mortgages

[KluverBucy]

Hey Kluver, you want to only have 250/wk for eating/utilities/car/gas/misc? Or do you mean you and your partner can pay 1600/mos? If your take home pay is only 2600 (after taxes, but I don't know what your salary is) are you sure you can afford that mortgage?

no partners here. i'm solo. and that's right, i'd have a g-note to live on each month at most. don't think that's a problem since all but cable/cell phone are included in assessments, car is paid for (and could actually walk to the hospital, so not much expense for gas), and the only really miscellaneous expenses would be copious amounts of EtOH. what do u guys think? could i get a 240-250K mortgage with taxes/assessments running 400 hundies per month?

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[Poety]

no partners here. i'm solo. and that's right, i'd have a g-note to live on each month at most. don't think that's a problem since all but cable/cell phone are included in assessments, car is paid for (and could actually walk to the hospital, so not much expense for gas), and the only really miscellaneous expenses would be copious amounts of EtOH. what do u guys think? could i get a 240-250K mortgage with taxes/assessments running 400 hundies per month?

I'm not sure thats doable unless you have a big downpayment. Call either Dave Benson for the doctor loan or my guy, they'll give it to you straight either way.

Good luck

 

[KluverBucy]

I'm not sure thats doable unless you have a big downpayment. Call either Dave Benson for the doctor loan or my guy, they'll give it to you straight either way.

Good luck

yea that's what i'm tryin to figure out. def no big downpayment here. just need some $$...might have to rob a bank.

for real tho, i guess i'm just asking if anyone out there has ALREADY been approved or has already received a loan similar to this? thanks

 

[Mumpu]

I'll be closing with Compass Bank (Lauri Mellor in Denver, 303-713-3367). Awesome experience, completely hassle-free, very professional, and it took one 10 minute phone call. Haven't locked my rate yet (waiting for the 30-day lock) but I'm expecting 5/1 ARM, 6.375%, no PMI, no origination fee, 0 down. They do interest-only loans as well.

Perhaps not the lowest rate in town but there is a lot to be said for an absolutely stress-free experience and the eighth of a point would not make a big difference on my payments since the principal is pretty small.

 

[APACHE3]

Thats a good interest rate, but ask her what the APR rate will be? its a better comparison between loan companies.

 

[Mumpu]

I don't have the rate locked in yet but my good faith estimate for $100k was $715/mo and my actual mortgage will be less than that. My understanding is that APR is not a big deal in the short run and again, I'm willing to pay a bit more for a stress-free process.

 

[slammin]

Has anyone used Compass Bank Doctor's loan (or any other doctor's loan) in Arizona? Thanks!

 

[Mumpu]

I'm sure it's the same deal as everywhere else except rates and fees may vary some from state to state.

 

[yobabydoc]

Has anyone used Compass Bank Doctor's loan (or any other doctor's loan) in Arizona? Thanks!

No but i got one email message that sort of dogged them. I have been working with Jennifer Whitley in BoA, mixed experience because she told me one thing and then found out that she missed my car payment of 324 on my credit report and that dropped my mortgage amount to $148K and I am like what the heck can you buy for that in arizona?! Anyhow that kind of ticked me off and added unwanted stress for me....her interest rate was 6.25% Wish i could get a 5.75% rate instead. Anyways if anyone has better, holla!

I thin BoA is better because they have all the other services financial sevices that is to help residents....

 

[Mumpu]

Banrate.com still lists a few 5.75-ish rates, all through online companies I never heard of probably operated by the mob, all requiring downpayments, gigantic closing costs, monster APRs, and escrow.

 

[KluverBucy]

Thats a good interest rate, but ask her what the APR rate will be? its a better comparison between loan companies.

dumb question here but how does APR apply to your mortgage? i understand that it means "annual % rate", however, what exactly does that mean in terms of my mortgage? essentially, i don't understand what it means if you get a mortgage at 6%, but the APR is 8% versus one at 6% with an APR of 10%. (just using random numbers) can anyone shed some light? aren't you still paying 6% interest on both?

