Pros & Cons of using a Local Bank vs a National Mortgage Branch

[Katy Logue]

I was wondering if I can get some insight of the pros & cons of using a local bank vs a national mortgage branch to fund rental properties.

Here is our current situation. My husband and I are starting out with our real estate investment company. We are currently based in Houston, TX, but soon (2 years from now) moving to Indianapolis, IN. We have a good amount of cash in our savings and we want to start investing in the Indianapolis Metro area. This is a market that my husband knows well, since that is where he is from. 

We are debating on going with a small local bank or a national mortgage branch for our lending process. We have talked to a few lenders from both entities and we are in a good position where getting a loan seems to be an easy process for us and both lenders are offering the same interest rates, and both can close within 30 days. However, I wanted to see if there are major advantages between working with a larga national mortgage branch vs a small local bank? Any insights?