Sedona Arizona Real Estate - Mortgages

Actually we generally don't have mortgages in Arizona, we have Deeds of Trust. For practical purposes, however, everyone including the lenders, seems to use the term, mortgage, for simplicity's sake.

You can access some national mortgage sites on the Net, get the rates instantly, and make an application on-line if you wish. At the risk of incurring their wrath, though, I strongly urge you to use the on-line sites for information and then apply locally with a real flesh and blood mortgage broker or lender. They'll at least match what you can get on-line and we'll have an accountable live person if we encounter the snags that seem to plague the lending process.

Here are a useful site for mortgage information and mortgage calculators:

Mortgage 101

Locally, try the following mortgage brokers/lenders. We have personal experience with each of them and have found them all to be committed to the highest standards of professionalism and integrity. They all offer rates and programs that will beat or match anything you will find elsewhere. They have each passed our test for the Best in the Business and we recommend them without reservation.

Chris Seymour, president

Country Mortgage

http://www.CountryMortgage.com

Chris@CountryMortgage.com

(928) 204-1777

Note: That's Country Mortgage, not Countrywide.

Chris is a long-standing top mortgage broker in Sedona, a fellow Rotarian, and an old friend. He's been one of our main "go to guys" over the years and has pulled off some minor miracles for our clients in that time.  He's smart, personable, extremely well-connected in the business (that's really important for a mortgage broker), and simply a great guy.  He'd be the first person I'd talk to if I needed a mortgage.

Pam Bayles
National Bank of Arizona
Pam.Bayles@NBArizona.com
(928) 204-3044

Pam has been extraordinarily helpful to our clients with superb service andvery competitive rates. National Bank is a direct lender, but Pam can also shop for loans outside the bank - so she's sort of a combination of a lender and a broker. Pam's office is also very convenient to ours in the Old Market Place.

More Advice...

Again, my suggestion is to do your loan research on one or more of the national mortgage sites and then contact someone locally and challenge him or her to match your best quote. My experience has been that using a local broker or lender versus an out-of-state institution eases the whole process and ensures timely escrow closings. Keep in mind, by the way, that shopping for a mortgage is a very tricky business. It's extremely easy for less-than-ethical mortgage brokers to stick even very sophisticated borrowers with hidden costs and junk fees while quoting rates that appear attractive. There are innumerable elements that go into a proper rate quote and it's important to be comparing apples to apples. My best advice is still to choose someone that you know will do right by you.

Frankly, we've had rotten luck with several transactions which involved out-of-state lenders, ranging from unnecessarily delayed closings to outright unethical practices which have cost my clients money and major headaches.

The biggest headache lately, though, has been become common with not only out-of-state lenders, but out-of-town institutions with no local offices.  These lenders tend to hire appraisers from Phoenix and Prescott rather than local appriasers who actually have a clue about our local market.  It's VERY different from other parts of the state.  A number of otherwise  sound deals have been killed by these incompetent appraisers who simply don't unerstand our market.

If you do decide to use someone other than a recommended local mortgage broker or banker, please make sure that you have a well established personal and professional relationship with that person or institution. There is way too much funny business going on with that industry and way too many fly-by-night charletans in that business to trust someone you don't know or hasn't been recommended to you. That is especially true of many of the on-line mortgage companies. Lots of horror stories there.

For Luxury Home Mortgages

Luxury home financing is a whole different ball game. If you are financing a home in the million dollar and up range, I strongly recommend working with a specialist in that arena. Such a person is Tim Kruger, Senior VP of The Private Mortgage Banking Group in Sherman Oaks, CA. PMBG is a nationwide, direct lender that funds Super Jumbo financing up to $20 million. Their professionalism and experience assures high profile clients of unquestioned confidentiality and concierge-level service.

They have over 7,000 different loan programs, including no doc loans, 100% loans, and interest-only financing. Of particular interest to the luxury home buyers is their Pledged Asset Program which allows clients avoid having to cash out stocks and bonds, for instance, in order to purchase real estate.

I know Tim personally through Who's Who in Luxury Real Estate and he comes highly recommended by a number of members of that group.

Tim Kruger
Private Mortgage Banking Group
http://pmbgloans.com/
TKruger@MetroCitiesMtg.com
(800) 523-9551

Final bit of advice:   Get loan Pre-Approval before you start shopping for property. You'll put yourself in a much stronger bargaining position and save yourself some money. Plus the whole process can be sped up that way. A third of the real estate buyers in Sedona pay cash and pre-approval puts you in almost the same position as they are in. Sellers love buyers with cash or loan pre-approval.

Helpful Articles on Financing - Credit Corner

by

Chris Seymour, President

Country Mortage, Sedona

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ARM's & the FED
Financing Short Sales
Refinance 101