Over the years, I’ve formed “relationships” with banks for various reasons.
When I first started my business over 15 years ago, I had a Business Checking account and credit card with Chase. But then I had incentives to move to First Republic, and they opened a personal checking account for me with a perpetual fee waiver. First republic was pretty awesome because they refunded all ATM fees and had great customer service.
But then I moved my investments to Schwab and opened their checking account which also included worldwide ATM fee refunds and a benefit of having everything in one place. Separately, I opened an account with Alliant Credit Union to get 2.5% cashback on their visa signature card.
About a year ago, I began using Chase self-directed brokerage for their auto investment into Vanguard mutual funds for free. I save so much more when I can setup autopilot which Schwab didn’t have at the time. I also use their credit cards. I also had to move my business account back to Chase last year.
Because of all that, I have been wanting to close everything else (first republic, Alliant, Schwab, etc) and just have banking in one place to keep things simple. I am planning on applying for a mortgage next year and intend to use a mortgage broker.
However, a friend of mine told me, especially with the waived fees on the First Republic account and the fact that Alliant is a credit union, I might want to keep all the other accounts open if I am about to apply for a mortgage. Because apparently sometimes banks will give you mortgage discounts for long term relationships.
Everything I have read seems to say the opposite. That if you don’t have a relationship with the bank and you apply for a mortgage, they might be willing to give you a discount if you agree to MOVE to that bank.
Given that I will be applying for a mortgage next year and don’t really have any experience in that arena, does it really matter if I keep these accounts open? Will that really change the rate a lot? Or can I just consolidate to Chase now and figure all that out later if I’m incentivized to move assets? And will I really regret closing an account - I can’t imagine a bank saying “well we would have beat that rate by 25 points but you left us last year”.
Appreciate any insight from those who have been through the home buying process.
When I first started my business over 15 years ago, I had a Business Checking account and credit card with Chase. But then I had incentives to move to First Republic, and they opened a personal checking account for me with a perpetual fee waiver. First republic was pretty awesome because they refunded all ATM fees and had great customer service.
But then I moved my investments to Schwab and opened their checking account which also included worldwide ATM fee refunds and a benefit of having everything in one place. Separately, I opened an account with Alliant Credit Union to get 2.5% cashback on their visa signature card.
About a year ago, I began using Chase self-directed brokerage for their auto investment into Vanguard mutual funds for free. I save so much more when I can setup autopilot which Schwab didn’t have at the time. I also use their credit cards. I also had to move my business account back to Chase last year.
Because of all that, I have been wanting to close everything else (first republic, Alliant, Schwab, etc) and just have banking in one place to keep things simple. I am planning on applying for a mortgage next year and intend to use a mortgage broker.
However, a friend of mine told me, especially with the waived fees on the First Republic account and the fact that Alliant is a credit union, I might want to keep all the other accounts open if I am about to apply for a mortgage. Because apparently sometimes banks will give you mortgage discounts for long term relationships.
Everything I have read seems to say the opposite. That if you don’t have a relationship with the bank and you apply for a mortgage, they might be willing to give you a discount if you agree to MOVE to that bank.
Given that I will be applying for a mortgage next year and don’t really have any experience in that arena, does it really matter if I keep these accounts open? Will that really change the rate a lot? Or can I just consolidate to Chase now and figure all that out later if I’m incentivized to move assets? And will I really regret closing an account - I can’t imagine a bank saying “well we would have beat that rate by 25 points but you left us last year”.
Appreciate any insight from those who have been through the home buying process.
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