Barry Koven – Wells Fargo

We were given Barry’s name by a buyer’s agent. While we’re only at the pre-​approval stage so far we (my husband and I) just have to give a shout out to Barry for taking time out on a weekend to set up our pre-​approval letter in time to put in our very first offer on a house!
Agree with the other reviews: so far he’s the first one we’ve spoken with who can answer our questions with something approaching understandable. We both feel confident in speaking with him that he’ll give us a straight answer and competent advice.
Will come back and update this review once we’ve closed, fingers crossed.

I worked with Barry when purchasing a home due to personal recommendations. With all of the stress around buying a first home, Barry was in many ways a stable highlight within that otherwise chaotic experience. Among other things: he anticipated snags in the closing process long before they occurred so we could prepare, he handled complications with diligence and aplomb, and all the while he remained easy to reach and open to my infinite questions throughout. My interactions with Barry started long before I even had an accepted offer on a home, so in many ways he invested time on me even in the very earliest phases of my search, long before there was any loan to be processed.
Partially because of what happened with the banking crisis and subsequent regulations that were enacted, getting a loan has become a maze of interactions with interdependent entities. This is why you need a Barry: he’s the banking equivalent of a shepherd that made the loan happen.
I’m happy to recommend speaking to him if you consider buying a home in NYC or refinancing one.

I recently bought a home, and my original plan was to find a fixer-​upper house and renovate it. I found Barry because he provides a very useful website that allows you to estimate the costs of buying and renovating a home using a FHA 203K loan. I had a few questions about the process of getting this specialized loan and the process of renovating a home with this kind of financing. When I contacted him, he was able to explain all my options in a single phone call. I was pre-​approved for a loan very quickly and got started on my housing search. In the end, I decided to buy a co-​op instead of a fixer-​upper, but I still got my loan through Barry because I was so happy with the service he and his assistant Allison provided me. I’d highly recommend Barry to anyone, whether they want to renovate or not.

I recently bought a home and we used the purchase and renovation loan (FHA 203K loan). Other than getting the contractor bids in I don’t think it was much different than a regular loan. We used Barry Koven at Wells Fargo and he could not have been nicer. Really knowledgeable guy and he made the process as painless as is possible these days.