 

[EctopicFetus]

I think you are referring to the APR. The APR basically takes your rate plus closing costs and other fees. It is a better marker for the overall cost.

All that being said though 6% is 6%...You pay the same month to month...

I found a website which explains it well its about 1/4 way down..

http://www.ny.frb.org/education/define.html

 

[Plastikos]

dumb question here but how does APR apply to your mortgage? i understand that it means "annual % rate", however, what exactly does that mean in terms of my mortgage? essentially, i don't understand what it means if you get a mortgage at 6%, but the APR is 8% versus one at 6% with an APR of 10%. (just using random numbers) can anyone shed some light? aren't you still paying 6% interest on both?

For all practical purposes as it pertains to the average persons main concern the APR correlates with the monthly payment, the higher the APR the higher your monthly payment, etc...

 

[yobabydoc]

Drew Daniels of Compass Bank is really great to work with. His phone number is 512-419-3435, email is [email protected]. Feel free to PM me for specific questions. I know that Scott (EMJunkie) used him and I followed suit. I am not sure if anyone could have gotten me a better rate (interest only 5/1 at 6% on $222K - mortgage of $1112 a month!! (with a point) i plan on paying extra principal once I can moonlight). Anyway, regardless of whether someone could have beaten the deal I got, Drew was awesome. Was available 24/7, on weekends and when I needed something faxed out of the blue at 7PM on a Tuesday, Drew got it done. Havent been this pleased with any service that Ive gotten in a long time. Tell him Patrick (and Scott) sent you.

edit: and NOW i read through this thread and see there is already a Drew Daniels fan club. LOL. Well, consider me a member,

How much was the point? and what were your closing costs. Anyone know the closing costs for BoA as well?

 

[14022]

How much was the point? and what were your closing costs. Anyone know the closing costs for BoA as well?

For BoA, I paid a point for my 5 year ARM. Their other fees, including the $200 application fee, was estimated to be around $1000. I do not have my papers from closing, so I cannot say exactly what the fees were. There were other fees from the attorney, the title people, and the prepaids as well, but those are not unique to BoA; you pay those regardless of the company you go with. If you call David Benson at BoA at (336)721-4141, I am sure he would be willing to tell you exactly what fees he charges.

 

[Poety]

I'm telling you, for any of you with a nice downpayment, definitely do an interest only arm DEIFNITELY - you can make it up when you moonlight or when you're an attending. And the money you put down, you can think of it as the principal you're paying during that arm, just that you're paying it up front!

 

[14022]

I'm telling you, for any of you with a nice downpayment, definitely do an interest only arm DEIFNITELY - you can make it up when you moonlight or when you're an attending. And the money you put down, you can think of it as the principal you're paying during that arm, just that you're paying it up front!

I disagree. I know I am not as experienced with these things as Poety is, but from what I understand, and please correct me if I am wrong, interest only loans are great if you are banking an appreciation in the home. I have read so many articles lately that the housing bubbles in many regions in the US are reaching capacity, some having already popped, and to not expect the same kind of appreciation the many markets saw in the late 90's. In fact, in some markets, espeicially with the oversaturation of condos on the market, some properties may slightly depreciate. I would consider this when considering an interest only loan.

 

[Mumpu]

If you make a big down payment, you will retain some equity with an interest-only option. With the expectation of declining or flat market in the coming years, you really should not be doing a zero-down interest-only loan because you will have no equity and if the value of the house stays or tanks, you will be in a financial hole.

Scholes, are you saying they charged you a point to do a 5/1 ARM?

Points are iffy IMEHO. You pay a lot of cash upfront to get a very small reduction in monthly payments.

 

[yobabydoc]

anyone know of any mortgage companies or banks who can do the doctor loan and also allow escrow waiver? BoA does not do escrow waiver. I never know it was an option sinc ethey all make it ousnd like you have to have them pay it blah blah blah

 

[Mumpu]

It's only like $200, what's the big deal?

 

[SiouxMD]

Points are iffy IMEHO. You pay a lot of cash upfront to get a very small reduction in monthly payments.

