Federated Mortgage

We contacted Steve based on a personal recommendation. We like to work over email, and he was by far the fastest and most responsive broker we communicated with. The initial rate quoted was competitive, but we got a slightly better deal from a different broker. Upon hearing this, Steve dropped the rate to beat the other deal. Between the two brokers, we had a bit of a bidding war for our business, and that ended up getting us a very good deal. While we didn't end up going with Federated in the end, I would definitely recommend them as a broker option; the fees were low, the initial quotes were very competitive, and the willingness to negotiate for the best possible deal helped us out a lot. The only slightly negative thing I would say is that the flip side of Steve being a very active broker; we felt slightly pressured at one point to lock in a rate that wasn't as good as the one we eventually got, and it was unclear at the time whether the rate would be floated down if rates decreased. However, overall our experience was very positive, and we would definitely work with them again.

Mark Milburn was fantastic from beginning to end. I was very skeptical of mortgage brokers because of so many horror stories I had read, but Mark was honest and knowledgeable. I had been working with a different broker for a few months, but was wary of the closing costs in my GFE's and worried that my broker was getting confused with the USDA requirements, so I comparison shopped and found Mark. He and another company both gave me a lower rate estimate and lower closing cost estimates. My original broker told me it was impossible for them to do the loans with those rates and closing costs, and warned me that I would likely be shocked by added fees at the closing table. She couldn't have been farther from the truth. Of my two comparisons, Mark gave me more accurate USDA fee information and he matched his competitor's rate so I went with him. I let him know upfront that I wasn't feeling very trusting of anyone by this point (we were dealing with a dishonest seller at the time). He was patient with my questioning of the rates and fees, and didn't seem to take offense at my skepticism of his lower fees. He validated my feelings about our dishonest seller when my realtor was glossing over things, and offered some helpful comments regarding the situation. When we did find a better house and went through with our mortgage, he got everything done very quickly. We anticipated a slow closing with USDA and the looming deadline for the buyers tax credit, but Mark actually had us ready to close a few days early, and would likely have been over a week early had the local tax collector not passed away (which delayed confirmation of our taxes). Not only that, but there were no surprise fees at the end and he was right on with his estimate. We could not have been happier. I am SOOOO thankful that our prior houses fell through, allowing me to second guess our original broker and find Mark. He saved us $2,000 in closing fees compared to the original broker plus got us a 5% rate (and that was great for a USDA which is always a little higher than prime)! I can not even think of a way to verbalize how happy we were with Mark's service and his fees, or the words to express how highly I recommend him. And I promise, this isn't his mother writing this review!

Mark Milburn was fantastic!! He answered all of our questions and got us a great rate. He was able to get us closed in the time frame that we wanted. He is very very knowledgeable.

I have never been disappointed with the service he provides my clients.

WONDERFUL PEOPLE! THEY EXPLAINED WELL WHAT EVERYTHING MEANT -- HELPING ME UNDERSTAND WHAT I HAD FOUND VERY CONFUSING.