Mortgage Advisor

I am in banking and would hesitate to counsel you not knowing a lot about your situation. When you say "mortgage consultant" I have to confess, I don't think such a thing exists. Whether you call a Bank or a Broker...You are calling a sales person. I think what you might want to do in conjunction with seeking out a sales person is to connect with a Financial Advisor.

At my Bank, we have positioned ourselves as "Debt Savvy". Meaning, we can lower your monthly payment if that is your critical need but we'll be very upfront with you that in the end, you are still paying the same (if not more and if not for longer). That can sometimes be a tough message for my Bank to deliver but it is the right and honest message.

Other thoughts...As far as getting into a good refinance product and finding someone you can trust...That may be less of an issue depending on how powerful YOUR own financial position is. If you come to the table with a strong credit score, no credit delinquencies, stable income history, manageable debt (i.e. credit cards)...Then you will get what you need. It is those clients that come to the table from a weak or unknowledgeable position that have very little room to negotiate and that Banks/Brokers are less than eager to work with or give a great deal to.

We just re-financed in November to get a lower interest rate and lower our monthly payments. We had 20% equity 2 years ago, and great credit. But since our home price dropped 10%, we no longer had the 20% equity.

I contacted 4 mortgage brokers, including Bank of America who currently had our mortgage. We were good customers, so I thought I'd give them a chance to keep our business with a lower rate. (wrong!) 2 brokers were friends of relatives, who I would have loved to work with, but they couldn't give us the best rate.

The last broker, and the one with the lowest rate by .5% and closing costs of around $1800, I found through Bankrate.com. The guy talked too fast and sounded too good to be true, but his company was legitimate and saved us .5% on our rate. (About $200/month!!)

If you haven't checked out Bankrate.com, please research their articles on mortgages and re-fi's, etc. They are a trustworthy site, written about in newspapers and Money magazine. Bankrate.com also has strict requirements about what company can be listed on their site, so they are a good place to start. Another site that helped me understand refinancing terminology was :
http://stumbleforward.com/2010/01/25/what-are-the-typical....

Good luck!

i was a mortgage broker for 15 yrs now i am a sahm......we are closing on our refinance on friday........i found someone that i am very comfortable with & am very happy with the results........if you would like his info send me a message

I am sure you have found someone by now but I have a real estate team here in Atlanta and I have several brokers who are out of this world.
Let me know if you have someone already.

Good luck!