I agree. Especially if you're only going to be in the house during a 3-4 year residency.

 

[yobabydoc]

For BoA, I paid a point for my 5 year ARM. Their other fees, including the $200 application fee, was estimated to be around $1000. I do not have my papers from closing, so I cannot say exactly what the fees were. There were other fees from the attorney, the title people, and the prepaids as well, but those are not unique to BoA; you pay those regardless of the company you go with. If you call David Benson at BoA at (336)721-4141, I am sure he would be willing to tell you exactly what fees he charges.

Compass Bank says they can do better than BoA when it comes to closing costs etc...their app fee is only $22 compared to $200 for BoA and the closing she quoted me was at least $1000 less than BoA. Now the caveat is that I get a 6% loan (5/1 ARM) and you pay one point. With BoA the origination fee is 1%.
I want the best deal you know, BoA is offering a rate of 6.25% and are pressuring me to lock in this rate because they say the rates are going up per Bond Market!..Lord have mercy!

The Compass person who is not Drew sinc ehe has been very very slow getting back to me once he gave me the pre approval letter! Not good for the Drew fans...anyways she is willing to go all out to outdo BoA

thoughts? I am naive about these things y'all

 

[Mumpu]

Compass does not charge an origination fee for MD loans so that's at least a thousand off the closing costs.

 

[yobabydoc]

Compass does not charge an origination fee for MD loans so that's at least a thousand off the closing costs.

Thanks Mumpu. After talking to the Compass rep I realized that maybe BoA wasn't giving me as good a deal as they stated but we will see

 

[obgyn06]

I started out with BofA and was consistently given some shady numbers that just didn't seem to work out. I talked to Drew @ CompassBank and I got a great deal and understanding in less than 5 minutes.

 

[DocCM]

I started out with BofA and was consistently given some shady numbers that just didn't seem to work out. I talked to Drew @ CompassBank and I got a great deal and understanding in less than 5 minutes.

Ditto
The guy I spoke with at BoA never would call me back and acted like it was huge PITA to get me a loan. Called Drew and got a GFE in less than 2 hours. I've called him several times on the weekend and he has always been available and willing to answer questions. Free escrow waiver, no fee for interest only, and many other options made this the easy choice.

 

[Poety]

speaking of closing, this is HUGE, you wanna make sure you're with a company that will get you to closing. There is nothing worse than pushing that back because your bank sucks and can't make the closing because they're not worknig for you - they're in the numbers game.

Make sure you're 99% sure they can get you to close, and make sure there is no hidden fees. May sound stupid, but i've learned

 

[yobabydoc]

speaking of closing, this is HUGE, you wanna make sure you're with a company that will get you to closing. There is nothing worse than pushing that back because your bank sucks and can't make the closing because they're not worknig for you - they're in the numbers game.

Make sure you're 99% sure they can get you to close, and make sure there is no hidden fees. May sound stupid, but i've learned

What kind of hidden fees did you have Poety?

 

[zippy81]

It seems some people have been having trouble with BOA. Several friends and myself have all used them and we've had great experience. Personally when I checked with other banks their closing costs were much higher with them so it was a no brainer to go with BOA (unlike some people on the board none of ours had a 1 point origination fee). I guess it depends on where you are and who you talk to, but the local BOA officer doing physician loans has been really wonderful getting back to me the same day and explaining any questions I had in detail.

 

[shattoura]

Hi guys;

This forum is great. I just got through a few pages and found a lot of helpful information. A lot of it was also a bit over my head.

Has anyone formulated a list of important questions to ask lenders/to ask about the home loan? I plan on buying a home this summer and I have been working with countrywide but I'm interested in some comparison shopping.

So, if anyone can offer some advice about what questions I need to ask about each loan in order to protect myself financially, I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[odieoh]

Question about pre-approval-- Pre approval is more meaningful than pre-qualified, correct? You get it after the bank really takes a look at your credit history, assets etc. I'm a little unsure if I'm actually pre-approved--I'm working with compass bank and they have sent me a "conditional approval" letter which states the amount and the rate and everything, however it says it is conditional upon their reviewing all my information, which they already have.

