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Reviews for Nichol Downey
Best support
Nicol was super helpful through the entire process and was always willing to go above and beyond to make the entire process simple and easy!
FHA Pennsylvania
Easy process
Nicole was great to work with. She always returned my calls in a timely manner. She also took the time to fully answer all of my questions.
VA Pennsylvania
Terrible experience
This is not our first home that we’ve bought and is also not our first new build. We’ve never experienced anything like this and if I could give zero stars, I would. We would absolutely never recommend our loan officer or RMC to anyone else and hope that our lengthy and thorough review helps others to avoid our negative experience. Regarding the canned response with an email address I should reach out to - My husband addressed all our concerns to that very email more than a month prior to closing with no explanation or answers. We also escalated concerns as high in Maronda/RMC as possible and the only resolution reached was something to the effect of “If you want to finance through someone else we understand.” Our experience: We determined the house and lot we wanted, specified all the finishings; asked for $35,000 off the sale price, we settled on $25,000 of incentives. Could use the $25,000 towards sale price OR cash toward closing/buying down interest rate. WOW! GREAT! Before signing a purchase agreement, we had to tell them how we’d like to use our incentive. In our mind (and likely the minds of many others) cash toward closing was very appealing. We decided to apply $13,000 toward closing and $12,000 off the sale price of the home. Was this a mistake? We don’t know. They force you to lock in the decision which can’t be changed (presumably so they can structure the deal to give up as little of the incentive as possible). Who knows how the loan would’ve been structured if we’d chosen to apply all the incentive to sale price. All of our loan estimates during the pre-approval and checking in periodically throughout the build were within 0.1% of the national average at any given time. We had no reason to be concerned that they wouldn’t at least come close to the national average when it came time to close. They clearly had other intentions. When the time came to lock our rate, suddenly our rate quote was approximately 1% higher than average rates. Our financial situation hadn’t changed (outside of getting a raise), or any other factors that would change my mortgage qualifications. My husband shopped around with multiple other lenders and learned a LOT about mortgages. NOW IM GETTING TO THE POINT: Multiple competing lenders could all also give us a $13,000 incentive toward closing costs to match the closing cost we were getting with RMC. The kicker is, instead of the rate the competing lender was offering ~1% lower than RMC, we had to take an extra percent or so. We learned that just like you can buy your rate down (give them cash up front in exchange for a better rate), you can also do the opposite (they give you cash in exchange for a worse rate). RMC structured our loan with an appealing rate buy down offer. If we would essentially forgo our $13,000 closing cash incentive and put it all toward rate buy down, they could offer us the same rate every other lender on the planet was offering us for free. While on paper we were receiving my $13,000 closing incentive, in reality we were really funding the incentive ourselves via “rate buy-up”. (Google it, it’s real). All our concerns were made clear to everyone we could find to express them to and all we were told was “that’s the rate, take it or leave it.” They also tell you you can get a “rate float” after locking. This was a lie. When inquiring we were told rates would have to move 3/8 of a percent to be eligible. We never thought rates would move that much, but they did (about 1/2%), and we were not offered the float. HERE’S WHAT WE DID AND WHAT YOU SHOULD DO TOO IF YOU FIND YOURSELF IN A SIMILAR SITUATION: We gave them every opportunity to make it right, they refused. So why didn’t we just use another lender? If we use another lender we give up all the incentives. So in our case we would’ve had to pay $12,000 more for the home, and the $13,000 closing incentive (which we don’t get either way) also disappears. No competing lenders could give a good enough rate to make it worth walking away from the $12,000 sale price discount. So we took RMC’s mortgage at 8.49%. We closed in mid December 2023, average rates were right around 7%. Our first payment was due Feb 1, with a grace period until Feb 15. We just closed on my refinance with the disbursement being made Feb 14, with a 6.625% rate. That first payment will be due in April. The icing on the cake is, in my mortgage endeavors we learned if you refinance sooner than 6 months, the lender is penalized. THAT IS WHY THEY WILL DANGLE THE CARROT OF A FREE REFINANCE IN 6 MONTHS. Don’t fall for it. We hope this helps you in your lending and decision making process.
Tara's Tip: Make sure you do your homework before you trust this loan officer/RMC
Conventional 30 Year Fixed Pennsylvania
Lengthy review but please read, then run!!!
