Home First

The last few years I have been struggling to make my condo payments and tried a loan modification on my own. I soon discovered that a third party is needed. So about 3 years ago I hired someone to do it. I had to pay her up front $ 2500 before she would proceed. She just about guaranteed that I would cut my payment almost in half so I went for it. She ended up getting me one that was a lot less. It was something but I was very disappointed since she just about promised me a lot more. And when I addressed her about it she back pedaled. I also was very disappointed in the way she treated me. I tend to ask tons of questions and did through out the process. Her patience ran out and one time sent me a nasty email. But at least I got something of a mod. About 2 years later I really ran into financial troubles again and thought about another mod. I was sure I couldn’t get another and certainly wouldn’t pay someone up front. But then I found Chris. He was more than the first one but the great thing was that he would only get paid if I got a mod. that met our target. I had nothing to lose and hired Chris. He was a total different experience in the best way. He responded quickly to every inquiry I had and never got impatient. And to my surprise he got a mod. that actually beat the target for the first 6 years. And it looks like I’ll be very close to the target for the rest of the years. I was totally bowled over because I thought my chances were at best maybe half of the target mod. we set. I’m so glad he has it set up to get paid only if I got a mod. I would have never done it if this wasn’t the case. And he made the process completely stress free unlike the first mod. person. The money I paid him was worth every single penny. Peter H.

Chuck at Home First has continued the tradition of doing great work. The client had a notice of sale recorded so they were only weeks from losing their home in a foreclosure. Home First got right to work as soon as we got an accepted offer. They got the bank to delay the notice of sale and we closed in less than 2 months start to finish. The seller is happy she can now sleep again at night. Plus she received 3K for her moving expenses. Thanks again!

I had a great experience with the team at Home-​1^st for my home modification. Chris was very responsive to my phone calls and patiently explained complex bank policies to an everyday person like me. I was afraid I would be kicked out of my home and need to find a new place to live. Chris dispelled common rumors and misconceptions about home modifications. His wealth of knowledge and connections made the process much easier for me and my family. I recommend them wholeheartedly.

This place is a ripoff. They told me to fall behind on my mortgage for two month so that my bank would negotiate with me. My bank refused to work with them except to offer me an even worse loan with back fees now included. Home First said I either take the banks really bad offer, which would have cost more than what I was paying, and pay Home First $ 3500 or foreclose. They acted like they were working with me but they’ll do anything to get that $ 3500. Watch out!

Do you know the sick feeling in your stomach when you think you may loose something?
You get it… Most of us understand the challenges of the recession!
Adding insult to injury, you’re fighting to keep your business alive… kids in college and of course your home!
Now, try calling your bank and telling them your sad story. See if that customer service rep really cares about you when she’s talking to 75 people every hour.
A few years ago we were in this very predicament when a friend suggested calling Home First. Reluctantly I called. I expected nothing at this point. I felt completely alone and disillusioned. My own bank was not even helping. I spent 6 months doing what my bank told me to do to get a loan mod and that didn’t even work. I jumped through hoops and spoke with at least 15 people and divisions that handled my file…
In the end… I got a big «Sorry» — not at this time.
When Home First answered the phone I spoke in my solemn voice completely distraught and sad! They transferred me to Juan Hernandez. I have to say… from the first second I felt nothing but comfort and understanding. No judgmental opinions or assumptions. Juan listened to my whole sad story and said «I understand, I’m sorry. but this is what we’re going to do…» — AND, he did it. Juan held our hand like a cub-​scout helping an old lady cross the road!
Long story short — Juan got us a loan mod! Long story even shorter… Juan got us a better Loan Mod 11 months later.
We saved $ 2000 per month on our mortgage and are going to keep our dream home. — yeah… we did put $ 500,000 into it, so it was a cliffhanger for a few months when we stopped paying mortgage. BUT, Juan was there at every call to calm our nerves and settle our fears…
Now, our house is really «our home» — complete with a new loan mod that makes our payments very fair during this crazy economic time…
Thanks Juan!
Andy & Michele — Your friend for life!

Shortselling a house is a grueling experience. Getting the right offer and obtaining the lenders approval for it are both challenging. We are grateful for Juan Hernandez and his team at Home First for their exceptional service in representing us. We were constantly updated and well-​informed of everything that is happening. Trustworthy and diligent at all times. Most importantly, gets the results at the right time. Rest-​assured we’re here to recommend and support you!!! More power and God bless you!!!

This review is unique because I was a client of home first and I never officially worked with them or paid them for their services. I was referred to Juan during the darkest hour of my 1.5 year battle with Chase Bank (Deustch was the investor) to finally get a loan mod. Juan was more of a counselor and friend to me through a very difficult 6 weeks where I had no idea where my modification stood after 2 declines. I wrote a dispute and then it seemed like my file went into a 2 month black hole. I called Juan and he assured me they could help. He helped me to understand what was going on behind the scenes and he gave me hope and a practical strategy to go forward with them. I sent Juan all of my required paperwork to sign up on the home first program because I was at my wit and strengths end. Right before I signed up to work with Juan at home first, after he had been my friend and helper through this 6 week dark period, my file emerged from the black hole at Chase. They told me my dispute was approved and they would take a fresh 3^rd look at my file. At this point, Juan had been working with me for 6 weeks and was my shoulder to lean on for this period of time. He could have pressed me to continue working with home first but instead he said that they were there for me if I needed them and I was free to work the modification on my own going forward.
Juan advised me of potential pitfalls during my last attempt with Chase and gave me some options where they could help me with a short sale in case the mod did not get approved the third time. Luckily my mod was approved and finally completed this month. From time to time over the last few months, Juan has followed up with me just to make sure everything was ok and still on track. So, the bottom line is that if Juan and HF put this much time and consideration into someone they are not getting paid from, imagine how diligent they are with actual clients! I was referred to Juan by a raving fan client and now I am a raving fan as well.
I recommend Juan to anyone in need of RE help of any kind. In this world of fly by night companies and sales representatives, Juan Hernandez stands apart as a true friend and professional. Thank you HF and thank you Juan!!!

