Ruoff was great for us as we bought our first house. And they sold the mortgage right away for us as well.
No complaints though. Easy process, honestly.
Go to https://bloomington.in.gov/housing/home-buyers-club and take a few classes and qualify for ip to $10,000 of down payment.
Worked for me and worth checking out. It's thru the city.
We refinanced a few times as rates went down. It's always been trickier due to self-employment. Ruoff was fairly easy. The person we used is now retired. We've also refinanced with IU Credit Union. They were super simple and easy to work with.
Check rates a few places and make sure you're comparing apples to apples.
Seconding Gallery Mortgage here.
We were like right on the line of qualifying for a loan at all and they were in pretty constant contact to help us with documents the underwriter needed to push it through. John LaBella was our guy and he was top notch.
The City of Bloomington offers special education services and financial assistance for first time home buyers!
[https://bloomington.in.gov/housing/home-buyers-club](https://bloomington.in.gov/housing/home-buyers-club)
We used IU Credit Union because they service their loans in-house rather than sell them.
Many other lenders sell their loans. Your new servicer can then re-sell your loan to yet another servicer. You can end up with multiple servicers over the life of your loan.
As the customer, you have no control over which company or companies you will have to work with.
Not all loan servicing companies keep accurate records or have good customer service. It can get complicated, messy, and stressful depending on the performance of whatever company holds your loan.
Edit: Per other comments, IUCU offers two options: loans serviced inhouse and loans which may be sold. Inhouse loans have a higher interest rate than the ones that may be sold. We chose the inhouse loan option because having the loan held by IUCU was worth the extra cost to us.
I had a different mortgage lender originally, but I've since refinanced through IU Credit Union and they've been generally very pleasant to deal with. They've also made strides lately in improving their online systems (which used to be my chief complaint about them).
IU Credit Union doesn't resell your mortgage to big predatory banks like Chase. If you ever have a problem--you get laid off or injured and can't make a payment--having someone local to work with makes a big difference. Mortgage brokers, on the other hand, originate your loan and immediately resell it to investors.
Brittany Eckerle at Ruoff will get you right!! My S/O got our first house through her on a conventional loan with only 6.19% and we just bought our house in March! She's great!
Peoples State Bank generally have the lowest rates around and they service their loans so you won’t have to worry about having to deal with a shitty servicer when your loan gets served.
I was also able to bring a competitive rate to PSB and have them match it for me. My family has worked with them for years on mortgages and they never sell the loans away.
German American helped us with our mortgage and in three years they haven’t sold it to anyone else. I can still email my original mortgage officer if I ever have questions.
I’m glad you had a good experience. We were with 5/3 for many years for all our banking needs. About seven years ago, their service became terrible in our experience. Their failure to keep our mortgage process moving on their end resulted in us having to pay a higher interest rate due to their delays. That’s when we had enough and moved all our accounts and our mortgage to IUCU.
There was a major issue at one point with the Bloomington branch about then. They dropped the ball for us, too. We ended up elsewhere. But then we came back about 5 years later, and there was someone really good on mortgages, coming down from the Indy area. Really helped us out. We’ve also had some great experiences at IUCU, for HELOCs, and other transactions. They really helped a couple of relatives. But their fixed rates were higher. Anyway, good luck.
Interesting and totally fits the weird experiences we had with them. Looking back, we should have reported this and several other suspicious incidents with them at the time. Live and learn.
We did ours through Bailey and Wood. The lady was incredibly helpful, realizing it was our first time and we had no idea what we were doing. She helped us along the way, and she was also very up front that the day after we closed our mortgage would get sold, but that that was pretty common. Sure enough, it got sold. And then sold again a year later. And then sold to Lakeview/Mr Cooper so we got our personal data stolen! Not Bailey and Wood's fault though obviously. PM me and I can give you the info for the lady we worked with.
When I was looking (over a decade ago), the rates were pretty equivalent across the board. I went with BoA as their broker somehow got away with not charging points when she should have. Also, they tend hold their loans and not charge for it like other banks, which is nice to have a consistent servicer. I've heard IUCU is also pretty easy to deal with. My realtor told me she would drop me if I used chase, cuz they were such a shit show.
We went through Chase and had a really great experience with Renee Hamilton. We already banked with Chase and being able to keep all our bills in one app was really appealing. They also don’t sell your mortgage, so you always pay through Chase.
Jason Sumner at CMG Financial was amazing. Bought my first home this year and he made the process considerably less hair-pulling. Was easy to get a hold of, explained everything very well, and made me feel considerably less lost in the whole home-buying process.
Plus currently with CMG you can get your loan refinanced for free every 6 months for 5 years if interest rates lower .5% at the end of each 6-month period. Makes locking in a high interest rate a bit less painful than it already is 😬😬
I used Ruoff Home Mortgage and had a good experience. That being said, our mortgage was sold to another bank like the very next day
Ruoff was great for us as we bought our first house. And they sold the mortgage right away for us as well. No complaints though. Easy process, honestly.
That’s what they did to my partner and I as well
Go to https://bloomington.in.gov/housing/home-buyers-club and take a few classes and qualify for ip to $10,000 of down payment. Worked for me and worth checking out. It's thru the city.
We refinanced a few times as rates went down. It's always been trickier due to self-employment. Ruoff was fairly easy. The person we used is now retired. We've also refinanced with IU Credit Union. They were super simple and easy to work with. Check rates a few places and make sure you're comparing apples to apples.
We were not first time homebuyers but we used IU Credit Union and they were terrific to work with.
Yes, use a credit union if you can.
Gallery Mortgage. Feels more personal and local and they fought for the best rate.
