Howard Davies – Opes Advisors

We recently needed financing to replace a home equity line of credit that was about to expire. Having worked with Howard in the past when refinancing our mortgage, we had a great experience and naturally reached out to Howard on this latest request. Howard is responsive, attentive and works with your best interests in mind. Highly recommend working with Howard when you need a mortgage broker.

Signed final paperwork for our refi earlier this week. I was very happy when the notary unprompted commented that we got a great rate for our 15 year fixed. While she guessed that this was due to good credit scores, I know our mortgage advisor (Howard Davies) deserves a lot of the credit for keeping an eye on T-​note changes and letting us know when would be a good time to lock-​in the rate.
I reached out to Howard in mid-​March to see whether he would be available to help roll an expiring HELOC into a fixed. He did a great job for us 19 years ago on our very first home loan, and I thought I’d give him a chance again. I gave him two competing quotes/​options that I had already received from two large banks; he wouldn’t commit to matching those rates, explaining that nothing is guaranteed until the paperwork is signed. But he knew he would be competitive. The final rate he got us for our fixed matched the starting rate of a variable rate loan offered by one bank and was 0.25% lower than the fixed option offered by the second bank. Looking back, in the end, I did in fact get the lowest rate from him.
Not everything went smoothly on this loan, but I credit Howard for working the issues; how people handle the difficult situations offers the best reflection on their skills. In our case, we had some documentation on an unrelated piece of property that was insufficient for the lender. With our 30 day lock set to expire, Howard aggressively worked with the title company, banks, city records, and finally the lending company to successfully close out this issue.
From when I first spoke with Howard till the final signing was exactly 3 months; this was somewhat gated by me, since I wanted to complete my taxes before determining the final loan amount, and by Howard, since he (correctly) felt the rate would go down further.
Howard over communicates, which is so good when there is so much personal money at stake; no message you send him goes unanswered. He uses excellent tools which enable easy electronic signing and submitting of important docs. He knows his stuff.
And the final results show that he is competitive, which benefits you, the borrower.

Howard was incredibly efficient, knowledgable, «on it» and pleasant. He was excellent at keeping us informed and is very quick to get things rolling. If you are willing to keep up with his pace, he can get you a loan in record time! Additionally, he gave us some very good advice on what type of refi loan would be best for us. I am always reluctant to make recommendations but have no hesitation when it comes to Howard.

I just went through a refi with Howard! What a great experience! My wife and I were extremely impressed with his «going above and beyond» approach to meet our needs.
I am always skeptical of Mortgage brokers as I’ve had a few bad experiences in the past but Howard stands out because he comes across as someone who is really on your side.
It seemed like he was available to talk almost ²⁴⁄₇ and we were quite surprised that he would even come to our house on a weekend to collect signatures to speed up the process.
I can say this was the best refinance experience we’ve even gone through and Howard will be our mortgage broker in any of the future mortgage needs.

Howard has previously re-​financed our mortgage. Lucky for us he happened to call to see how things were going with our current mortgage situation. We were looking to consolidate our HELOC & 1^st with the great rates available. We even asked for a VA loan and he performed flawlessly! He kept us up to date with the progress of our loan and made a complex loan process seamless.
Kudos to Howard!

Let me tell you, Howard Davies is the best mortgage broker I’ve ever met. He will not sugar coat the status of your mortgage application or refinance. He is the family’s mortgage broker. He successfully made our mortgage interest rate from 6.3% to 3.2%. He is amazing, totally made our life much better. You can trust Howard with any of your financial information. This guy is amazing. Besides his nice accent, he is very hard working, he works night time even weekends! He definitely knows what he is doing and he is good in this field so if you need any mortgage refinancing or anything that has to do with mortgage call Howard.

My wife and I bought our current home in 2000 and given the consistent decline in interest rates since then, have refinanced 6 times, the last 3 of which have been with Howard. I can’t say enough about Howard… he is far and away the best mortgage broker we have worked with. He is totally professional, communicates clearly and consistently throughout the entire process and handled all of the paperwork in a thorough fashion that made each refinance go very smoothly. In each case, I was more than satisfied with the rates and terms he secured, with no out of pocket costs to us. We threw him a curve ball on one of the refinances, which required starting all over from scratch (totally our fault). He handled the situation gracefully, with no issues despite the extra work. I would not hesitate to recommend Howard (and in fact, have to several associates), and if my current rate wasn’t so low, would refinance again with him.

I’ve worked with Howard on several refi’s over the years and he is very knowledgeable with both mortgages and real estate. Even more important than his knowledge is his attention to detail and commitment. I have had only good experiences working with Howard and have recommended his services to many others.

We have refinanced/​purchased homes several times through Howard and each has been a very smooth experience. I would recommend him to anyone shopping for a mortgage.
One time we closed, I was on travel in Japan and my wife had to power-​of-​attourney here way through all my signatures. One time we were both on travel in Oregon and the paperwork found us (by hand delivery) the day after Thanksgiving in order to meet the signing deadlines.
Howard does a very thorough job putting the paperwork together so that it is very simple to correctly close the mortgage paperwork. His communication skills are really great both by e-​mail and phone. He is super patient with questions, and has helped us decide the best time to lock each time we have gone through the process with him.

Let me be very clear here: There are two types of mortgage brokers. The first are those that gouge you, refuse to return your calls, lead you along, fail to follow up, are epic failures at communication.
And then there are those like Howard Davies.
Of all the home purchases, and refi experiences I’ve had (and I’ve had a few) Howard was the best bar none. He could be relied upon to communicate, shoot straight with me about the numbers, and if he didn’t know the answer to a question, he’d get back to me a.s.a.p! He is honest, professional, gets the job done, and comes with my highest recommendations.
If you want to fool around with some other broker or bank, my advice is «Good luck with that!» No, if you want the job done right, if you want someone who will work with you through the process, if you want someone who is honest, use this man!

Mr. Davies was able to assist us with a residence refinance which lowered our loan payment by nearly $ 600 a month. He was extremely professional throughout the process and kept us informed every step. He made the refinance very easy on our part which was very much appreciated. We definitely recommend his services. I retired from the CA Department of Real Estate after 37 years. Mr Davies record is in good standing.