Darlene Espinoza – RPM Pleasanton

Darlene helped me with a refi as she was highly recommended by my real estate agent. The refi took 3 months! She forgot details as she was taking notes while in the car. She pursued loan options that I didn’t request, and ultimately made decisions on my loan without my consent. She did work through all of the issues and paid for loan rate extensions, so that’s why she didn’t receive one star. I’ve used other lenders and they are by far better choices. Darlene just didn’t really take responsibility for the issues… instead blaming computer systems, being in the car, or her staff that quit without notice. Again…3 months to close a refi? Come on!

I can’t sing Darlene’s praises enough. Very professional, knowledgable, approachable, and all that with a sense of humor! Darlene went above and beyond to help us figure out the home loan process and all that it entails. She even educated me on aspects of the home buying process that had nothing to with her piece. She was always available for us to talk with and no question was too small. Incredibly helpful and highly recommended!

All of the raving 5-​star Unilocal reviews for Darlene are legit. And it is no exaggeration that everyone wants to rate her higher than 5 stars, myself included! After first meeting with some big banks, my wife and I felt very defeated and didn’t think it would be possible to get a loan (it was hard enough to even get a meeting in person with them). Then we were referred to Darlene by our realtor and everything changed completely. She took the time to understand our financials and what we were looking for, then took us to dinner and laid out our options very clearly to give us the ‘warm fuzzies’. She also gave great candid advice on which options made sense to consider and which to avoid. Darlene CHANGED THE GAME for us. When it came time to put in an offer, having her name on the approval letter greatly strengthened our position for acceptance, and then she was ALL OVER IT during the escrow process getting the loan sorted out in time for us to close early! A++ for Darlene! Even if you are not super close to Pleasanton, it is worth it to use her.

Unilocal does not even provide a high enough rating to give Darlene. She is above and beyond a 5 star!
Darlene put me at ease during this process because she really knows the business in and out. We were referred to Darlene with a glowing recommendation from a friend and I insist that all our friends, family, and hopefully other Unilocalers work with her. Not only is she incredible smart, knowledgeable and able to close quickly, she is very passionate about her work and truly cares about her clients.
We had a very unique situation in which we were selling our home to family while also purchasing a new home… and let me tell you, Darlene handled every single element of both houses with ease, professionalism, and quickness. She is one of those people that genuinely loves what she does and it shows through in how knowledgeable she is about the entire home selling/​purchasing process. With our case, we had a couple complicated situations to work through and some of which she hadn’t come across before … she took the time to research the unknown and provide several options to us along with clear explanations of the pros/​cons of each, and all the while, help make sure that we hit the critical deadlines to close escrow on time.
My husband bought our previous home before we met so he was very familiar with the process. But being my first time purchasing a house, she was very patient with me explaining each step of the process and even going through every line item on the closing cost statement (sometimes even twice… some of the line items are complicated!). She can easily take the complicated and make it completely understandable. She makes herself available to answer any and all questions and is very good about providing a quick response.
We loved working with Darlene!