Home 1^st took over settling the debt on our 2^nd mortgage and took care of the whole process in just a few weeks. We had been dealing with our lender for months and finally decided to let the experts at Home 1^st take over. Chris, Clint and Jessica are experts in their field and have the lender connections in place to get the job done. Jessica was wonderful about constantly updating us with a status and was able to negotiate with our lender for far less than we thought possible. I would recommend them highly to anyone, borrower or realtor, looking to settle loans and short sales quicker and with a high success rate.

I was introduced to Juan at Home 1^st by my real estate agent (Pat C) to assist in my short sale. From the first conversation I felt totally at ease about working with him and felt very confident he (and his coworkers) would get this process handled in a totally satisfactory manner. I have twins so I was not always available by phone; they were always flexible with me and made themselves available by email for my convenience.
Dealing with lenders on this process was not easy. I called Juan twice in tears; upset about being ridiculed by my 2^nd mortgage company. He was so sweet; totally listened to me and calmed me down and reassured me I did not have to speak to anyone from the lender again. My short sale did not go as smoothly as I hoped it would (due to my 2^nd mortgage company) but Home 1^st did not give up & continued to reassure me that I just needed to hang in there and it would be completed soon. They were successful & got the job done!!! I would HIGHLY recommend using this company. They made a painful process A LOT easier :)
Thank you Juan, Jessica, Charles, & the whole staff at Home 1^st

I’m an attorney in San Diego. My practice focuses on Bankruptcy and Real Estate Litigation. We do not do loan modifications. Over the last two years, I have referred over 50 clients to home first. I routinely followup with these clients to ensure that they are satisfied. Some of these cases have been extremely complicated.
I have yet to receive a negative remark about Home First. My referrals are a reflection on my own practice and I do not make them lightly. Home First does it right.

I can’t thank Juan & the team at Home 1^st enough!!!

These guys are the best. They took a very stressful situation, educated me on my options and always delivered on their promises. They called me daily with updates and I could not be happier with the end result. They successfully negotiated a Short Sale of my previous home and I received $ 25k in relocation money. I could not be happier with Home First Inc.

Ignore that bad review on here!
Home First saved our home! My boyfriend got laid off last year and we fell behind on our mortgage payments. It was a scary time, we were doing everything we could to make ends meet but with so many other expenses it was just impossible. My boyfriend starting working again but we were so far behind we couldn’t catch up.
We contacted Home First and they were amazing. They really know their stuff. Juan talked to us about our options specific to our situation and walked us through the process from beginning to end.
The worked with us and the bank and in less than 2 months we received a loan modification! We ended up saving over $ 600/​mo and our late fees were removed. They were also pretty good about keeping us up to date on what was happening and what they were doing on their end.
I would recommend Home First to anyone having mortgage troubles.
Thanks to everyone there!

Home First was able to help us and did not charge until the very end.
We contacted Home First last year in September with a sale date less than a month away and the staff there quickly made us feel at ease with our situation.
At the end of the day they could only negotiate a 400 dollar payment decrease but the fresh start that came with it made my family able to keep a home we adore and cherish.
Thanks again Home 1^st and Kyle Connell

I contracted with Home First to assist in the short selling of a property last year and dealt directly with the President, Clint Worland. Clint over promised and under delivered at every step in the process and I can not warn consumers strongly enough to stay away from this business. I use Unilocal for valuable reviews on a regular basis and rarely post a negative review. Short selling a property is such a stressful and emotional process that I feel obligated to help anybody out there to avoid the awful experience I had.
Home First first told us the home would receive an initial offer in 60 days which I knew from extensive research was completely unrealistic. After the offer did not come in that time frame, Clint continued to mismanage expectations in every conversation I had, and it became clear that he was not involved in the short sale process. Clint assured me in our initial meetings that he would be the one handling the negotiations with the bank in the entire process. My main concern was that the negotiation would be outsourced to a sub-​contractor who did not know what they were doing, and that is exactly what happened. Ultimately Clint passed the project onto a contract employee and lied about this numerous times when I asked him if he was handling it himself as promised. Needless to say the short sale was unsuccessful. I have worked in client services for 10 years and this is the one of the worst consumer experiences I have had in my career.
It is a very big decision to short sell a property so please learn from my experience and stay away from Home First no matter what you hear.
Update:
Fellow Unilocalers:
My apologies I did not notice Home First’s response to my review until just recently. I had avoided the specifics of my failed transaction in my initial review out of professional courtesy but Mr Worland has attempted to separate himself from those failures in his response.
Mr. Worland allowed a contracted employee to handle my short sale. I received an email at 8AM saying that the property was going to auction by the bank in 2 hours and Home First had just found this out. Nothing to do with the realtors, the market, but rather a «delegated» transaction and when I called Mr. Worland he had no idea what was going on. A few hours later the house was sold at auction.
I am the person who registered Home First on Unilocal and posted this review first… and then along came the «unfiltered reviews». You are all educated consumers that read this site so use your judgment and decide for yourself!
There’s a lot of choices of who to work with everybody so don’t let yourself be the next «anomaly» of Home First.