I'm going to be looking at homes this week, I have to fly out to my future new location, I don't already have a home chosen. The banker I spoke with seemed to imply that having a specific property was part of getting pre-approved, but I don't think thats right--as I understand it you get a preapproval letter beforehand so you can take it and show the sellers you have a loan so you can make an offer and show them you are serious about buying, right?

Should I be worried that I am going to get out there, find a house that I like, make an offer, only to find that the bank is then going to jack up the rate or something? Is there any way of guaranteeing I am going to get the rate/APR I've been quoted thus far?

thanks

 

[Poety]

Question about pre-approval-- Pre approval is more meaningful than pre-qualified, correct? You get it after the bank really takes a look at your credit history, assets etc. I'm a little unsure if I'm actually pre-approved--I'm working with compass bank and they have sent me a "conditional approval" letter which states the amount and the rate and everything, however it says it is conditional upon their reviewing all my information, which they already have.

I'm going to be looking at homes this week, I have to fly out to my future new location, I don't already have a home chosen. The banker I spoke with seemed to imply that having a specific property was part of getting pre-approved, but I don't think thats right--as I understand it you get a preapproval letter beforehand so you can take it and show the sellers you have a loan so you can make an offer and show them you are serious about buying, right?

Should I be worried that I am going to get out there, find a house that I like, make an offer, only to find that the bank is then going to jack up the rate or something? Is there any way of guaranteeing I am going to get the rate/APR I've been quoted thus far?

thanks

There is never a guarantee on rate until you find a house - thats one of the downsides of preapproval. All preapprovals have conditions on them. Mine was conditional on the selling of my house, yours may be conditional on locating property - but you CANNOT lock a rate until you have a house and you go under contract, at that point, they will ask you if you want to lock now, or wait. I say lock with the way interest rates are going.

 

[Mumpu]

Bear in mind that the earlier you lock, the higher your rate will be. I was looking at a difference of about 0.125% between 45 day and 30 day locks (6.5 vs 6.375%). I decided to wait and the rates actually dipped a bit so my 30-day lock was actually at 6.25. Of course, the rates may go up just as easily as they may go down.

 

[yobabydoc]

Question about pre-approval-- Pre approval is more meaningful than pre-qualified, correct? You get it after the bank really takes a look at your credit history, assets etc. I'm a little unsure if I'm actually pre-approved--I'm working with compass bank and they have sent me a "conditional approval" letter which states the amount and the rate and everything, however it says it is conditional upon their reviewing all my information, which they already have.

I'm going to be looking at homes this week, I have to fly out to my future new location, I don't already have a home chosen. The banker I spoke with seemed to imply that having a specific property was part of getting pre-approved, but I don't think thats right--as I understand it you get a preapproval letter beforehand so you can take it and show the sellers you have a loan so you can make an offer and show them you are serious about buying, right?

Should I be worried that I am going to get out there, find a house that I like, make an offer, only to find that the bank is then going to jack up the rate or something? Is there any way of guaranteeing I am going to get the rate/APR I've been quoted thus far?

thanks

With the little knowledge I have , you do not need to have the property to be pre-approved. Better to know just how money you have to shop with before you even start shopping, better yet, you should decide how much money you want to spend before you go shopping because the lenders were willing to give me up to $400K but what the heck do I want all that for?! I set a limit and worked from there. I suggest you get a good lender, research them real good. I am working right now with Rebecca Robinson from COmpass Bank and she can do mortgages anywhere. Her number is 480.580.3908 or [email protected] is the deal, if your credit is good, you have bargaining power, let the lenders know what you will and will not do and if they are not willing to work with you, take your business elsewhere, chances are they will work with you because they see you in the long term, they want your business...Flex your consumer muscle...nicely of course I let my lender know that I really wanted that particular rate and end of story.

Best wishes to you

 

[YEAH]

Has anyone been able to find a bank/lending institution that has loaned them in the neighborhood of $340K? Know their contact info??

