Quote:
Originally Posted by manaboutown
For my personal accounts I use B of A because they seem to have convenient branches wherever I go around the USA. When I spent a month in TV in 2011 the closest B of A was pretty far from the house I rented so I tried my B of A card at a Citizens. The machine wanted $5.00 to give me some cash if I recall correctly. That left a very bad taste in my mouth so I went the distance to a B of A.
I am curious as to whether I can use a Schwab card at a Citizens at no charge since Schwab charges me nothing on using bank ATMs, even in foreign countries. They apparently eat the fee or have worked out deals with many or most banks. I did not have my Schwab card with me in TV so if anyone knows the answer please advise and I will bring it down on my next trip.
Citizens seems to have a pretty tight lock on the banking business in TV and has plenty of branches. I recall reading somewhere that when Morse signed on with Schwartz in the early days they could not get appraisals and loans high enough to sell homes at the prices they wanted to obtain since the surrounding housing in Central Florida was way too low priced compared to what he wanted to get for what he was building. Of course the surrounding housing did not offer "free" golf and the other amenities TV was providing so one could argue it was an apples versus oranges situation. To solve this problem Morse established his own bank to do the lending.
It does not surprise me that Citizens receives higher interest rates for mortgages on new homes. Buyers, with good reason, are worried other lenders may not process their loan requests in time to meet their deadline. I am refinancing a home (not in TV) right now and although a 25 day lock was available at a slightly lower rate the mortgage broker who is a personal friend told me to go for the 55 day lock since there was no way they could process my re-fi in 25 days. It is what it is.
Real estate agents frequently receive (or perhaps used to receive) referral fees (commissions) from lenders. I am not current on this and the situation no doubt varies from state to state. Does anyone know if Citizens pays referral fees to TV's sales people?
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Manabout, you most certainly can use your Schwab debit card at Citizens (I have) and Schwab will refund you the atm fees on your bank statement.
I like the fact that there is a Schwab investment branch at Lake Sumter. You can deposit money into your investment account and then go online and transfer it to your checking account.