Universal Mortgage

I also had an absolutely terrible experience with them. They promised many things, over and over, that were untrue. Then, finally, promised things in writing. Also untrue. Then, finally, gave me a «clear to close.» I show up at our closing and we were, in fact, NOT cleared to close. The bank needed more information.
The closing took 24 hours. It started at 2pm. We were in a room all night. All of the bankers and lawyers in the room (those on my said and those across the table) said it was among the worst closings they had seen in their careers.
Then I had to get more paperwork. I finally closed the next day at 1:30pm.
Avoid these folks.

I would agree with other reviewers that UM is terrible. During the time we were obtaining our mortgage from them, they fired two consecutive mortgage brokers servicing us and the first one we had assigned to us did not move the process along in a timely enough manner so that we had to incur a significant wait and costs. Stay away from them and deal directly with a bank.

I contacted Mark Maimon of Universal Mortgage in September 2011, at the recommendation of a salesman working with The Corcoran Group in Brooklyn. My twenty-​something daughter was beginning to look at her options in buying an apartment, and we had many questions about what was involved. Real estate and mortgage transactions in our native North Carolina involve very different parameters. Mark spent at least three hours initially, answering questions either by email or by phone. Once educated, my daughter was able to make an offer on a resale condo, knowing almost exactly what she could afford. Her realtor recommended another broker as well, who was not responsive at all. Neither was the bank with which we had done business with for years. Although the process from application to closing took from the first week in November until the 3^rd week in February, Mr. Maimon’s and his team (Gabi Feuer and Jessica Hernandez), helped her clear many first-​time buyer hurdles. They were unfailingly polite in answering every question, and explaining what was needed or involved in a decision. They provided excellent service for a first-​time buyer, and were able to help her obtain a good mortgage at an excellent rate.

A great team, straight forward and helpful. Remember that it is the banks who pat their fees primarily so you can’t go wrong and they will surely get you a better deal.

Getting a mortgage and deciding who to apply with — either a broker or a bank — can be such a challenging part of buying your own home. Upon the advice of the realtor selling the unit I ended up purchasing I first consulted with Norman Calvo at Universal. At the same time, I contacted my bank and when the GFEs came in, Universal had gotten me a better deal. But beyond that, they were with me throughout the whole process and made it incredibly easy for me to put together and submit my application. When I was ready to lock in a rate, Norman and his team did not delay and got me an even better rebate. Granted, some of this is market dynamics, but the service provided by Universal was really exceptional — and they are very pleasant people to work with.
I would highly recommend the team at Universal Mortgage!

Good luck chasing Gabi, Jessica and others. Be prepared to get screwed.
Ignore all the 5 stars reviews, they’re bogus.

I would prefer to not give them any stars at all. These are terrible mortgage brokers, I had to chase and chase and chase Gabi. They wouldn’t return calls or emails. And they are mean’t to be offering you a service. Avoid at all costs.