If you’re buying a luxury home in Coronado and you’re going to use financing everybody knows that you want to use a direct lender/mortgage banker that is selling to Suntrust, GMAC, and US Bank. Alternatively, if you can handle the long underwriting turn-times you can go directly to Union Bank (UBOC) or ING.

Suntrust, GMAC, US Bank, Union Bank and ING really have cornered the jumbo and super-jumbo markets, so much so, brokers and other banks can’t even compete.

Ask your mortgage banker or loan officer if they sell to Suntrust, GMAC and US Bank. Specifically ask if they are approved as a wholesale broker or a corespondent. You want to use a direct lender that is selling to Suntrust, GMAC, US Bank on a corespondent level not a broker. Broker’s don’t have control in this market and your transaction could end up blowing up last minute.

Obviously this holds true for any jumbo loan in other areas of San Diego such as La Jolla or Rancho Santa Fe, not just Coronado.

If you have superb credit (740+FICO) and a loan amount below $2million you are going to want to get an approval from a banker that is going to sell the loan to Suntrust. If you have so-so credit (650+FICO) you are going to want to get an approval from a banker that is going to sell the loan to US Bank. If you keep your loan below $3Million and are OK with a 5/1 or 7/1 ARM and can put 50% down you are going to want to get approved through ING.

If you have bad credit (650 or less) you are going to want to get an approval from Financial Matchup – they will lend up to $1million (sometimes more on an exception basis) on less than 500 FICO scores with 50% down.

I’m sure loan officers that work for brokers or other non-competitive banks are going to want to throw tomatos at me for revealing this insider information but I believe an educated buyer is an empowered buyer and empowered buyers is who Lyons Realty likes to represent.