Mike Kachadorian

My husband and I are both teachers; obviously we need to be very cautious with our money. Besides our incomes, we have a small child and my husband is an independent musician. We want to make investments with our money concerning our son's future, as well as my husband's music career.

Mike Kachadorian has been vital in helping us make these steps. He has set up a financial plan that will get us out of debt in two years, while reducing our mortgage to a 15 year loan as opposed to a 30 year loan. All of this while still keeping money in the bank every month so we are not living paycheck to paycheck.

From the moment we met Mike, he told us that his main goal was to get us out of debt. Not to get us a cheap mortgage or put cash in our pocket. His goal has always been to make us use our money intelligently. He does this by teaching us about where our money is going, and the possibilities of where it could go. We are very grateful to Mike as a manager of our money, but also as a teacher and friend.

Bobbye Elder

Buying a house is both exciting and stressful at the same time. The fun of thinking about owning a new home can be tempered significantly by the process of seeking out ways to finance this particular dream. Very few people can sit down and write out a check for their house. The money has to come from somewhere, and in today's market, there seem to be an infinite number of places vying for your business. Go on the internet, and chances are quite high you will encounter several banner ads or Google links encouraging you to "finance now at our lowest rates-guaranteed!" However, in the mortgage business, perhaps among the highest of any financial sector, caveat emptor. 

Like many potential homebuyers, when we decided to purchase a new home, I sought out sites like Lending Tree. In principle, it sounds like a great idea: when institutions compete for your business, consumers win big. But the important thing to know is many of these institutions don't compete ethically. As consumers, our eyes are drawn to the bottom line. What am I going to have to pay for their services? All of our competing institutions provide good faith estimates so we can see where our money is going, but "good faith" can be quite a misnomer. All of the loan officers know we are consumers and we are looking at the bottom line. Therefore, they try to show the most impressive bottom line they can to win our business. Whether the numbers on the sheet reflect reality is secondary. 

Mike Kachadorian is not that type of person. I want to share some highlights of my personal experience to back up my statement, which could otherwise very easily be construed as simply opinion. I am a physician moving to the St. Louis area, and our home loan is for just over $400,000. This is more than the total cost of our last two homes combined, so this is a big deal. And it's the home we want to settle in for the rest of our lives, which makes it an even bigger deal. Since I am a consumer like anyone else, I was seeking the best possible financial deal for my family considering our home purchase. I used Lending Tree, as well as a couple referrals from our builder (Mike was one of those referrals). I received a wide range of quotes in terms of good faith estimates, and for the most part, the loan types, interest rates, and monthly payments were very similar. The big thing that jumped out to the eye was the closing costs, something we all look at very closely as consumers. In my mind, Mike was fairly close to taking himself out of the running for my business when I looked at the sheets. He was about $1000 higher than the other institutions. On close inspection, however, the biggest area of discrepancy was in the title costs. To clarify, title costs will be exactly the same, no matter who finances the loan. Other institutions were getting quotes from their "preferred" title companies, knowing all along that wouldn't be the company that would be working with my loan. Mike was getting quotes from the actual title company where my closing will take place. And he was doing this at the risk of showing higher numbers on his sheet. Why? Because he is a man of integrity. If he quotes me a price, that's the price it's going to be. I don't like surprises in general, and I like them even less at a home closing, where I have arrived about a thousand dollars short of what I needed to bring to the table. I can't think of a single reason why I could trust the biggest financial decision of our lives with someone who started the whole thing off with deception. And deception is not in Mike's genes. 

This example is really just scratching the surface. But it's an important surface to scratch, since it's often as far as we look as consumers. Very much like people who throw everything into a big wedding and don't think about working on an actual marriage, we can get caught up in focusing on everything that gets us to the closing day and forget about the next 30-year commitment (which, sadly, is much shorter than the majority of marriages last). Mike also earned our business because he looked with us well beyond our closing date. His goal when he started working with us was to help us achieve our financial goals in the least amount of time. He provided multiple scenario sheets for us that showed us what our payments would look like, how we could do the mortgage in 15 years instead of 30, and how we could even kick in more when our cars were paid off. When our home is paid for (actually in under 13 years instead of even the 15 years on a basic plan), we will have saved over $250,000 in interest alone than if we had used a regular 30-year mortgage). Consumers, what do you think of that? From a business standpoint, that's not going to be a popular tactic. That's a quarter of a million dollars that business will not be getting, and they're providing exactly the same service. Yes, our monthly payments are higher. But our money is actually going toward our home. Just like you wouldn't fall for the car dealer selling you the car based on what your monthly payments will be, you can't fall for any "what will it take to get you in this house" lines regarding monthly mortgage payments either. For a higher payment now, in 13 years we will have 17 years of $0/month that we wouldn't have had otherwise. Budgets are very happy when a payment like that comes off the books, and future planning/retirement savings look a lot brighter with no mortgage due. Mike just does this for customers. Not because it benefits his company (obviously it doesn't), but because it provides for tremendous financial stability for us in the future. 

Why on earth would a mortgage guy do this? What could he possibly gain by setting up a plan whereby his company gets $250,000 less in payments? He gets people to write over a thousand words on why you should work with him. People who will attest to his integrity and dedication to helping us achieve our goals. People who have spent over three hours in phone conversations with him, discussing every possible option before even committing our business to him. People like me who will, for as long as he remains working in the business, will tell everyone who mentions they are looking at loan options to "go see Mike". 

And I would like to add a brief update to this, written nearly five months after we closed on our house. Like many mortgage transactions, our actual mortgage was sold to another company (using the same set-up Mike outlined, of course). My thought was since we were paying our mortgage to a different company now, my contact with Mike would be minimal. A little over a week ago, he called with a refinancing offer that was a very easy decision to make. And it came at the most optimal of times, as it stands. I mentioned I didn't expect to hear much from him after closing, and he said "Oh no, I'm your mortgage guy-it doesn't matter who holds it". This is another crucial factor when deciding who gets your business (and who you recommend to others, when you don't take your recommendations lightly). Mike is not someone who just drops the consumer once the papers are signed. He's there for you, and he stays there for you. That's someone I want in my corner.

Jason Michael Mehrtens

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Mike, I just wanted to thank you for not giving up on me and my dreams for home ownership  and for you positive and optimistic attitude during this process. You have truly been a blessing for me and my children. You have been creative and have had countless ways of going through dead ends. "No" was out of the question for you. Most people go around dead ends or may take a detour but "Go See Mike '" goes though them. You are the best .Thanks again, Now I'm about to celebrate my new begining.                                                                                                               

                                                                                                                                                   Respectfully Yours,

Shonda