This is not our first home that we’ve bought and is also not our first new build. We’ve never experienced anything like this and if I could give zero stars, I would. We would absolutely never recommend our loan officer or RMC to anyone else and hope that our lengthy and thorough review helps others to avoid our negative experience. Regarding the canned response with an email address I should reach out to - My husband addressed all our concerns to that very email more than a month prior to closing with no explanation or answers. We also escalated concerns as high in Maronda/RMC as possible and the only resolution reached was something to the effect of “If you want to finance through someone else we understand.” Our experience: We determined the house and lot we wanted, specified all the finishings; asked for $35,000 off the sale price, we settled on $25,000 of incentives. Could use the $25,000 towards sale price OR cash toward closing/buying down interest rate. WOW! GREAT! Before signing a purchase agreement, we had to tell them how we’d like to use our incentive. In our mind (and likely the minds of many others) cash toward closing was very appealing. We decided to apply $13,000 toward closing and $12,000 off the sale price of the home. Was this a mistake? We don’t know. They force you to lock in the decision which can’t be changed (presumably so they can structure the deal to give up as little of the incentive as possible). Who knows how the loan would’ve been structured if we’d chosen to apply all the incentive to sale price. All of our loan estimates during the pre-approval and checking in periodically throughout the build were within 0.1% of the national average at any given time. We had no reason to be concerned that they wouldn’t at least come close to the national average when it came time to close. They clearly had other intentions. When the time came to lock our rate, suddenly our rate quote was approximately 1% higher than average rates. Our financial situation hadn’t changed (outside of getting a raise), or any other factors that would change my mortgage qualifications. My husband shopped around with multiple other lenders and learned a LOT about mortgages. NOW IM GETTING TO THE POINT: Multiple competing lenders could all also give us a $13,000 incentive toward closing costs to match the closing cost we were getting with RMC. The kicker is, instead of the rate the competing lender was offering ~1% lower than RMC, we had to take an extra percent or so. We learned that just like you can buy your rate down (give them cash up front in exchange for a better rate), you can also do the opposite (they give you cash in exchange for a worse rate). RMC structured our loan with an appealing rate buy down offer. If we would essentially forgo our $13,000 closing cash incentive and put it all toward rate buy down, they could offer us the same rate every other lender on the planet was offering us for free. While on paper we were receiving my $13,000 closing incentive, in reality we were really funding the incentive ourselves via “rate buy-up”. (Google it, it’s real). All our concerns were made clear to everyone we could find to express them to and all we were told was “that’s the rate, take it or leave it.” They also tell you you can get a “rate float” after locking. This was a lie. When inquiring we were told rates would have to move 3/8 of a percent to be eligible. We never thought rates would move that much, but they did (about 1/2%), and we were not offered the float. HERE’S WHAT WE DID AND WHAT YOU SHOULD DO TOO IF YOU FIND YOURSELF IN A SIMILAR SITUATION: We gave them every opportunity to make it right, they refused. So why didn’t we just use another lender? If we use another lender we give up all the incentives. So in our case we would’ve had to pay $12,000 more for the home, and the $13,000 closing incentive (which we don’t get either way) also disappears. No competing lenders could give a good enough rate to make it worth walking away from the $12,000 sale price discount. So we took RMC’s mortgage at 8.49%. We closed in mid December 2023, average rates were right around 7%. Our first payment was due Feb 1, with a grace period until Feb 15. We just closed on my refinance with the disbursement being made Feb 14, with a 6.625% rate. That first payment will be due in April. The icing on the cake is, in my mortgage endeavors we learned if you refinance sooner than 6 months, the lender is penalized. THAT IS WHY THEY WILL DANGLE THE CARROT OF A FREE REFINANCE IN 6 MONTHS. Don’t fall for it. We hope this helps you in your lending and decision making process.
Conventional 30 Year Fixed Pennsylvania
Ripped off
Closing cost incentives are not real. Shop around, talk to a mortgage broker and you will see how RMC mortgage will swindle money from you.
Aaron's Tip: Run
Conventional 30 Year Fixed Pennsylvania
New Home Loan 🏡
Outstanding Experience with the entire team. They really made the Journey easy and straightforward. I recommend this lender for all of your lending purposes to include home loans and refinancing. Thank for your time ⏲️ 🙏 ☺️.
