Financing Question?

[nancijohnson]

Please help us...we will be purchasing in TV, looking for court yard villa in Virginia Trace (if anyone knows of anyone going to be selling please let us know) Here is my question, I talked to my local bank in WI and they said they could do the financing for us, but the agent working with us in the Villages wants us to talk to Citizens First Mortgage Co. We have dealt with our local bank for 30 years and they have all of our information making it much easier for us. We will be investing and renting the property and using it on and off ourselves. Can someone let us know any pro's and cons of either? Thanks Nanci

[BettyCrocked]

The agent wants you to use CF because it is owned by the Developer. Stick with your bank. You will pay less.

[billethkid]

definitely stay with your bank and you will have a lower rate for sure.
They will continue to promote their bank until you tell them you have your own.
They may even try to tell you their bank knows what TV expects and are much more efficient at the closing....BS!! Our home bank 9++ years ago was a full 1.5% less on interest rates!!!!!!!!! I told the sales people as well as their bank, match the rate and I would be happy to use them as a lender. They of course declined.

Your bank that you are established with may even waive the bank origination fee (mine did) TV bank definitely will not.

In this banking/sales office arrangement I personally feel TV has a conflict of interest!! They do not like to hear that either.

btk

[Mallory Voice]

Please help us...we will be purchasing in TV, looking for court yard villa in Virginia Trace (if anyone knows of anyone going to be selling please let us know) Here is my question, I talked to my local bank in WI and they said they could do the financing for us, but the agent working with us in the Villages wants us to talk to Citizens First Mortgage Co. We have dealt with our local bank for 30 years and they have all of our information making it much easier for us. We will be investing and renting the property and using it on and off ourselves. Can someone let us know any pro's and cons of either? Thanks Nanci

YES - we have 5 homes here and none of them are with Citizens First Mortgage Co. Why? Because their fees are outrageous!! Money is money, a sale is a sale - use your local company and stick to you guns.
p.s. did you know who Citizens Mortgage is owned by? Take a guess.....
MV

[maddie101]

Same song and dance about Citizens knowing Florida law, etc. We used our own banker, too. Rates are different for rental property vs a home you are living in. Also keep in mind there are rules about how many weeks you can use your own place if it is truly rental property and listed with an agency. Either way, use your own bank back home.

[Cedwards38]

Compare rates and terms, factor in how much you love your local bank, and do what's best for you.

[TraceyMooreRN]

Your bank 100% agreed. TV will also try to tell you that if your bank can't close on time (30 days) there are penalities. True they can do that because of the contract wording if you use a contract from the TV-however I am not sure that isn't changed with pre-owned homes.

Either way communicate effectively with your bank. Have all needed documents with employer info, retirement, bank statements--etc ready to give to the bank to help speed up the process.

Good luck!!

[nancijohnson]

Thank you everyone! That is exactly what i thought, everyone is so helpful! So excited to buy!!!! Please let me know if you hear of a court yard villa, ranch home, patio villa walking distance to Sumter Landing, Village of Virginia Trace, Caroline or something in edgewater bungalows, etc.

[TheCollierCpl]

Please help us...we will be purchasing in TV, looking for court yard villa in Virginia Trace (if anyone knows of anyone going to be selling please let us know) Here is my question, I talked to my local bank in WI and they said they could do the financing for us, but the agent working with us in the Villages wants us to talk to Citizens First Mortgage Co. We have dealt with our local bank for 30 years and they have all of our information making it much easier for us. We will be investing and renting the property and using it on and off ourselves. Can someone let us know any pro's and cons of either? Thanks Nanci

We have a great " in" with wells fargo. We still went with citizens in TV. We have found that virtually everything with The Villages trade mark (or in partnership with them) works most excellently. (and i am a CPA and ,an aging partner skeptical. Call citizens mortgage and ask or steve Koller. (I get no kixkbacks, he is great.)