Thanks!

 

[Zummy]

Has anyone been able to find a bank/lending institution that has loaned them in the neighborhood of $340K? Know their contact info??

Thanks!

Here's my previous post. They pre-qualified us for $350K but we ended up finding a house for $300K...


My recent experience

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lender: Home Savings and Loan Co. (www.homesavings.com)

Purchase amount: $300,000 (we actually requested and were pre-approved for $350K)
FICO Score range: 739-785 (me) and 739-759 (spouse)
About us: Combined gross income once residency starts will be around $120-135K. We have substantial credit card debt
Type: 5/1 year ARM at 6.24% (option to lower the interest rate with more money down, a shorter ARM and/or pay points)
Points: none
PMI: No
Cash Down: 5%
Allows down pmt to be "gifted": Yes
Closing costs: around $2,200

This company didn't really have a "physician's loan" per se, although they said they were just adding one on to the types offered, and so they were able to do mine essentially as a physicians loan by not taking into account my student loan debt, using my residency contract for income and allowing less money to be put down. I'm not sure if they have a zero down option if you're asking for less money, but for 300K, they wanted min. of 5% down. Not sure which states they do (I'm in NE Ohio)

Overall, hasslefree and positive experience!! BTW, I used Juan Santiago who was friendly and helpful.

 

[Twnhm]

Have you tried BOA??

 

[YEAH]

Have you tried BOA??

Zummy, thanks for your info. I should clarify that I am searching for $345K based on soley my income of 41k--maybe with my wife's income included as "trailing income" of about $12k.

THANKS!

 

[Mumpu]

Is that even doable? Maybe as a 50-year interest-only no PMI with a huge downpayment...

 

[KCS doc]

Has anyone had any luck buying in the seattle area? If I see another charming cottage for 350,000 I may give up. Approved for 375 on 2 resident salaries.

 

[Mumpu]

Well, closing today with Compass. Not counting the usual HOA racketeering, my total closing costs are only $1,350. In addition to not charging the origination fee, according to my realtor Compass Bank's various paperwork and preparation fees are much lower than the average.

 

[WSUreds]

Sorry, forgot to say that it was a 100% loan.

 

[obgyn06]

Went with Compass Bank. Even if you are not in one of the states that has an actual Compass Bank -- give them a call to see what they can do for you. I was the first loan they had closed in my state and all went smoothly and was virtually pain-free.
We did a 100% doctors loan for 210K. no PMI, no origination fee. Very low closing costs. 6.375% 5/1 ARM.
Just give them a call and see what they can do for you!

 

[Jocomama]

Well, I have been suffering a cranio-rectal inversion. I am bummed I did not look at this particular forum. I have been developing a Plastic Surgery Match forum.

I was a mortgage banker for 7 years inbetween residencies in General and returning to Plastics. I worked with RBC (now Home 123) and Countrywide.
Here are the rules:

1. Shop 3 major lenders; you can let them pull your credit report (all 3 bureaus, otherwise they are not doing you justice). Do this within 30 days maximum of each other, and the credit scoring computer systems will NOT affect your score.

2. DO NOT give any bank money for application or credit in advance.

3. Pre Qualification is just taking a calculator, and un-validated information from the client, then calculating the Debt ratio. I can provide details if interested. I would not do pre-qualifications: only pre-approvals. They take your credit, salary, and personal info, then run it on standard bank software through Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, or lender, and provide you a real answer of your "credit-worthiness" minus the actual property.

4. It doesn't matter if you work with a bank or broker. When at RBC I could broker a deal to HSBC, CitiMortgage, Bank of America, etc. and get a better rate 90% of the time, than when I was at Countrywide.

5. 0% down - most banks do an 80/20. However, RBC Centura, SunTrust and a few lenders have a Drs Loan where you could get 5% down and NO PMI.

6. At this time, unless you are sure of being gone <5yrs, I would not suggest a 5yr ARM. It is NOT cost effective based upon the flattened yield curve between short and long mortgage backed securities.