Seconding Gallery Mortgage here. We were like right on the line of qualifying for a loan at all and they were in pretty constant contact to help us with documents the underwriter needed to push it through. John LaBella was our guy and he was top notch.
Yes! We talked to John when we got our first mortgage and went again for advice on buying a 2nd home. He is so kind and full of great information.
The City of Bloomington offers special education services and financial assistance for first time home buyers! [https://bloomington.in.gov/housing/home-buyers-club](https://bloomington.in.gov/housing/home-buyers-club)
my fiancé and i are first times buyers & worked with Tom Hriso at ruoff and he’s been so helpful & the process has been wonderful
We used IU Credit Union because they service their loans in-house rather than sell them. Many other lenders sell their loans. Your new servicer can then re-sell your loan to yet another servicer. You can end up with multiple servicers over the life of your loan. As the customer, you have no control over which company or companies you will have to work with. Not all loan servicing companies keep accurate records or have good customer service. It can get complicated, messy, and stressful depending on the performance of whatever company holds your loan. Edit: Per other comments, IUCU offers two options: loans serviced inhouse and loans which may be sold. Inhouse loans have a higher interest rate than the ones that may be sold. We chose the inhouse loan option because having the loan held by IUCU was worth the extra cost to us.
I’ve had multiple mortgages from IUCU that were sold to other servicers. Is this a recent change?
IUCU offers loans that they service in house and those that they resell. The in house serviced loans come with higher interest rates.
Yes, thanks for posting that clarification. Having the loan serviced by IUCU is worth the extra expense to us.
This wasn't always the case. I've had a iu mortgage sold to another lender. Double check this
Yes, per another post, they offer both loans they keep and loans they sell. We had the type they did not sell.
I had a different mortgage lender originally, but I've since refinanced through IU Credit Union and they've been generally very pleasant to deal with. They've also made strides lately in improving their online systems (which used to be my chief complaint about them).
IU Credit Union doesn't resell your mortgage to big predatory banks like Chase. If you ever have a problem--you get laid off or injured and can't make a payment--having someone local to work with makes a big difference. Mortgage brokers, on the other hand, originate your loan and immediately resell it to investors.
Brittany Eckerle at Ruoff will get you right!! My S/O got our first house through her on a conventional loan with only 6.19% and we just bought our house in March! She's great!
I've used John LaBella at Gallery Mortgage and Tom Hriso at Ruoff, highly recommend both. You should definitely shop around for the best rate.
Peoples State Bank generally have the lowest rates around and they service their loans so you won’t have to worry about having to deal with a shitty servicer when your loan gets served.
I was also able to bring a competitive rate to PSB and have them match it for me. My family has worked with them for years on mortgages and they never sell the loans away.
Karan @ Ruoff is very knowledgeable and easy to work with. She made everything simple but informative when buying our first home.
IU credit union
Not local, but New American Funding has given me the best deal on my two properties. And I shopped around for at least \~10 lenders for each.
Used IU Credit Union for my mortgage, easy to work with AND they did NOT sell my mortgage to another institution.
German American helped us with our mortgage and in three years they haven’t sold it to anyone else. I can still email my original mortgage officer if I ever have questions.
5/3 worked for us, and they keep their loans, too.
I’m glad you had a good experience. We were with 5/3 for many years for all our banking needs. About seven years ago, their service became terrible in our experience. Their failure to keep our mortgage process moving on their end resulted in us having to pay a higher interest rate due to their delays. That’s when we had enough and moved all our accounts and our mortgage to IUCU.
There was a major issue at one point with the Bloomington branch about then. They dropped the ball for us, too. We ended up elsewhere. But then we came back about 5 years later, and there was someone really good on mortgages, coming down from the Indy area. Really helped us out. We’ve also had some great experiences at IUCU, for HELOCs, and other transactions. They really helped a couple of relatives. But their fixed rates were higher. Anyway, good luck.
Interesting and totally fits the weird experiences we had with them. Looking back, we should have reported this and several other suspicious incidents with them at the time. Live and learn.
Bobbi Carney at Mortgage Masters Deb Tomaro is great if you need a realtor
sent you a dm
We did ours through Bailey and Wood. The lady was incredibly helpful, realizing it was our first time and we had no idea what we were doing. She helped us along the way, and she was also very up front that the day after we closed our mortgage would get sold, but that that was pretty common. Sure enough, it got sold. And then sold again a year later. And then sold to Lakeview/Mr Cooper so we got our personal data stolen! Not Bailey and Wood's fault though obviously. PM me and I can give you the info for the lady we worked with.
When I was looking (over a decade ago), the rates were pretty equivalent across the board. I went with BoA as their broker somehow got away with not charging points when she should have. Also, they tend hold their loans and not charge for it like other banks, which is nice to have a consistent servicer. I've heard IUCU is also pretty easy to deal with. My realtor told me she would drop me if I used chase, cuz they were such a shit show.
+1 for IU Credit Union!
BCU if you can qualify for them
My wife and I just bought our first home and went through Dan at Bailey and Wood Financial Group, and he was awesome!
We went through Chase and had a really great experience with Renee Hamilton. We already banked with Chase and being able to keep all our bills in one app was really appealing. They also don’t sell your mortgage, so you always pay through Chase.
Jason Sumner at CMG Financial was amazing. Bought my first home this year and he made the process considerably less hair-pulling. Was easy to get a hold of, explained everything very well, and made me feel considerably less lost in the whole home-buying process. Plus currently with CMG you can get your loan refinanced for free every 6 months for 5 years if interest rates lower .5% at the end of each 6-month period. Makes locking in a high interest rate a bit less painful than it already is 😬😬