Portfolio Lender vs Mortgage Broker - Which would you pick?

[Stephen Clark]

Hi All! New to the forums here and looking for some advice as I get started in REI. Ive been networking to put a team in place and wanted to get some opinions on my lending situation. I'm currently looking to refi my primary residence to drop PMI and start a relationship with my lender, so here are my options:

1) Local bank that has portfolio lending, will lend on ARV if using the BRRRR strategy, has a short-term "construction loan" product (to lock down a house, rehab it, and then issue a standard mortgage), and also has commercial loan products for both buying and rehabbing. The downside to them is they are about 0.25% higher on my rates for my refi, and I suspect that they will generally be a bit more expensive but would hopefully provide more flexibility.

2) Mortgage broker who is working with lenders from all over, his fees are low and his rates are great, he has worked with some investors in the past to do both residential and commercial/umbrella lending. That being said, he is obviously going to be at the mercy of the lenders that he is working with so my concern is that as I build up a portfolio and it gets bigger/more complicated I don't have a single lender that is in my corner (so to speak). 

So curious what you pros would do! Do all your business with a single lender that is a bit more expensive? Or go with a broker who is going to have me working with many different lenders but is cheaper?

Thanks!

-Stephen