Citizens First LSL mortgage rates
 

Has a anyone secured a mortgage with citizens first in the most recent past? What were the fixed rates?

Your comments on the mortgage process . How was your experience with their process.

Mortgage is dependent on your personal finances and the rate goes up from what they may tell you in the beginning as the credit rating gets lower. We both had excellent scores, but still had a raise in rate to 5.375% because we weren't squeeky clean. Seems like it's mission impossible to get the greatest rate possible. So I have to say that you will get different rates from different people who got their approvals at different times. You'll only know your actual rate when you get locked into an approval. As for the experience, I'd give it an A, and I did the entire process from 1200 miles away from TV. I would recommend them!

p.s. They no longer advertise their fixed rates online. You have to call. The number is found on http://www.citizensfb.com/l_mortgages.asp

I just locked in a rate with Citizens First about 10 days ago. C.F. advised me not to wait any longer because of the financial situation with our government. My rate is in the 4.8% range. Citizens First has been WONDERFUL to deal with. My problem was all the hoops I had to jump thru because of all the government regulations. Mortgage lending went from one extreme to the other. My credit rating was next to perfect. I could be Donald Trump and because my "only source of monthly income is Social Security", I had to PROVE I wasn't going to throw my money away. It was a nightmare....reams of paperwork. This is the 5th time I've obtained a mortgage and I'm certainly more comfortable financially than previous times........but due to government regs, it was the most difficult and painstaking process. And yes, I know, it's because of all the disastrous mortgage give-outs to people who should have never been given a mortgage to begin with. Like I said......one extreme to the other.

It's done...locked up...and I am a happy camper.....and looking forward to my closing the end of this month. :)

Yes, I have been very happy with Citizen's First.

We closed in late June, we got 4.75%. Both our credit scores were good, and I am still working. We had no problems and all went very smoothly. We were present for closing otherwise all was done long distance. It really helped that we have a fax machine here at home.

I fully intended to go with Citizens First in April, but because they dragged their feet on locking in a rate I went with another lender, which it turns out had a much better rate. Watch it though, The Villages don't make it easy if you use an outside lender. I was charged a change order fee because I didn't close on time, even it being their fault...(microwave was not installed until AFTER the original close date, so my appraiser wouldn't sign off). My recommendation is check around before committing.

I just closed on my house on July 7th. I did not use Citizens because their rate was much higher on a 30 yr mortgage and they had a higher fee for the loan. I gave them every chance to match the rates of the company I went with but they turned me down without even looking at the proposal.

I went with ERA and had no problems. They met the closing date even when I asked to move it up a day. The previous poster was right that The Villages will penalize you if you do not make the closing date. Be very careful about that.

My rate was 4.55% btw. I was very happy with that.

We signed our P&S on December 12, 2010 and closed on January 12 using CFM and I was impressed with their process and our closing went off without an issue.

Their rates were competitive and if you are buying new, you must close within 30 days. CFM uses this to their competitive advantage because most banks would not guarantee a 30 closing on a new piece of property. In the end, I found them easy and responsive to work with during the application and closing process. I can't speak to the competitiveness of their current rates, but back in December their rates were competitive.

Once we sold our home in MA on 7/29, we paid of our mortgage with CFM that day and just yesterday, I received a check from them for our escrow balance with a "thank you" and a list of things I was now required to do now that CFM was no longer our lien holder.

Our rate was almost a full percent lower at our bank, and closing cost were almost $2000.00 lower, but beware we closed one day late (not the fault of my bank, but the villages and we were charged $451.00 penelty for ONE DAY LATE. still saved a lot of money

Charging a penalty for not closing in 30 days, in effect, making it risky to shop for a competitive mortgage, seems... unseemly to me.

Just saying.

We bought a home in TV in April, closed July 1. We talked to Citzens about a mortgage but since we won't be moving down there for several years until I retire, it would be considered either a second home or an investment property-we'll probably rent it when we aren't there. The Citizen's interest rate in April was 5.375% for a 30 yr fixed and closing costs were $4k-6k depending if we put down 25% or 20%. Our lender at home suggested refinancing our current home and taking out the cash for the one in TV. Ended up refinancing with 3.75% 15 yr fixed, $1500 closing costs total and cash out for our home in TV.
It was a cash closing by mail for TV and Citizens was very helpful. If you open a checking account with them you can park your closing funds there until the close. We had everything done days before closing and went very smooth. Our realtor did the walk thru.

There is more risk on our current home with a higher debt but we also own a home in TV free and clear. If it gets to a crunch we can always sell one or the other.

Chuck

We went to Citizens July 6 closed on August 3. We called our bank with who we always had our mortgages with but they said they could not guarantee a closing in thirty days. We locked in on 4.75 a week later about the same rate as NFCU. We were happy. We actually had to return to VA July31. Had our walk through and signed all papers before we left. All went smoothly...no complaints. Everyone we dealt with at Citizens was professional and helpful.

Thank you for all of your helpful comments. You all have given me a lot to think about. Great way to exchange information.

