Portfolio lender says no.

[Jake Charles]

Hey all, I just wanted to throw this out there to find out what everyones experience has been when working with a portfolio lender.

Let me start by saying, a bank saying "no" is not exactly headline news, I know, but still I would like to know your take is on this. 

We are currently on the "Refinance and repeat" stage of a duplex- turned- triplex that we used the "BRRRR" strategy on.

As an avid listener of the BP podcast, I always hear people talking about the "creativity and "flexibility"   that portfolio lenders have. When the bank holding our first mortgage decided to "reformat" its lending department, the customer service went way down, so we decided to look elsewhere for an equity line/loan.

Knowing of only one portfolio lender in the area I went to talk with them, only to find out that they are about as far as you can get from "creative and flexible"!  The terms they offer are not good at all and the VP told me that they are very "risk adverse" Because they keep all their loans in house.

Now again, I know I should get used to hearing No from banks, but this was so opposite from what I have heard from so many podcasts that I felt I should reach out and see if anyone else has had a similar experience?

Should I look for other portfolio lenders?

Go back to the bank that holds the first mortgage, despite the poor service?  

Thanks in advance for your input!