7. I did my last loan in February, 06. Since then, all my referals go to my old associate at another company (no solicit) in Chicago.
I stay active in the business via knowledge, and ONLY advise. I don't charge for advice; we as physicians are targets.

8. Golden rule - if a realtor anywhere in the country tells you rates and prices are going up, and you will not find a deal like this........you walk.
This is buyers market everywhere (except S Beach, suburban Wash DC, Studio City and Santa Barbara, CA).

9. My favorite? Anytime a mortgage banker or broker tells you rates are going up, they better be talking to you from their 100ft yacht in the Carribean, because if we know where the market is going, we would be millionairres.

10 - Last one : Closing costs. This is like someone asking the survival rate of cancer. What type of cancer? It is a marketing ploy.
The ONLY thing you can compare between banks are called
"Items payable in connection with the loan" or the Federally regulated Good Faith items under the 800s.
Outside of that - split it up
Also - remember - there are no hidden fees - it is listed by comparing the APR, which is the rate plus other specific fees.
And the rate???? The Good Faith does NOT guarantee the rate. You need to have a signed (S-I-G-N-E-D) RATE LOCK AGREEMENT disclosure. Otherwise you ain't got nothing, baby!!!

Also - NEVER give money to the bank until you are 110% sure that you are definitely going with them.

Please feel free to send me private messages if you have simple questions.
Thanks

Compass Bank has been great for me. I went with Drew Daniels who hooked me up with Keitha Goodwin. I had my good faith estimate the next day and my approval a few days after sending in my contract. I ended up getting a new construction home for 138.5K, spent $172 for an 1/8 of a point ($11 less/mo), and the seller/builder agreed to pay up to 3% of principal for closing costs. They dont usually do that supposedly. Everything seems to be going smoothly and we are set to close on June 19th (house still had 10% to go until it was finished). I got a 5/1 ARM @ 6.125%, no PMI, no fees, no hassles.

Oh, and BTW my credit is ATROCIOUS! It was in the 620 range when i applied for the loan.

 

[secretwave101]

Hi Everyone,

If you're in the market for a loan, I have to give unabashed support to my broker. Name is David Jones, and he's shown up on this forum occasionally prior to now. I found him here.

When I first called him, he spent a surprising amount of time working with me and explaining all the basic loan stuff. He then worked with my very bleak financial situation and came up with some pretty good ideas as we moved along. He was also very careful about keeping in-line with my contractual deadlines. Nothing was late to the title company...ever, and it took some work on his part to make this happen at the end.

In addition to the fact that he's a nice guy and GREAT to work with, the loan he finally secured for me is just about the best out there. He's with SunTrust Mortgage, which offers a physician loan that I'm pretty sure competes with anyone. Never once did I get a surprise; everything David told me turned out to be absolutely true. For those of you who've been through this, you'll know that lots of loan companies offer loan parameters that look pretty good, then when you've made commitments contractually and are sitting at the table to sign final papers...you run into "new fees" that you are pressured to assent to. Not so with SunTrust. It was straight ahead from beginning to end.

Here's what we ended up with:

-235k, 5/1 ARM locked currently at 6.75% (my call...probably coulda waited and done better)
-Interest only
-no PMI
-Origination fee roughly $800 (most banks charge 1% of the loan)
-No pre-payment penalty (valuable because I intend to pay off the loan before it becomes a variable interest rate after 5 years)
-my credit score was 680 (BofA needs 700)

My Dad is a real estate broker, my uncle is a loan broker, my realtor who helped us buy my house ALL have said these numbers are the best they've seen anywhere. My search of other loan companies agreed with their assesment, and I searched for months.

Highly recommended.

David Jones
SunTrust Mortgage
404-431-0476 cell
[email protected]
www.suntrustmortgage.com/davidj

 

[yaah]

This thread has deteriorated a bit into repeated spamming with mortgage lenders' information and contact info. This is really not the appropriate place for this. We kept this thread active because it provides a lot of useful information for people going through a tough process, but please keep it clean. It's of course reasonable to post your experiences but please don't spam this thread with love letters about a specific broker. If it continues, the whole thread will have to be deleted.