[Whit53]

The problem we had with an outside mortgage company was getting it done by closing date. We ended up going with Citizens. We close Oct 7

[janieb]

We used our Wells Fargo guy in Minnesota when purchasing both our Michigan home and our home in The Villages, everything worked well and we got an unbelievable interest rate for a 5 year arm, even the Wells Fargo guy was shocked.

[Kirsten Lee]

Ask a Villages sales rep for a blank copy of the offer to purchase. It is longer than most I have seen. (I have worked in lending for 27 years.) Read it carefully. It says if you do not close in The Villages, Mclin and Burnsled (The villages attorney firm) basically control the closing. Their attorney's prepare the settlement statement. Also, the title company will require a survey ($200) or they will not issue title. This is a pure money maker as I am sure the lot lines are well known. Most lender's do not require a survey unless there is an unusual item like a shared driveway. We paid a closing fee here in Wisconsin and a closing fee to Mclin and Burnsled. Our Village Sales rep was very concerned that the independent appraiser would not appraise the property correctly. He even showed up at the house and gave the appraiser a list of other homes in the area for him to compare our house to. Totally illegal. This was after I told him and his boss (he claimed he would retrain the sales rep) that he was not allowed to have any contact with the appraiser.
That being said, use your outside lender, the rate is much better and with the slowdown of refi's, I am sure your lending can get the deal done quickly.

[OldManTime]

Please help us...we will be purchasing in TV, looking for court yard villa in Virginia Trace (if anyone knows of anyone going to be selling please let us know) Here is my question, I talked to my local bank in WI and they said they could do the financing for us, but the agent working with us in the Villages wants us to talk to Citizens First Mortgage Co. We have dealt with our local bank for 30 years and they have all of our information making it much easier for us. We will be investing and renting the property and using it on and off ourselves. Can someone let us know any pro's and cons of either? Thanks Nanci

I have the Citizens Mortgage, no problems, you would expect them to refer to Citizens, they all have the same boss up the ladder.

[Bavarian]

We used our local Bank. No problems and better rate. As Mortgage Officer said, the rate is set by area originating it. MD much cheaper than FL.

Don't let any sales Rep push you into using a specific bank, to me that is a red flag of a kick-back.

[graciegirl]

We used our local Bank. No problems and better rate. As Mortgage Officer said, the rate is set by area originating it. MD much cheaper than FL.

Don't let any sales Rep push you into using a specific bank, to me that is a red flag of a kick-back.

If you are the builder and own the bank, how can that be a kick back. It would be a side kick.

Nanci...you will probably be buying a resale, there aren't any new homes in walking distance of Lake Sumter Landing, and if you do you may be using an MLS realtor not a Villages one. Then none of this is a concern at all. I will be a sale like any sale you are used to on a resale and you can use any bank you want.

Here is a link to Lyle Gant who advertises on this forum. http://lylesellsfla.com/

[graciegirl]

Most people involved in real estate would know this stuff.

[billethkid]

There is no reason any non Villages bank cannot be ready for the closing as there is plenty of time to get it done.

We did not use CF because they were not competitive rate wise.....not even close.

btk

[TheCollierCpl]

Nanci, I'm a CPA and we have excellent banking contacts through business as well as on our own. We ended up financing through Citizens Mortgage. Need I say more? BTW our clender there was Steve Kohler. (we understand that Cirtizens finances about 90% of the financing in TV. I never verified that statistic but they make it as painless as possible, and with the new banking regs, it's a real pain!
Best wishes and welcome.

[Cantwaittoarrive]

I recommend Tom Sinak at USA Mortgage. He has a Florida mortgage lic. his office is in St Louis but he closes loans in 30 days or less and he so good and proactive its the best experience you will ever have with a mortgage broker. Even though he is in St Louis he deals with customers remotely every day and I know from speaking with him that he has closed many loans in TV

[asianthree]

we used our own BOA bank..using the branch in TV..we closed one day late...cost to us $484.67 per day... yes better rate with our bank, less closing costs, but if you are late closing you are :censored:...a preowned on the other hand use your bank all day long

[graciegirl]