Norman's Tip: Please ask as many questions as possible.
VA 30 Year Fixed Pennsylvania
Excellent and professional
Buying a house can be stressful but I couldn’t begin to tell you how great Nichol was to work with. Made this process easy and great for me!
FHA 30 Year Fixed Pennsylvania
Great service
Going through the mortgage application process can be very stressful, which is why I sought out Nichol Downey. She did our last mortgage and decided to go back to her. She goes above and beyond to get any and all of your questions answered. I was very happy with her and the whole process with RMC.
Ellen's Tip: Find a mortgage company that will go above and beyond to answer your questions and don’t accept vague answers.
Conventional 30 Year Fixed Pennsylvania
Very Nice Support
Nichole is always and proactive to support me on the process. I have never written a review, I am not good at it, but I would like to say here - she was very very helpful for me, in terms of getting all the informations and help on time, me being a first time home buyer, I was very helpless before conecting with her. Thank you so much Nichol, I have not been able to meet you, but I am really really grateful to you.
Conventional Pennsylvania
Helpful
Everyone did great. Special thanks to Nichol who was super helpful and educated us on the whole process!
Conventional 30 Year Fixed Pennsylvania
Very Disappointed
We have owed between us both at least 4 houses and so have had to go thru this process multiple times and I have to say this was the worst experience ever. From being asked multiple times for the same document to waiting last minute for approvals to just poor communication of all parties definitely made the actual signing day, which is to be such a wonderful moment full of stress and plain annoyance. On top of it, when we got to the signing there was No representation from your company at all and we were there with someone who we had no idea who she was. There was no welcome no congratulation no nothing and again we have gone thru this before and this company versus others we have dealt with comes no where near. If every asked on recommendations we will definitely share our honest feedback with all.
Douglas's Tip: Make sure you really read all documents and stay on top of all reps you have to deal with. There is no real communication with your lender and buyer and be aware they will make you complete the same thing over and over again
Lender Response
Mr. Acquaviva, thank you for sharing your experience with us. Exceeding our customer’s expectations is the core mission of our company and we are sincerely sorry we failed to exceed yours. I personally handed your feedback over to the leadership team to make us better. If you would like to discuss your experience further, I am available and ready to listen. Please call me at 407-284-4893 or email us at [email protected]. Our hours of operations are Monday through Friday 8am to 6pm (EST).Conventional 30 Year Fixed Pennsylvania
Amazing
Nichol made the process so easy. Any question I had she was there to answer and help out in any way possible. She was amazing to work with! Thank you!
FHA 30 Year Fixed Pennsylvania
title company
Did a nice job too
Michael's Tip: Nichol is awesome, I'd highly recommended her to help with your mortgage she made the process easy.
Conventional 30 Year Fixed Pennsylvania
Quality of service
It is perfect experience with Nichole
Akmal's Tip: Ask for closing approval in advance
Conventional 30 Year Fixed Pennsylvania
Satisfied
Nichole was terrific, but there were a few curve balls thrown in at the last minute. She helped figure everything out.
Conventional 30 Year Fixed Pennsylvania
Amazing service
Nichol provided the best customer service around, and made sure that she was on time with all of the deadlines. She was very professional and helpful.
Conventional 30 Year Fixed Pennsylvania
Team
Nichol was excellent. I could have asked for a officer to assist in working with my loan. Also Megan was extremely helpful and professional as well.
Conventional 30 Year Fixed Pennsylvania
Fantastic Customer Service
I can't say enough about FBC, Nichol, and her team. I always knew the status of my loan and what information was needed during each step. I felt valued as a customer and can't recommend FBC enough.
Conventional 30 Year Fixed Pennsylvania
Reviewing our Lender for our new Maronda Home
My wife and I had a very nice experience during a very stressful process. This is the 3rd home we have built and understood some of the things we would go through. All and all it was not a bad process.
BARRY's Tip: I think it would be helpful to let them know the estimated time it takes at closing. Ours was about 1.5 hours.
Conventional 30 Year Fixed Ohio
Highly Recommended!
Nichol is a true professional. She responded timely to all of our questions and was very patient and encouraging throughout the entire stressful process.
Conventional 30 Year Fixed Pennsylvania