Lordy… Darlene Espinoza… Where to begin?
Darlene came HIGHLY recommended from our BH&G Realtors @ The Mia & Beverly Team. Following initial introduction to Darlene, she came to our home to personally meet/​greet as well as discuss options/​estimates, etc… She came across as very easy to talk to though extremely thorough, knowledgeable, professional, etc… When she left, we were very comfortable in regards to what to expect, what we could afford, etc… as there was no questions left unanswered. The overall process itself however in regards to the insane San Ramon housing market was another story… Though I digress… We’re here to talk about Darlene & the wonderful folks down @ RPM Mortgage.
For a broker, Darlene far exceeded my (& my wife’s) expectations. I cannot describe to you how personable Darlene made this experience. Darlene worked on our account for months as we sifted through house after house, offer after offer, etc… During the process, she found things that were not visible in a credit report/​prequal nor turn up unless info is actually submitted to the DU. When discrepancies were found, Darlene worked tirelessly & endlessly to do whatever it took to get my situation squared away to assure that the house of our dreams was not lost due to potential delays. There were times (more frequent than not) that I sympathized with her as I felt she may have not been prepared nor knew what she was getting into when taking on our account. Numerous updates, day & night, numerous phone calls, working with rapid rescore companies, etc… until… finally… things were squared away. Finally… we were in our dream home…
It was an emotional rollercoaster of a ride though Darlene never let us down nor dropped the ball until she put our family into our home. Perfect house, area we wanted, walking distance to the schools, etc… Had it not been for Darlene & the team @ BH&G, this would not have been possible. Previous opportunities came & went through Darlene worked diligently to get our loan despite the initial hurdles that would’ve otherwise resulted in missing our boat. In this housing market, missing the boat is unacceptable & you need to be certain that your lender will be there to assure you have the funding to move forward with offers & closing the deal in a timely manner. Darlene managed to close us out a week early & when we finally received the keys, we all felt absolutely exhausted. She called to personally congratulate us on the acceptance & eventual close & we feel we owe her much more than just a Thank You.
Darlene is an absolute gem & in this market, you need someone you can trust who you’ll feel won’t leave you high & dry when your once in a lifetime opportunity presents itself. Darlene is an inconspicuous little powerhouse who will roar like a lion when the need arises & it’s doubtful you’ll find anyone else out there with her drive, honesty, integrity, etc…
Darlene, if you’re reading this, We appreciate everything you’ve done for us. I thank you, my wife thanks you, my daughters who now each have their own rooms thank you. We couldn’t have asked for a better experience as well as hitting the lottery with a broker that far exceeded any of our worldly expectations…
5 Stars is just not enough…

Recently had some work done at RPM on my 73 TR6. Very pleased with the outcome, communication and value received. Plan to use in the future on modification’s as needed

We literally went from looking at houses on a Thursday to finding the house we absolutely loved that following Sunday. We weren’t sure we could get an offer in quickly enough because we hadn’t been approved for a loan yet. My agent referred me to Darlene and I called her that Sunday evening. We wanted to put an offer in right away but needed that loan approval in order to come out with a strong offer and beat everyone else. We were well-​qualified buyers with great credit, but no prior loan approval or relationship with a lender. Darlene called me back *the same evening* and got us fully approved for a loan by 9pm! We had the offer in at 10pm and 30 days later, we had a beautiful first home! Darlene and her assistant, Debbi, were professional, *extremely* communicative, very well organized and thorough. Times are tough in the wake of the lending-​crisis even for folks like us with a great credit profile. Having a strong lending team is absolutely essential and Darlene and RPM Mortgage can make things happen quickly through accuracy, efficiency, honesty and friendliness. If I were going to refinance or go for a new mortgage, I’d definitely pick up the phone to call Darlene and team first.

We recently purchased a home and used Darlene for our financing. She came highly recommended by our Grubb agent, Karen Starr. We had shopped different mortgage brokers and found her rates to be competitive. But, what made Darlene stand out is that her company, RPM, is also a direct lender that will bridge a loan ensuring a timely close if for whatever reasons (and there are many) there were delays. This was important in our situation because there were multiple offers and skittish or picky sellers tend to favor offers that will close on time… which ours did (it was actually ready to fund a few days ahead of schedule).

According to Unilocal a 5 star rating means, «Woohoo! As good as it gets!»
When it comes to Darlene, I couldn’t say it better.
I am a Realtor in Oakland California working for the top brokerage in our area, The Grubb Company. I started working with Darlene Espinoza about 6 months ago and I have to tell you — she consistently impresses me. Darlene’s knowledge of the industry is only out-​shined by her dedication to her clients. After the first time I met her, I told her, «You’re making it very difficult for anyone else to compete».
The first client I referred to Darlene was a chief research engineer with Google. This gentleman runs his own metrics with the Case-​Schiller data released every month — a true genius. After their first meeting together he told me that she taught him things that he didn’t know… that simply shocked me (it shocked him too).
Darlene has had no problem closing my escrows in as little as 21 days and gets fantastic rates. Her company, RPM, is a direct lender that resells the loans after close of escrow. This means you get the speed of a private lender, but the rates of a national bank.
We all make mistakes, and I think any reasonable persons acknowledges that. On the few occasions where Darlene has not met the expectations of my clients, I have seen her immediately go above and beyond to do what it takes to make things right. Rather than denial or pointing fingers, she acknowledges the situation, and makes it right — without being asked — it just gets done.
For me, a mortgage broker is my most important business partner. I know a lot of mortgage brokers, and I’ve work with man. At the end of the day, I just don’t think you can do better than Darlene Espinoza.