Ask a Villages sales rep for a blank copy of the offer to purchase. It is longer than most I have seen. (I have worked in lending for 27 years.) Read it carefully. It says if you do not close in The Villages, Mclin and Burnsled (The villages attorney firm) basically control the closing. Their attorney's prepare the settlement statement. Also, the title company will require a survey ($200) or they will not issue title. This is a pure money maker as I am sure the lot lines are well known. Most lender's do not require a survey unless there is an unusual item like a shared driveway. We paid a closing fee here in Wisconsin and a closing fee to Mclin and Burnsled. Our Village Sales rep was very concerned that the independent appraiser would not appraise the property correctly. He even showed up at the house and gave the appraiser a list of other homes in the area for him to compare our house to. Totally illegal. This was after I told him and his boss (he claimed he would retrain the sales rep) that he was not allowed to have any contact with the appraiser.
That being said, use your outside lender, the rate is much better and with the slowdown of refi's, I am sure your lending can get the deal done quickly.

I would think that an independent appraiser not used to the home styles here would be mighty confused comparing one designer to another. Some designers vary up to 700 square feet in area and many look alike until you know the difference.and the upgrades here..

Where I am from I don't think that practice would be illegal. Laws vary from state to state, and you seem to know of what you speak.

But the op is a realtor, and of course the laws in her state may vary from Florida's real estate laws.

And of course, sales people do want to sell, but it isn't very hard to do that here, whether you are MLS or a villages rep.

[Challenger]

Ask a Villages sales rep for a blank copy of the offer to purchase. It is longer than most I have seen. (I have worked in lending for 27 years.) Read it carefully. It says if you do not close in The Villages, Mclin and Burnsled (The villages attorney firm) basically control the closing. Their attorney's prepare the settlement statement. Also, the title company will require a survey ($200) or they will not issue title. This is a pure money maker as I am sure the lot lines are well known. Most lender's do not require a survey unless there is an unusual item like a shared driveway. We paid a closing fee here in Wisconsin and a closing fee to Mclin and Burnsled. Our Village Sales rep was very concerned that the independent appraiser would not appraise the property correctly. He even showed up at the house and gave the appraiser a list of other homes in the area for him to compare our house to. Totally illegal. This was after I told him and his boss (he claimed he would retrain the sales rep) that he was not allowed to have any contact with the appraiser.
That being said, use your outside lender, the rate is much better and with the slowdown of refi's, I am sure your lending can get the deal done quickly.

My experience is more than 50 years in the real estate lending business .

Trying to improperly influence an appraiser is obviously illegal . Providing factual info is not. Title companies typically require curreny surveys .

I have bought 8 homes in the last 50 years in Md, Va, and Fl and other investment and commercial properties. I found Citizens Mortgage, and Mclin Burnsed to be fair , competent and reasonable in their charges.

[The Buckeyes]

When I built my home in Ohio I used Merrill Lynch as I already had and account with them so I also decided to use them when I built this year in TV. As usual there was a lot of paperwork but everything went smoothly and closed on time. Great interest rate also. As for appraisal they used an outside concern and the final appraisal came in 13K more than the price I paid to build it!

[keithwand]

You know your house will appraise using Citizens no doubt.
I did appraisals part time in 2005-2006 when we first moved to Fl and things may have gotten better but an appraiser can still be swayed when the their our commissions involved.

[ilovetv]

This is what I see in our neighborhood. Out-of-state banks double or triple the length of time till closing, turning the 30 days Citizens and McLin & Burnsed do into 60 or 90 days....bad for a seller.

What seller wants to wait 90 days to get their money, especially when they are moving and have bought or are planning to buy another home with the proceeds of the sale?

Citizens does a good job with good rates and they close on time, in 30 days.

Another lender we met told us that when it's a second home you're buying, it is treated as an "investment" home and the rates for that are higher than for one's primary home loan. Not sure if that's the way it is or if it's the reason why some are getting a higher rate, but it's worth finding out about it.

[asianthree]

if its not your primary and you are renting its 1% higher