nbfowler on Zillow 7 months ago
05/16/2019, 02:35 AM
Really hard to sum Julie up in a headline, but her most stand-out characteristic is how hard she works to get things right, and how well she has honed her craft as a mortgage broker.
I have owed her a review for a while now, but the last year has been quite occupied with settling into the AWESOME HOME that Julie helped us land (and a couple of timely refis that Julie brokered for us too). Julie is actually one of several exceptional members of the Malta family, 3 of whom my partner and I have worked with in some capacity over the years for our housing needs. We feel so fortunate to have stumbled upon this seemingly magical family of SF real estate professionals.
When my partner and I began l... more>> Really hard to sum Julie up in a headline, but her most stand-out characteristic is how hard she works to get things right, and how well she has honed her craft as a mortgage broker.
I have owed her a review for a while now, but the last year has been quite occupied with settling into the AWESOME HOME that Julie helped us land (and a couple of timely refis that Julie brokered for us too). Julie is actually one of several exceptional members of the Malta family, 3 of whom my partner and I have worked with in some capacity over the years for our housing needs. We feel so fortunate to have stumbled upon this seemingly magical family of SF real estate professionals.
When my partner and I began looking for a home in San Francisco, Julie came to our rescue with enthusiasm. In our particular case, we were motivated to buy after a substantial rent increase and we weren’t sure that we would be able to afford to stay in the city. Julie not only came up with a loan arrangement that allowed us to compete in the SF market and avoid mortgage insurance, she kept at it and managed to keep our resolve and our spirits up through nearly 6 months of searching and being outbid. In the end, we benefited immensely from Julie’s deep experience with the real estate market in the San Francisco area, and we were able to make extremely competitive offers. It took a while, but we landed our dream home without counteroffers, despite only being the 4th highest bid, and it was in large part due to Julie’s mastery of her craft, and what we learned in her care.
A great thing about Julie is that she treated us like friends, or even family, and saw our situation as a surmountable challenge, ultimately because she was more concerned for our happiness and well-being than her compensation. When I first spoke to her almost a year and a half ago, it was on a Sunday night and she was in an airport waiting for a flight back to SF. We must have spoken for nearly an hour as she collected my details from the airport terminal and eventually boarded her plane - I don’t know how many mortgage brokers would do that instead of waiting until Monday. Like I said, she was happy to help us from the get-go.
Anyone who is on the fence about homeownership would benefit from a conversation with Julie: she can convince you of its benefits and make the process so much less frightening all in one fell swoop. She knows what she’s doing, explains every complicated aspect of the lending process well, and she doesn’t mind when you ask her the same questions again and again, because sometimes your brain turns to mush during the home-buying process. She’s just happy that you’re being as diligent as she is!
Since our purchase over a year ago, Julie has navigated us through 2 refinances as well. The first, to get out of the two-loan arrangement that enabled us to buy the home in the first place (one was a variable rate HELOC that, with the increased value of our home and some pay-down, we were able to refinance out of). And the second, to take advantage of lower rates in early 2019. Julie kept an eye on the markets and rates and reached back out to us when the time was right, to make sure that we didn’t leave any money on the table. Now that is some serious customer care!
If you’re looking for a great mortgage broker to help you buy or refinance, I cannot recommend Julie enough. Having closed 3 major transactions with her in just a little over a year, I am a believer!