and the bank that bought my mortgage (yes, they're usually sold) is one of the better local ones. They do go up according to the property insurance and rising property tax. One year they overshot it a bit and my payments went down. It was well timed, it was one of my poorest years when I was living on savings.

I don't know of any lender who asks for lump sums instead of monthly increases to keep the escrow fully funded to pay insurance and tax.

All of the local ones we checked with- Century, Los Alamos, First National of Santa Fe- essentially act as brokers for national lenders. They do not hold their own mortgage products anymore.

I guess that's no longer a 'thing.'

Which is probably also part of the reason why we can't find a lender who will work with us on keeping payments consistent using lump-sum escrow management.

But I still hope. I'd prefer to stay local, but even the "most local" broker we could find, bills out of Oklahoma.

So I'm reconciled to regional or national lenders, but want to stay away from the folksy cobras as far as possible.

wearily,
Bright

Fortunately, it was just after I was able to pay off my note in full. I shudder to think what Tejas ownership has done.

and probably a higher rate....

Yes, it's maddening when they agree to something and don't follow through.

Just curious why having the monthly payments exactly level (and the lump sum payment at the end of each year being whatever is needed to pay the increase in property taxes and insurance -- an unknown amount until near the end of the year) is so vital, compared to having the monthly payments change when the property tax/insurance changes -- every 6 months or a year.

And any end-of-year lump sum payment would have some interest added on to it...

[font color = red]On Edit[/font]OK, I'm thinking of my electric and gas bills -- I'm on "budget plan" or whatever where payments are level for a year, and then in the new budget year they come up with a new budget amount. If my usage overshot the plan's assumption the prior year, then my new budget plan amount will be higher to make up for that shortfall. And vice versa. Yes, that's nice and seems like mortgage companies could offer something like that.

I have a friend who has a mortgage with {tiny font}Chase{/tiny font} and that's how they do hers, except on a 6-month basis rather than a yearly basis -- its level for 6 months, and then adjusts.

It's the ability to budget and manage expenses precisely. And I have no need to pay the escrow difference at the end of the year... if they know the new rate that will apply I'll happily pay it in advance, as well.

I have a monthly 'nut' of predictable expenses, and the more I can use that to plan against, the easier it is to budget the predictable-unpredictables. And with direct payments from the checking account, knowing the exact amount to plan for each month helps keep us from unintentionally breaking into the overdraft protection.

Yes, I don't really want to go with closing costs and a higher rate, but it would be worth something to us to know who's a candidate if/when we do refinance next. We will be downsizing in the next few years, so it would be nice to have a target firm to work with.

Not Chase, though.

Never again.

There presumably are people they haven't screwn but we are not of that number.

anticipatorially,
Bright

I bet over 90% of borrowers prefer to pay monthly any increase in taxes. Including extra in your monthly payment -- to go against principle -- is simple too.

We have the mortgage payment debited directly from the checking account. As it's scheduled during the first week of the month when a number of other automatic payments are debited, it is very important that the amount be predictable, so that I avoid activating overdraft protection. Our cash flow is usually very low then, and kicks in the second and third weeks of the month.

I do make an additional principal payment monthly, with a separate coupon, by check. We'll be downsizing in the next few years and I'd like to be able to zero out this mortgage in a timely manner when we're looking for a new one.

And I'd like to identify a lender who will provide simple customer service as requested.

wistfully,
Bright

All because our mortgage company calculated our escrow wrong. This was 6 months after buying our house.

But fwiw, they (loan depot) *did* give us the option youre looking for. And so does Suntrust, who is the company they sold our mortgage to.

That said, we went through a broker: Mortgage Masters, and they were great.

Thanks, will check out Mortgage Masters.

appreciatively,
Bright

Here in Albuquerque Kirtland FCU services all of their own mortgages, which is UNLIKE almost everyone else. At least you have a local office you can go into and discuss issues with. We refinanced through them and it went quite smoothly except for the appraiser they sent who under appraised the property. Since we were refinancing and not selling that was annoying, but not critical. You might try a credit union. Not all of them handle fixed mortgages, but many do.

I'll have to look into what's around Santa Fe, I know there are several here.

interestedly,
Bright

I no longer recall who the original holder was.

And there are almost always small differences in the monthly payment from year to year. Also, more than once when there's been an increase of some sort, I've always had the option to pay the new amount in full or have an increase in the monthly payment. Always. As in ever time. And this, I will repeat, is Chase. So I'm quite puzzled that you're being told you can't do that.