i just went under contract today on my townhouse!
can anyone recommend a good lender with good interest rates and no origination fee?
i'm assuming i have to find my own closing attorney now? also do I need to go find title insurer myself or who takes care of that?

4/26/2010 11:22:17 PM

congrats!!

the lenders w/ no origination fees will more than likely not be banks...

speaking from experience BB&T customer service is exceptional and they service all of their own loans which i rare today in the frannie mac era

[Edited on April 26, 2010 at 11:30 PM. Reason : m]

4/26/2010 11:30:24 PM

^One of my coworkers just got a special first time buyers loan from BB&T that I believe is no origination fee and no down payment required.

4/26/2010 11:47:09 PM

check out bb&t first time homebuyers program its called CHIP. I went through it and got 0.75 orig fee but good interest rate and no down payment (and no pmi)

http://www.bbt.com/bbt/mortgage/first-time-home-buyer-loans.html

attorney usually handles the title insurance i think.

4/27/2010 8:44:38 AM

thanks i'll look into BB&T.....also who holds the earnest deposit money? the seller agent is asking for it and i can give it to his firm or i can give it to my own closing attorney that i'm trying to find one

4/27/2010 10:39:41 AM

I think, usually the title company is the one that holds the earnest money. The money will be hold in an escrow account.

4/27/2010 10:49:02 AM

If your interested in the CHIP loan I can give you contact info for the loan officer at BB&T that im working with (bout to close in 2 weeks). She was super helpful. PM me if you want it.

4/27/2010 11:07:41 AM

in my case my earnest money was to the real estate company but that may only be because the seller's realtor and my realtor were part of the same real estate company.

4/27/2010 11:11:47 AM

I had the closing attorney hold the escrow money.

4/27/2010 5:55:45 PM

I'll hold it for you.

4/28/2010 10:52:37 AM

I remember making my check out to the real estate company

so moral of the story is...i'm not sure if there is a set way to do things

[Edited on April 28, 2010 at 11:03 AM. Reason : qasdf]

4/28/2010 10:58:51 AM

I'd also recommend the BB&T Chip program if you qualify -- we went through that about 8 months ago when we bought our first house -- easily the best deal we had available.

In case anyone is interested -- we worked with Brooks Walton at BB&T and she was extremely helpful and friendly the entire time. I'd highly recommend working with her if you have that opportunity. I'm more than happy to pass on her email to anyone seriously considering the CHIP program -- just send me a PM.



[Edited on April 28, 2010 at 1:18 PM. Reason : .]

4/28/2010 1:15:16 PM

dnj-mortgage.com

These guys are awesome. I have refinanced with them several times with no cost lending. They absorb all costs. The difference is that your rate will be about a half point higher than what it would be if you paid all the closing costs. I have refinanced twice with them, and had it been with a regular lender, it would have taken 20 years to make up the savings in the interest rate difference.

4/28/2010 1:25:16 PM

Typically sellers ask for a pre-qualification letter or evidence of approval prior to entering into a binding contract, guess not in your case. I concur with the above posts about BBT chip loan. Yes you select the closing attorney.

5/1/2010 8:24:50 AM