Credit Union vs Bank?

[Duncan]

This might be a This or That topic, but seeing as the mortgage topic is here anyways, what the hey.

So i'm doing some more research about mortgages, and i suppose a generic statement can be made that usually Credit Unions give better rates than Banks, but the downside is that they have less resources and probably won't provide you as much personal help as a bank can. Also, CU's can be easier to get approved if you have bad credit, but banks provide a larger array of products to choose from.

That being said, i know most of us "bank" with banks anyways, but if there are those of you who have dealt with CU's, is there anything you can add to the pro/con discussion?

somehow i think when i'm ready to buy a place, i'll just go with the cheapest rate i can get anyways. but still, it'd be nice to know what else to consider.

[joel]

have you talked to a mortage broker? I would assume that they could give you a load of information on the pros and cons of both.

i just went with the mortgage specialist with TD referred to me by my brother. But i wish now that I had taken more time look for the best deal i could get.

also you can get a pre-approval pretty easily anywhere. since i bank with presidents choice, i just walked into a superstore and they did a pre-approval for me in about 15 minutes. just so i could find out what my spending limit was. i assume most financial institutions do relatively the same calculations when it comes to what your mortgage limit is. and you have no obligation to get your mortgage with them.

unfortunately i have no personal experiences with CUs to share with you. my TD mortgage seems flexible enough. up to double my payments anytime over the term, up to 15% of original principle payable in lump sum each year, i figure most of those things are standard tho'.

[joel]

go check out: http://www.caamp.org/
if you haven't already.

[nature boy]

isn't this jairo's field at his work? having said that, whichever you go with, i heard it's best to stay away from friends/acquaintances when dealing with money.

[Duncan]

[nature boy]

i think the advice was specifically not going to a banker friend, because bankers can screw up too. if it's just your banker, then get a new one, but if it's your friend, then there goes the friendship.

[Duncan]

haha, then i'll definitely go to jairo... i don't mind ripping into him if he messes up!

[nature boy]

go for it. tell him i said what's up.