Lowest Rate Lenders for a Refinance?

Question

What lenders have given you the best rates? I'm looking to refinance. When I got the loan from AmCAP, they were the lowest at the time, but I'm having trouble getting a call back from them now.Josh

Stephanie P. · Answer

@Josh Ginderske Here's a couple of thoughts on cheap rates. "Cheap things are seldom good and good things are seldom cheap" This next one has so many variations, but I like this one. "There is an old story of a boilermaker who worked at a school for 30 years with a dream of starting his own boilermaker company. One day, after a spat with the principal, he decided to pack it in and retire from the school system and he did just that; he started his own boiler repair business. A couple of years went by and he was quite happy in his little business. One particularly cold day, he got a call from the principal's secretary, an old friend, who said the children were cold because the boiler at the school hadn't been working for a few days and no one can figure out why. She asked him to come take a look at it and because she asked and because he loved/missed his old school, he went over to take a look. Upon arrival, the Principal went back into his office and closed the door to let the new boilermaker describe the problem. After listening to the new boilermaker (the new boilermaker, hired incidentally by the principal because his wages were low and fit into his budget better) and asking a few additional questions, he went to the boiler room looked at the maze of twisting pipes, listened to the thump of the boiler and the hiss of the escaping steam for a few minutes, and felt some pipes with his hands. After just those few minutes, he reached into his overalls and took out a small hammer, gently tapped a bright red valve and with a whoosh, the entire system roared to life. With that, his job was done and he put his hammer back in his overalls, said his goodbyes and went home. Later that week, the principal received a bill that just read "boiler repair" and at the top and at the bottom it said $250. "$250!" Exclaimed the Principal. "The boilermaker had only been in the engine room for five minutes." "That's highway robbery." "Doctors make less!" etc... The Principal demanded an itemized bill. Unfazed, the boilermaker sent him a bill that reads as follows:For tapping on the valve: $1.00For knowing where to tap: $249.00TOTAL: $250.00" The moral of the story and the bedrock of this business is very simple; build your team of professionals and let them make money. Don't nickel and dime them for a quarter or an eighth in rate or fees. Sometimes they'll be lower than the others and sometimes they may be higher but the real truth is, if they're making money, you will make money. If they aren't making money on your deals (if they're any good), they'll be making money for someone else. Stephanie

Andrew Postell · Answer

@Josh Ginderske we all understood what you meant. If you are looking for lenders that are good with investors I have 2 suggestions: Post in the Bigger Pockets STATE forum that you are looking in. There are usually some good, local investors that monitor those forums. Maybe they already have a suggestion or recommendation for you? Certainly try there. Visit your local REI groups. There are many groups that meet across the country. Some post here on the Bigger Pockets Marketplace. Many post on meetup.com. Networking is always a great practice and you never know who you might meet there and what good information they have to share. Would certainly recommend visiting if one is close to you. Hope this helps.

Nick Gann · Answer

Cheapest... man I know how many times this has come up with me doing bids and owning a contracting business. Folks always regret the cheapest. Find a few valuable lenders... make them money, and let them make you money.

Josh G. · Answer

I should clarify on this. Cheap in terms on interest rates; not necessarily lending fees. I say this because some of the big national lenders (Quicken for example) always has higher rates on average than say a bank. Does anyone have a prefered lender to use?

Andrew Postell · Answer

@Josh Ginderske the lenders with the lowest rates are usually online lenders that can't really do investment properties very well. They aren't good a responding, can't hit closing times, etc. Plenty of them out there to search from. If you are needing lenders that are good with investment properties their rates may not be the "cheapest" you can find but they allow us the flexibility to follow the BRRRR method, have no seasoning, etc. It's kind of the same with contractors, accountants, lawyers, barbers, lenders, etc.....the "cheapest"...rarely is.