 

[secretwave101]

Yeah, I was one of the enamored "spammers". Got the slap-down by another moderator. Post deleted.

Apologies. Just happy with my experience because my broker done me good. I understand the need to keep individual names/info outta the forum tho.

 

[EM Junkie]

This thread has deteriorated a bit into repeated spamming with mortgage lenders' information and contact info. This is really not the appropriate place for this. We kept this thread active because it provides a lot of useful information for people going through a tough process, but please keep it clean. It's of course reasonable to post your experiences but please don't spam this thread with love letters about a specific broker. If it continues, the whole thread will have to be deleted.

Thats ridiculous! This thread was VERY helpful to me not only in terms of information about the entire home-buying process, but also about specific lenders, real estate agents, etc. I could understand not permitting people to post over and over about their wife/mother/friend/etc who needs extra business, or people posting advertisements for their own services. However, to prohibit people for sharing their perspective on a particular individual's services should not be discouraged.

I think part of the problem lies in people that do not bother to read all of the posts in the thread before posting something broad, like "I need a good mortgage broker, can anyone recommend one?" Posts like these force those of us inclined to help to repeat our earlier reccommendations of particular individuals.

The definition of spamming, acording to Wikipedia, is "the abuse of electronic messaging systems to send unsolicited, bulk messages." I have seen very few messages in this forum that amount to spamming. On the other hand, I have found numerous individials offering their (sometimes egregious) praise of particular financial and real estate professionals. To close down this thread based on one moderator's perceptions of wrongdoing would do a great disservice to SDN as a whole, and would make me sincerely question my continued support of this site.

Don't you have some DO vs. MD threads to delete?

-EM Junkie, MD

 

[yaah]

#1) A lot of people complained. It is not one moderator's decision. The other option was to just delete the thread.

#2) It is spamming. It is unsolicited praise for mortgage brokers, and frankly we are not able to judge the legitimacy of such claims. People have been known to go on internet forums, sound legitimate, and proceed to profusely praise entities which do not deserve such praise.

#3) This forum is not meant for advertising purposes.

#4) All the posts that were deleted remain in existence, and other moderators are free to restore them.

#5) (personal note) I may be in the minority, but the last place I would go for advice on selecting a specific "expert" on something that can be manipulated as much as mortgage loans would be an anonymous internet forum.

 

[EM Junkie]

#1) A lot of people complained. It is not one moderator's decision. The other option was to just delete the thread.

#2) It is spamming. It is unsolicited praise for mortgage brokers, and frankly we are not able to judge the legitimacy of such claims. People have been known to go on internet forums, sound legitimate, and proceed to profusely praise entities which do not deserve such praise.

By that logic, you could delete most posts on SDN. A member may suggest those studying for the USMLE Step 1 use book "X". Although they may profusely praise book "X", it may not deserve such praise. That is their right to post their opinions though. Everyone using an internet forum knows to take such recommendations with a grain of salt, especially those coming from users with low or zero posts.

Besides, I think information on people's specific mortgage deals/brokers/agents is very much solicited. This thread would be worthless without that information.

#3) This forum is not meant for advertising purposes.

Obviously. However, your post also seemed to be addressed to those of us who just want to spread the word about our experiences, good and bad.

#4) All the posts that were deleted remain in existence, and other moderators are free to restore them.

#5) (personal note) I may be in the minority, but the last place I would go for advice on selecting a specific "expert" on something that can be manipulated as much as mortgage loans would be an anonymous internet forum.

As I mentioned already, people are smart enough to filter the information provided to them. Some of these doctor-specific mortgages are so specific, that many people would not know what is available if they did not read about it here first. One glowing report of a mortgage broker is almost worthless, but several glowing reports from respected and longstanding members of SDN goes a LONG way in my book. Of course I made my own decision on who to use, but with the assistance of the information on here.

To ban the posting of SPECIFIC information on experiences with lenders and their contact information would do a great disservice to future SDN members.