I will be coming to TV at the end of August to finalize building plans.
Im afraid I will get the raw end of the deal with the interest rates going higher given the recent S &P downgrade and the eventual increase in consumer rates.

i would not wait too long wherever you decide to go rates had an unexpected drop a week or so ago and 30yrs were in the 4.375-4.500 range without points on 30years. We refinanced over a year ago and got 4.750% with citizens and everything went quickly and smoothly. I probably could have gotten it a little lower on the internet but i had a bad experience with one of those companies trying to raise the rate they committed to and the fees we agreed on.they wasted a lot of my time so when they broke their word i saw that all the time they put into my mortgage was wasted too. I guess i wasted an appraisal fee but i felt much more comfortable with citizens. All i can say is do your research but do not waste a lot of time. It may be a very long time before we see such low interest rates again.

I tried to post to this string yesterday and got a notice that it would be reviewed by the admin before showing up. It was 22hrs ago, I haven't seen the post nor received a reason it didn't show up. What gives?

cgalloway, it's the general procedure on this forum that the administrators will review the first few posts of new members, just to ensure the posts aren't spam, etc.

Same thing happened with me when I first joined!!!

And welcome to TOTV!!!

Bill :)

We went with Citizens First just for the sake of convenience. We found the rate very agreeable, their professionalism and efficiency were impressive- and if I had it to do over again, I'd still go with them. We signed papers and closed in less than a month from start to finish. Incredibly fast, much to my delight!

Exactly our experience:D

We have a closing date of 31 Oct and are looking for a 15 year fixed and wanted to lock in now with the current gov't situation. Citizens offered 4.0% with a 1 point fee for locking in early (outside of 60 days). We went with USAA because they offered 3.5% and only charged 3/8 point for a 90 day lock. I have heard that Citizens makes it very easy but the difference here will make it worthwhile! Check around and get the best deal you can.

It's now been 2 days since I tried to post to this thread and the original post still hasn't showed up. I don't mind an admin looking over my shoulder on my early posts to the forum but either run the post or tell me why you didn't. If there was a glitch in my posting and you can't find it, let me know that. 2 day hold on the post - that's longer than my bank holds out of state deposits.

If anyone is ever having an issue with the site feel free to contact us so we can assist you. This is the first we have had this issue reported. You should now see your post and we are working on this issue for future users.

Thanks.

Chuck

I had a chat with a Citizens First loan officer who said that the financing would be higher if I intend to rent the property. Is this true? I can't believe they would charge extra if one wanted to rent out for only a few months. She also said that if I got the mortage at the lower rate then decided to rent, that would be a reason to call in the note. Can someone please explain this further?

Investment property always have a higher interest rate as the chance of the owner walking away is greater than if is the home you live in. Most people will do everything they can to save their home, so the first thing to go is investments.

We closed on our home in Sept. 2011. We used Citizen's First Mortgage. We found them to be about 1/4 of a point more than Wells Fargo. However, they knew EXACTLY what we needed. They were able to give us accurate info immediately on Florida taxes, what our payment would be, etc. etc. Wells Fargo, was very vague on this info. We felt very comfortable and secure with Citizens. Due to a problem with the buyer of our home in New York, we even had to cancel our closing date here....even after all the paperwork had been done. Citizens was patient, re-did our paperwork, and didn't charge us to do so. They even told us to bring our dog to the closing, and gave him treats. Hope this is helpful. Trish

We closed 2 wks ago. We went with Citizen's because it is difficult to get other banks to complete all needed paperwork in 30 days. We too were told if we rented our home, we would pay a higher interest rate. One issue I had with Citizen was they wanted me to produce my divorce papers from 1983 because when they ran my credit history they saw I had a different name back then. They said I had to prove I had no outstanding financial obligations from this divorce. What was most interesting is they never asked my husband if he was divorced or to produce any of his divorce papers....It smacked of sexism to me but I didn't want to cause a ruckus and have it delay our closing. I do intend to go back and ask them to explain why a woman has to produce divorce paperwork but men don't

Citizens First Mortgage
 

I am not happy with this mortgage company. I have had communication problems with the assigned loan officer, Chad Oliver. I close on my home in January. I have been trying to get information from Mr. Oliver, who is apparently to busy to respond. I e-mailed him as a follow up, to get additional information. I did not hear from him. After 5 days of no response, I called. He was in a meeting, and I was directed to another person. That person answered my question, but could not answer a follow up question. I then voiced my displeasure about not getting a response from Mr. Oliver. Later that day, I did receive an e-mail from Mr. Oliver apologizing for not getting back to me sooner. I then replied to that e-mail with the question that could not be answered earlier in the day. After 9 days of NO response, I again called the bank and asked to speak with the manager of the mortgage loan department. The secretary informed me that the manager was, you guessed it, in a meeting. She took my name and number and assured me that I would receive a call back. Well that was 4 days ago, and I still haven't received a call. Oh, it's also now been 14 days, and I haven't received an e-mail rsponse from Mr. Oliver either. The sales people at The Villages are quick to steer you to Citizen's First, but nobody there seems to care about their customers (potential). I have since looked at other lenders. Most have been $1000 under the closing costs of Citizen's First. I wonder if that is the kick back amount, for the referral, that The Villages receives. Just a thought.