No, big box banks don't offer the best rates and terms anymore. They do offer a great teaser rate to get you to apply - and then when you actually apply you end up with some kicker in the commitment that increases the rate and/or closing costs substantially or some condition that is very harmful to you. Last time I saw that occur (last month) BOA had this excellent buyer (high FICO, excellent income, no derogs etc) require that they sell an additional $80k of stock when they didn't need the funds in order to close. Naturally, that buyer/borrower went elsewhere and didn't have that condition or anything like it.

Given your post, try Sebonic Financial (Sebonic.com). I'm not affliated with them in any way. They have (usually) the best rates and terms and a very efficient process. Also try a non-bank lender (they are nationwide too) - Guaranteed Rate. At least with these two lenders what is quoted to you is honored and there is no kicker at the end. What you are looking for is a loan officer that knows the programs and can offer you the best deal based on your qualifications and not have underwriting try to make the deal better for the bank at your expense for no reason.

A few things. I am going to offer a different opinion. Do NOT go with a nationwide lender. When buying a house, the Realtor will likely advise the seller to take an offer with a local lender over a nationwide lender (like USAA). The nationwide lenders are usually set up that you don't deal with the same people throughout the process. A month ago, BOA extended all closings because they were backed up. If your credit score is above 740, you can expect the best rates. Right now, there is so much uncertainty and not many buyers of these loans. This will ease when the economy gets going again.

Talk to 2 or 3 local lenders and have them run your credit (all counts as the same hit as far as deducting credit points goes). I don't know why you can't talk to your favorite 2 lenders every day or every few days. However, you are then going to want to get a contract on a house before "locking in" your rate.

Since you mentioned USAA and Navy Federal, I will assume you are using a VA loan. A lot of mortgage brokers are not doing government backed loans at the moment. There is so much uncertainty right now! The ones who are, are requiring much higher scores to close them during this shutdown. With a VA loan, you have an upfront funding fee that gets added to the loan. This is a VA fee, and all lenders charge the same government fee. In addition, each bank has their own origination/processing fee. Last I checked, USAA's fee was significantly higher than local mortgage brokers. In my area, these fees tend to run around $1,000.

thanks B Carey. We will be asking for a conventional 30 year loan — probably jumbo. My husband and I both have credit scores over 800. We’ll be putting down over 50%. I named those two credit unions because we have the Military connection. We have a signed contract but our final pricing is still subject to adjustment based on some options we still need to pin down (final floor selections etc). In normal times, I would think we would have some clout to negotiate the rate and possibly get fee waivers but I’m wondering if banks don‘t even want to issue new mortgage loans now - in such case do they make an offer and I just have to take it or leave it? With small businesses lining up to get the new no pay back loans today, I expect the banks to be more swamped than ever.

I got totally screwed by the Navy credit union when I was applying to refinance (cash out) 3 1/2 years ago. Great rate until I applied and then it changed and wasn't great at all. I had a credit score in the high 800's and was an outstanding candidate. They just do a lot of "bait and switch".

I ended up with the local (sort of local - owned by bigger bank in Pittsburgh) where my present mortgage was. It was still a lengthy process for no reason at all. I'd had two mortgages with this bank and had never missed a payment (I don't miss payments on ANYTHING!). They treated me as if I was the ragman off the street but I finally got my new 15 year fixed rate mortgage and cash out.

It's very difficult at the moment because the financial markets are changing so much. I work for a large community bank, and the scenario quoted by Denita shouldn't happen anywhere. I know our rates have changed mutiple times in a day recently because of market changes. I don't think anyone ever gets the "best" rate, find a lender you trust that has competitive rates and costs, and lock that rate in right away.

You can’t really “negotiate” the rates. The reason is that they have to offer the same rate to clients that fit in the same “box”. (Same credit score range, debt-to-ratio, etc). What lenders can do is to have you pay points to buy down the interest rate. So you pay an additional fee to have a lower rate. Or the reverse is when they give you a higher rate to cover some of your closing costs.

Check with multiple lenders right now. Government backed loans (VA) are crazy right now. Lenders are very uncertain what is going to happen in the next 90 days.

Now is not a good time to be taking on that kind of debt. If you have 50% of the home’s potential cost, I‘d suggest a redesign to a smaller and less initially upscale home that you can build with that 50%. Then do the add ons that double the size of the core, in a few years.

@pamghatten - you are right. It was the weirdest thing I have ever seen happen to a buyer, and I've seen (big box) banks pull some really awful tricks since the mortgage meltdown. So my advice stands about staying away from them. BTW, I'm not referring to the community banks. I think they are great and also a good solution for the OP.

Over the years I used Navy Federal for a few Mortgage Loans. None of the loans were VA Loans... why would they? Excellent service, competitive rates, etc,

Use USAA for insurance - auto, homeowners, umbrella, etc. No mortgage experience.

Thanks for the advice. I’m disappointed to hear that Navy Fed is playing games — I was hoping that they would do better for military families. I just got off the phone with someone there... they quoted a “best rate” for today of 3.25 % for a 0 point, 30 year mortgage but they charge a 1 point origination fee, plus between $400 -$800 for an appraisal, plus $40 to do a credit check on me and DH, and a “service fee” and a “tax set up fee” and a ”standard fee” and a “flood certification fee” and a bunch of other fees. It was hard to get a straight answer about all the so-called fees. They said from the time they get all the paperwork from us, they need 30-45 days but won’t tell me exactly what paperwork they need until I submit the application and the $40 credit check fee. It seems like A full 1% on a jumbo mortgage is a big fee to start with so why are they nickeling and diming with so many addition fees? Just because they can? ! At the end, after saying that’s the best they can do, they say if two other places give me a better offer, they’ll match. AAGGRrrH. I am going to hate this process! Is this par for the course?

I never was faced with what you describe as far as NFCU. And I had a nunber of Mortgages and re-finances with them over the years.

Don't get in a wad about a few $40-$50 fees. $200 is not a big deal in the scheme of things!

I went to NFCU five minutes after you posted:

Term Interest Rates As Low As Discount Points APR As Low As

30 Year Jumbo 2.875% 1.250 3.053%

30 Year 3.000% 1.250 3.179%

NFCU Rates 4/3/2020

Use USAA for insurance - auto, homeowners, umbrella, etc

When I comparison price shopped for car insurance last year, with gold-plated credit ratings, USAA was $1800 a year, but we got $1250 a year for same coverage using an independent broker.

Guess I'm really am not as smart as you. I've been with them for 54 years.

Hope you don't get into an accident... see what happens to your premium.

If you were quoted $1800 a year you must have quite a driving record. Being proud of your credit rating may be satisfying, but keep your eyes on the road.

If you had read my post you'd have noticed I listed some of my experience with USAA to proclaim I HAVE NO MORTGAGE EXPERIENCE WITH THEM.

Sheesh!

For chrissake... I never suggested they were good. Never. Someone else mentioned NFCU and USAA. I weighed in and said I had good mortgage experience with NFCU over the years and no mortgage experience with USAA - - " Use USAA for insurance - auto, homeowners, umbrella, etc. No mortgage experience."