This could very well be a scam.

Thank you for the post, it should clear things up and help people that ask about this, seems it comes up a lot....People should take note of the extreme difference between SERVICE ANIMALS (legitimate and needed) and ESAs (woke scams).....

It was likely just another scam.

Appropriate upfront fees that cover costs like application fees and search fees, up to about $200, are a fair upfront cost and not likely a scam.

I am a very skeptical person and dont want to get scammed into pay 10xs more for a product.

Very common tactic for the Fake lenders out there who do nothing but collect up front money and are just a scam / criminal enterprise. 

You will have fees At Closing but it doesn’t sound like that’s what you are talking aboutIf you are talking about any other fee, no matter what they call it, it’s a scam....these scams are widespread.What fee are they asking for upfront...”commitment fee”, “loan insurance fee”?

As @Collin Maas said, the whole warranty thing is a scam because they only cover materials, not the cost to demo and replace (which is where the money is)And as @Scott Mac said, it is critical to compare apples to apples.

You might find deals there but you'll likely pay gringo pricing and you'll also potentially have the bad deals and scams as there too as that's where you find the foreign buyers that know very little about the overseas property markets.You can find listings through the local agents, as their main or largest clientele will be local buyers.

If I offer someone Fannie AND "alternative" with horrible rates/fees, the number of people who think I'm trying to scam them (and, thus, take their business elsewhere entirely) is actually higher than the extra business I pick up by offering that alternative.