Banks      

  This category spans a wide variety of fiduciary institutions,

  from the national commercial lenders to your neighborhood

  credit union.  The feature that ties them all together is the fact

  that they use depositors' money to fund the mortgages that

  they sell to you.  Another name for this type of lender is

  "portfolio lender."

  Portfolio lenders include commercial banks, savings banks,

  savings and loan associations, and credit unions. They are also

  referred to as "depository institutions" because they offer

  deposit accounts to the public. Deposits provide a stable

  funding source that allows these institutions to hold loans

  permanently in their portfolios.

  Banks are advantaged in that they do not have to borrow the

  money that they lend. This cuts their cost which they then pass

  on to you.  Bank are disadvantaged however, in that they offer

  less flexibility to a borrower in terms of product variety and

  qualifying flexibility.  Banks carry only their own product line,

  and while they may have several or even dozens of loan

  products, compared to a broker they are limited in their

  selection.  They are also more rigid in qualifying borrowers.

  Applicants with less than perfect credit histories or non-

  conforming properties may have a harder time qualifying for a

  bank loan

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