I shopped across 15 different institutions for my personal HELOC and they seemed to have the best terms out there.

You can shop 10 or 20 lenders in a weeks time, find out what products they offer, what rates, what overlays and qualifications they each have for you.... 

We are the only lender who can offer a classic 30 year mortgage to Americans in Costa Rica. 

If you're only really working your local market, and mostly driving for dollars, and want essentially a 1 stop shop that can do most things pretty well, then Deal Machine should work for you. 

@Brandon Croucier is giving you solid info on finding an experienced and honest mortgage broker who can shop your exact scenario both ways, with the rehab and without and break down the benefits of each with all fees so you can see an apples to apples comparison. 

However, I don’t have a US-based W2 (but work full time for an American tech company in their London office). 

So this is not something new, I've used Flat Fee agency before and I know how these guys are working.It' small shop operation, 3-6 guys, with 1 TC.

As with many here, I've been using a mix of Cozy (now Apartments.com), Stessa, and a few other custom workflows for turnovers that have worked well in the past, but with the takeover of Cozy by Apartments.com I'm now out shopping for better options for my primary, tenant-facing service. 

At the moment, we are using American Modern and Sage Sure through our insurance broker. 

I assumed that shopping around for the best interest rate would be good enough.