[l2ridehd]

As a soon to be buyer in TV, what have people used for banks and mortgage companies when they bought? Did you use a local bank or the Villages provided Citizens for your loan? What lessons learned would be valuable for me? I intend to keep a loan on the property as long as I am working. I obtained a pre-approval loan from Citizens, but want to get some feedback on what experience people who have bought have had with various lenders in the area. Thanks in advance for your input.

[JohnN]

I've heard good things in prior threads about Citizens - that they're competitive, cooperative, etc.

[noleguy]

I personally used Citizens and found them to be competitive and very easy to work with. The loan officer I worked with was Anthony Sciacchitano and found him to be extremely helpful thru the process.
Good luck to you and congrats in advance for your purchase.

[rekops]

We checked with Citizens bank initially and found them to be very nice, but upon further investigation, their rates were about 1/2 percent higher, and some of their fees were higher as well. We ended up with Wachovia Mortgage Co. and have been pleased with them.

[rekops]

Citizens is certainly the easiest, but I'm sure their rates can be beaten. I have had two home loans here. The 1st I did over the internet. The second is with Wachovia. Both of them beat out Citizens by a half of percent. It doesn't sound like much, but you need to do the math.

[bamafan]

Used Citizens. At the time I checked rates with Regions, Wachovia, and Citizens. Rates were all very close. Closing costs had varied spreads. Citizens was the lowest closing quoted. Closed by mail. Very smooth and professional.

[Lady Jan]

We compared Citizens with SunTrust and found SunTrust to be 1/2 percent lower.

[billethkid]

We used Bank One. Citizen's rates at the time were one full percent above ANY other lender.

There is also the false information that Citizen's makes it happen more conveniently because of their familiarity with the process here in TV.

However, any top shelf lender can be just as effective. My Bank One sourced closing was totally and completely un eventful....smooth as silk to quote the "closing agent:.

This is not to promote Bank One...just that alternatives should be checked before your final choice.

BTK

[dobronte]

I got my loan at my bank in minnesota and it was very easy to do all the paperwork over the internet and using Tri-County title company in the villages.

thanks Dave

[scottke]

We used Citizens and were very happy with the way things were handled. Our loan officer returned any call we made to him quickly. As the process moved along everyone was extremely helpful. We came to TV and saw our house before heading back home to await all of the paperwork. We couldn't be happier. ;D

[REDCART]

We shopped and found Citizens was 1/2 percent higher which over 30 years could be significant. However, in spite of the higher rates, we used Citizens because of the tight timeframes imposed by TV and the lack of responsiveness from Bank of America. We expect to hit the lottery some time soon and retire that 30 year mortgage sooner rather than later. Yeah, right!

[l2ridehd]

Thanks everyone for the input. I will probably shop around a little for the best rate then. I also did a search for a branch of my current bank & mortgage and they do have a few locations around with one in Ocala so will ask them as well. I have used them for a couple mortgages and they were always the lowest. BB&T. However I know that can change daily. But it appears from your feedback that Citizens is a good company just generally a 1/2 to 1 point higher then others.