First Manhattan Mortgage

As another reviewer mentioned, Steve Murillo doesn’t just know loans, he knows the real estate world, too. That’s because he was originally both a realtor and a loan broker before deciding to focus on the loan side of the business. In fact, that’s how we met — Steve helped me find my first house in Redondo Beach. That was back in the 90s, when 30-​yr fixed interest rates were in the 7 – 8 percent range. Fortunately for me, Steve was more than just a realtor, and as interest rates dropped over the following years, he pointed out that I would benefit by performing no-​cost, no-​fee refinances.
(For those who want more details on how loans work, read this parenthetical statement. Everyone else, skip ahead to the next paragraph. «Free» refis are not literally free, but are effectively so from a borrower’s standpoint if rates have fallen sufficiently that the loan can cover the refi costs by raising the rate slightly. In loan terms, this is the exact opposite of «paying points» to get a lower rate. Instead of paying points and getting a lower rate, you accept a slightly higher rate but the «negative points» cover your loan costs — and as long as the new rate is still lower than your existing rate, then you the borrower have effectively lowered your rate at no cost. Make sense?)
As interest rates continued to decline, Steve and I continued our «free» refis, eventually landing mid 3% by 2004, which was literally less than half what I had started at when I bought my place. During those 8 years of refis, the internet really came into its own, and by the last of my refis,
had become the de facto site to check on mortgage rates. What pleasantly surprised me was that even though I was effectively sole-​sourcing my refi business to Steve (that is, I wasn’t shopping other loan brokers), he was always within an eighth of a point of the best rates featured on bankrate.
(Skip this paragraph if you don’t want more gory details on how loans work. Some people will legitimately ask, «Why do you need a loan broker if you can just shop lenders directly at bankrate?» The answer to that is akin to whether you prefer buying or selling a house with a realtor or not. Sure, you can buy or sell a house without professional help, but the success of the transaction falls entirely on you, and if you’re not careful, you can end up costing yourself money. Likewise, if you want to contact lenders directly, you can certainly do so. However, you will have to submit all of your paperwork – and there’s a ton of it – to EACH lender, and then wait while the lender processes your paperwork and finally offers you a rate, and if the rate isn’t what they advertised, you have to repeat the whole process with another lender, etc. And don’t forget each lender will also run a credit check, so if you have to repeat too many times, your credit rating will take a hit. With a loan broker, you submit your paperwork once, they run your credit once, and then they shop the lenders for you.)
This past November, after Janet Yellen finally raised the Fed funds rate after so many years at 0%, I decided it was time to refi one last time, and this time I would even pay points to get the rate down. (As it turns out, January would have been a better time to start the process, as global stock markets crashed, driving mortgage rates even lower. But trying to refi at the absolutely lowest point is a bit like trying to sell a stock at its absolute highest point, i.e. very hard to do.) So I called Steve and, despite not having done any refis with him since 2004, I was pleased to find he was still running his business the same as he always had, in the same location no less. As before, his rates were on par with the best rates listed at bankrate, and we finished the whole process within the 45-​day lock period that I selected. Having not done a refi since 2004, I was surprised at how much more paperwork there is now – the result of tighter regulations after the mortgage-​backed securities debacle of the late 2000s – and so it was nice to be going through the process with someone I could trust. In fact, that’s a good point to close on: Not only is Steve a former Marine and Systems Engineer, but he’s been serving the South Bay as a loan broker for a quarter century now. Anyone who’s been doing business for that long in the same location is clearly someone you can trust. The fact that he also offers competitive rates is really just icing on the cake.

Steve was great, very professional. He took the time to methodically analyze the conditions necessary to get my refi and then worked with me on satisfying them.
I would recommend him to anyone.
His staff was also very helpful!

Steve Murillo and First Manhattan Mortgage are a great team. We have completed two refinances with Steve — both great rates and done efficiently and professionally. The whole team are great to work with — attentive and helpful. We recommend them highly!

Steve and his team were awesome! He got us a great rate with low fees without a lot of hassle. We were so happy with his services and recommend him highly!!!
Thanks Steve!

My spouse and I are pretty mortgage-​savvy, as we’ve both been in real estate development. While trying to find a loan for a complicated deal, I ran across Steve’s business. Called and left a message, and had a call back within an hour. He asked all the right questions, and gave every clue that he understands the Southbay market pretty well. He took all my info and let me know the next day (sadly, as we suspected, there are very few banks that could structure our deal the way we want). Bravo for prompt and intelligent service!
There are very few mortgage brokers that we’ve met who are real estate market literate; most just seem like bored accountants. Steve definitely has his game on. So I’m definitely keeping his number for next time. Five stars for «Impressed», even though we couldn’t find the loan we wanted.

Steve Murillo is an amazing professional. He helped me and my family to obtain an international home loan. The process required extreme amounts of energy and dedication. He was thorough and efficient along every step of the way.
As a foreigner, I was at times confused about the nuances of the loan. He showed amazing patience and was always willing to explain the details as many times as it was necessary for me to understand.
He also proved to be an honest professional who believed in complete transparency.
Steve comes highly recommended, and I would love to have the chance to work with him again in the future.