estimate.  This is a litmus test for an honest good faith estimate.  Pennsylvania Mandated Title Fees
   
• Shopping for rates over the period of days or through market volatility.  Rates change from day to day so to compare lenders the quotes you have should all be from the same time period. 
   

You are paying for a service and it should be delivered quickly and with honesty. 

BE CAREFUL!  We know many other lenders and while we read about some that inspire us, too many loan officers are fly-by-night and unprofessional.  These types are causing mortgage brokers to develop a poor reputation with the public.   Brokers have the better rates, but the banks warn people that brokers are known for adding undisclosed fees at closing.  That must be why people accept the higher rate from banks.  

You can have it both ways with Allegiance Mortgage... 
    Low rates and no hidden fees.

*Internet-based lenders are developing a reputation that is causing consumers to be suspicious of mortgage companies with a website.  It is said only roughly 10% of the internet loan applications ever close (wastes your money and time) and many that do close are laden with delays, errors,  and headaches.   In our 11 year history we have seen many mortgage companies come and go, and their staff comes and go.  This field is very technical, financial, and higher math-skill oriented.  Their reps can not give sound financial advice, or even answer basic questions many times.  They do not pay their reps well and hence they have little skill, and when the able reps do learn the business they leave and work as a true loan officer, and their loan files get dropped.  Many companies are basically free training mills for people looking to learn the mortgage business - learn though trial and error.  This whole experience may leave you with uncertainty, cost you stress and extra time, and is risky.  You can get the same rates or better from a company such as ours where you know who you are working with and employee turnover and inexperience are not an issue.   Steer clear of e-mortgage-clearinghouses as they are lead generation sites that sell your contact info to dozens of lenders, usually not right away, and the lead buyers will be calling you for weeks.    

We are Pennsylvania's Mortgage Company:

We are a traditional mortgage company, with an office where most of our business is handled face-to-face.  

We were founded in 1995 in Upper Pottsgrove Township, Montgomery County and moved to Chester County, North Coventry Township in 1996.

We close loans in every county in PA, and there is no difference in the service a customer receives in Wayne to Montgomery to Somerset County PA.   We are fully equipped and ready and able to satisfy customers throughout the state.

We specialize in residential loans --- from residential lots to refinances and purchases.  A residential home is a 1-4 unit property used for residential purposes, whether rented, a vacation home, or primary residence .

AMS is owned by Christine Bell.  We have closed many mortgage loans, and are (1 of only 8 in PA, out of thousands of loan originators who have the option to remain untrained) a highly accomplished Certified Residential Mortgage Specialist from the N.A.M.B. 

Christine has a BA in Finance, magna cum laude, from Ursinus College and is working on her  MBA at Villanova University and Saint Joe's University. 

We are proud of a record of  zero (0) customer complaints which can be verified by checking with the C.P.A., HUD, or BBB.  We hope we can add you to our list of satisfied borrowers!