Wow… I was warned, but nothing could prepare me for how rough the mortgage process was with this company. Here are just a few of the things that went wrong during my experience:
I was told I needed two years of rental property income for it to count. Turns out, that wasn’t true. A different loan officer told me one year would work, and my second loan was approved.
The original closing date got delayed by two weeks, all because the first loan officer made a mistake. I had to start over with a new loan officer, which pushed things back.
I was told I wouldn’t have to pay for a second appraisal, but they charged me anyway. After fighting them, they finally refunded me, but only a day before closing.
The day before closing, the title company told me USAA had contacted them and removed the seller’s concessions from the closing costs. I had to make frantic calls to get that fixed.
I didn’t know if I’d have to pay for origination points, and the price jumped from $554 to $4,910 because of the original loan being denied. In the end, they honored the original rate and fees.
I did make it to closing with a 6% interest rate, but man, did I lose a lot of sleep during that time. It was a stressful experience, and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.
Learn from my experience… It’s not worth it. Stay away from USAA for mortgages.
I tried to get a USAA mortgage back in 2010, and it was a total nightmare (a lot like what you went through). Three days before closing, they told me my property was ineligible and just stopped responding. Never again. I always use a local lender now. They seem to offer better rates and can close faster.
I had a realtor warn me against USAA mortgages back in 2002. It’s never been a smooth process with them. Even though my second mortgage went fine, I decided to go elsewhere after that.
I believe USAA doesn’t even service the loan; they sell it off to another company. It’s basically what a mortgage broker does, but brokers usually offer better rates.
Day said:
I believe USAA doesn’t even service the loan; they sell it off to another company. It’s basically what a mortgage broker does, but brokers usually offer better rates.
I had a similar experience with a local bank last year. They sold my mortgage in less than 120 days. I’ve had USAA loans before, and they were sold off too.
My first mortgage was with USAA and it was a terrible experience. I tried going with a local bank for my second mortgage, and it was just as bad. Both loans got sold off immediately. After that, I walked into a random mortgage office for my third one, and it went so much better. I highly recommend finding a mortgage company that focuses only on mortgages, with someone you can actually meet face-to-face. That’s the kind of service you need.
I had to call my USAA loan officer daily just to keep up with everything. They scheduled an appraisal, but it wasn’t done. Then, they wanted me to pay $500 to speed it up. It still took another six days. And then, they delayed my closing by 7 days. My family had to sleep on my parents’ floor in sleeping bags. It was an awful time. I’m definitely going with a local lender next time.
USAA used to be great, but lately, not so much. In 1999, their mortgage department was a total mess. I went through all the steps buying my first home and had everything in place. But on the day of closing, they bailed on me. I was stuck with my earnest money and couldn’t get the seller to calm down. My realtor sent me to a broker, and we got everything sorted out in a week. It was crazy. After that, I never went back to USAA for mortgages.
I had a local bank mortgage last year, and they sold it off in under 120 days. I’ve had USAA loans in the past, and those got sold off too. It’s pretty common.
When we used USAA back in 2014, they messed up my husband’s name on every document, and they even listed my gender as male. They wanted us to sign domestic partnership papers, like that was okay. It was a mess.
As a loan officer, number 4 blows my mind. 100% of any concession negotiated by the buyer has to be on the settlement statement. No exceptions. It’s crazy that USAA made those changes without consulting anyone.
I had the same terrible experience with USAA in 2010. Since then, I’ve bought four homes, and I never even considered going back to USAA. Their rates aren’t great, and it’s almost impossible to get ahold of anyone to fix problems.
Used Navy Federal three years ago. It was smooth sailing. My loan officer was great, and they guarantee to service your loan for the full length of the mortgage. Plus, their rates were amazing. USAA couldn’t even come close to what I got at NFCU.