Inquiry about finding a Local Bank

[Michelle Truong]

Hi everyone, 

My boyfriend and I have been trying to get pre-approved at our bank, but as of late it has been taking awhile. My boyfriend is a special education teacher and I am a freelance producer in television. We took a gap year last year to travel, but was able to start work again once we got back to the states. We both have great credit scores, have money in the bank, and want to kick start into REI. My boyfriend has had a stable income the last 6 months, however because of the nature of my job, (I get jobs from different companies 2/3 months at a time), it doesn't look great on paper. I sent in my older w2's and have tried to explain my job situation, but the bank has informed me that I would need a stable job that I've worked at for a consecutive 6 months. I'm still waiting to see if they approve, but now seems I might need to go to another bank, maybe local.

I'm quite ill informed on how the local banks work. I went on Costco and looked and these banks popped up. 

Lending.com

JG WENTWORTH

FIRST CHOICE BANK

NBKC BANK

STRONG HOME MORTGAGE

I looked up the reviews on these banks, and they seemed pretty good, but am still hesitant. I'll start calling and ask questions, but wanted to see what advice you all might have.  

Any advice on what I should do to get pre-approved in the Los Angeles with my job situation?

Thanks, 

M