New England Alliance Mortgage Farmington Ave, Berlin

Peter provided us with an exceptional service, he was very knowledgeable and professional. He was always available to answer any questions we had and made the mortgage process smooth and stress free. He went above and beyond. We will highly recommend Peter Kern and New England Alliance Mortgage to everyone.

I usually do not write reviews. I am far too busy and consider them a waste of my time. In the particular case of Mr. Peter Kern however, I have to make an exception. Just so It is crystal clear, I am not a client that got rejected and now seeks personal revenge for his unjustified claims. I did close although not on the terms previously discussed and agreed upon. I trusted recommendation of a good friend and did not do my research. Shame on me. This review pertains to a refinancing that Peter was going to take care of, to make up for the shortcoming during our first transaction. After receiving an offer, I rejected it due to the fact that It was not a good deal in my understanding, and would mostly benefit the Broker via commission, rather than my persona. Mr. Kern upon receiving the news transformed from a nice and friendly guy into an obnoxious tutor telling me that: “ I will never refinance”, and “Good luck with being stuck with high PMI for the next 29 years”, for which he was personally responsible. I went to find another broker, and was once more approached by Mr. Kern when my refinancing was underway. Again, the rates offered were far from his competition making it a simple choice for me, so I didn’t even bother responding. When I did finalize with another company, and send him the numbers, far superior to his during the rate lock, that is when all hell broke loose. I will not bore you with the details, as they are at this point irrelevant. In short Mr. Kern’s practices are far from what I would call professional, and the lack of candor along with blatant disregard for his client’s best interest should not continue without my retort, which hopefully will save his prospective clients a big chunk. But instead of writing what he did wrong, and wasting your and my time I will tell you what you can do right to see if he is in fact getting you a best possible deal in a few easy steps. If you can do a little legwork you will be much better off, whether you are purchasing or refinancing. 1. Check your credit with 3 major bureaus Equifax, Experian and Transunion. It’s free and it will not cost you any money. Take all three scores add them together and divide by three. This will give you your median score. Do this for you and your spouse. The lower score is the one being used to assess your financial viability. 2. Have your yearly gross income ready for both of you. 3. You will need the purchase price or a rough estimate of the property you are interested in. 4. Check various options via mortgage calculator. 30,20,15 years, conventional, FHA. Google those terms. It makes a significant difference. 5. Once you established your threshold find a few lenders. Whether it’s through broker or directly through the bank, your choice. Call them, provide the information and request a quick quote. Do not be swayed by promises of best outcome. They are all in the business of making money. Some have the moral fiber, others don’t. Let the numbers speak for themselves. Most of them will be able to give you a rough estimate in a matter of minutes. If they start getting too technical just go to your next choice. It is really not a rocket science. You should be able to get a straight answer based on numbers you provide, and a rough estimate of their financial capabilities pertaining to your loan criteria. 6. Do not forget to ask for a broker fee and origination fee. The broker fee should typically be around .5 to 1. percent of the purchase price. Anything over that is called greed. The broker can give you numerous explanations for why theirs are higher, but It is best to check with a few, before you make your determination. Also, all loans need to be ran through one system that either accepts them or rejects them, so no matter who will finance your loan the same criteria applies everywhere. The devil is in the details. Mainly how much you will have to pay to get the loan secured. Many banks offer assistance with closing cost (credit), look into that prior to making your determination. Best of luck.

We have worked with Peter Kern and New England Alliance a couple of times. He is always thorough and explains everything clearly, which makes this process so much easier. We will continue to work with them in the future and we highly recommend you do too.