Feedback on Crestmark Mortgage / Cornerstone Mortgage (mortgage broker, loans, broker)

[sagari]

Has anybody in Texas used Crestmark Mortgage? They used to be called Cornerstone Mortgage and have a partnership with Perry Homes. We are thinking of using them and will appreciate any feedback you can provide on them. Specific items of interest are:

- Their ability to get the most competitive rates
- Ease of reading and understanding their agreements.
- Extent of coverage or representation of mortgage lenders
- Their customer service
- Their reliance on ethics and integrity

Thank you!

[tdhg566]

Can't answer all your questions, many none of them. We did just buy a Perry home but USAA provided our mortgage (financing arranged last Oct). Because of the "relationship" with Perry, there can be some financial advantages to using Crestmark if you buy a Perry home. We used USAA because as a 40 year USAA customer, they were able to do things for me that Crestmark was not.

I did contact Crestmark though, to check their rates. They were "competitive", but not compelling. During our building process I also heard many comments about Crestmark, some from people with first-hand knowledge, some not. I never heard any comments or got any impression that they might be unethical. My conclusion is that they are "just another mortgage lender", and your experience will be determined largely by your broker. They are (choose to be) subject to the tighter restrictions on lending, and qualify their customers and structure their mortgages just like any of the other big lenders. The reason for this is because mortgage brokers don't know to whom they will ultimately sell the loan, so they often apply the most restrictive standards so they can sell their loans in the widest secondary market.

Net net, I would (and did) consider Crestmark and would consider them again. I would make the decision based on the rates/terms available at the time.

[EasilyAmused]

I used Cornerstone way back, maybe 12-15 years ago? I don't remember any issues, just a basic lending company. I've worked with USAA several times in the past 10 years with equity and building loans. They are far easier to deal with, IMHO...just more customer service driven. I like the way they come directly to you to do the paperwork, not making you drive to an office.

[kreeyax]

I used Crestmark recently and was very pleased with them. Their rate was competitive and with the incentives (owner's title policy, origination fee, and $400 towards closing paid) our closing costs were much lower than another mortgage broker I worked with. Good faith estimates are pretty standard now, and many of the actual costs at closing were lower than stated on the GFE. Customer service was very good too, the loan officer responded pretty quickly to my e-mails and even called me back after business hours on more than one occasion. They also have a secure messaging system if you aren't comfortable faxing or e-mailing documents. IMO, best thing to do is work with several lenders to get GFEs and go with the most favorable one.

[Mustang1]

I would use them if you are happy with the interest rate. They will sell your mortgage to a bigger bank within a year.

[kt098]

DO NOT USE THEM!!!! Awful!!!! I went to meet my loan officer there and she wasn't there to even give her my paper work, not even the so call manager was nice enough to at least talk to me. When I walked to the back there seem to be personal information on the printers and random workers were there. They just care about closing loans and money hungry.

[metier]

We used them on our Perry house that we closed in January. We locked in at one rate, and they were able to get us a lower rate about a week later. We where pre approved with USAA but Crestmark was able to beat there rate. We did a VA loan so not sure if that made a differance. We where very happy with them, also got the discount from Perry on the closing for using Crestmark.

[Angrybird1215]

Do NOT use them. They are incompetent to say the least. We were supposed to close on a house and because they didn't get a document on time we weren't able to do that and now have to wait until, quote, "sometime Monday" unbelievable!

[kt098]

DONT USE THEM!!! Perry homes uses them as a preferred lender but remember you can choose who you want!! It's against the law to persuade you one way. They are so unorganized, the processor never return my phone calls or the loan officer. Apparently the loan officer doesn't know any answers to the questions I was asking. I did my homework yet "they never heard of it" went to another lender and they were able to give me a lower rate and closed sooner than expected because they actually did the work.


DONT USE CRESKMARK MORTGAGE AT 13100 NW freeway, houston.

[RichmondLiving]

Guess they got bad over the past few years. I used them late 2012 and everything went off great. All paperwork was done early and timely, locked in a rate, then paid it down another 1/2 percent. As others stated, they did sell it off 2 months later to a bigger bank, but the dealings with Crestmark was fantastic for me. Sorry to hear about the bad dealings from others --