Jay Sondhi – Guaranteed Rate

Jay Anthony Sondhi at the San Francisco office was very professional and proactive throughout the entire process of obtaining a home loan. An example was that he provided us with a plethora of loan options and explained everything clearly and concisely. With being first time home buyers, we were VERY inquisitive. There was not a moment where he was frustrated, lost patience or seemed annoyed. He provided us with answers to our questions in a timely manner and Jay is very knowledgeable and available at all hours throughout the 7 day week — We are lucky to have found him. A big bonus was we closed escrow very fast at 21 days, taking in consideration that our loan was over the duration of Christmas and New Year Holidays too! All of my friends who went through this process with a different lender was amazed at the turn-​around time, even my realtor was surprised by the 21 day closing time!
Bottom line: Would recommend Jay to my family and friends!

Amazingly easy and straightforward. Have worked with many lenders over the years and this was by far the best and easiest experience.

This is the fourth time I have worked with Jay on a combination of purchasing a new home or refinancing. He and his team are simply outstanding as my previous reviews indicate. Firstly, Jay has a real talent and goes the extra mile to get the very best mortgage rates. For my current homeloan Jay was offering me more than .75 percent lower than another mortgage broker whom I thought I was going to have to settle for until I learned that Jay covers the entire California region and not just San Francisco. My loan funded early and without any of the nightmares that other people seem to encounter. Thank you so very much Jay, Chance and Krystal for making the entire process yet again seamless and so straightforward.

My husband and I had been trying to refinance our existing mortgage for a couple of years and were always running into trouble with other lenders for some reason or another — income sources or because we have an in law unit that we rent out. I finally contacted Jay (I wish I had contacted him sooner!), and he was the one lender who didn’t see issues as insurmountable. The fact of the matter was that we had a lot of equity and would have no problem affording the mortgage so it was very refreshing to finally find a lender who saw it that way as well!
Jay and his team made the process easy from the start. And if any issues came up — Jay would work immediately and tirelessly to resolve them. I always felt like he was on our side. I think I have found my lender for life! Thank you, Jay!

Jay contacted me when mortgage rates were down and just over a year later I was paying less monthly on a 25 year loan (my original was 30 years). Also, his staff was very timely in responding to my emails and made the process easy. Thanks for being on top of things and when the time comes I’ll be contacting Jay again.

Jay worked tirelessly to get the loan funded. He was incredibly helpful and professional throughout the whole process and explained things very well.
I highly recommend using Guaranteed Rate and working with Jay made a sometimes stressful and frustrating process very easy and manageable.

Jay came to us highly recommended by a close friend of ours who closed his new home within few weeks. So when we were ready to go for our new home we did not look anywhere. Jay worked with us right from our preapproval stage until we were funded. There was a time when we thought our favorite pick would slip out of our hands when the appraisal came in low. Jay never gave up on us. His never say die attitude and creative ways to find a solution finally got us our loan. Much less than what we would have paid earlier. In the end what was a see saw ride turned out to be a sweet reward at the end and we managed to close on the home we wanted very badly. If not for Jay I don’t think we would have closed this deal. The best part is when we finally met alongwith the notary to sign the title docs it felt as though he was part of our family. Home buying can be very stressful and let me tell you you need someone beyond a mere lender to stay with you all the way and get you what you desire. Jay is that person. I wish him all the very best.

I never write reviews, but Jay deserves one. I had almost locked in a deal with a broker from another firm, when a friend suggested I talk to Jay. He found me a rate that was *significantly* below the other (reputable) firm, and with lower origination fees, and a very clearly laid out breakdown of rates, closing costs, etc., for easy comparison. He and his team were very responsive in getting my loan closed on an accelerated timeline – organizing accelerated inspections, tracking the paperwork, working with my realtor – and he even made a house call to say hi on the evening I signed.

I am not great with words… but wow! Jay and team got the job done when others couldn’t. We had a short sale and other dings to our credit making it a challenge to get a purchase loan, but Jay got it done!!! I am looking forward to our refinance together in the near future. thanks guys!

I don’t write many reviews but I felt compelled to write one for Jay. We worked with him for the past 6 months and he walked us through the daunting experience of buying a home. He was more like a friend and making sure we were happy and making the right decisions. Jay even gave some great advice that helped me improve my credit score from 670 to 750 in just 6 months right before closing. This helped us save couple hundred dollars per month on our mortgage. I enthusiastically recommend Jay and his entire support team to anyone that needs help and advice in purchasing a home in this tough sellers market. His entire team were always attentive and quick to respond to our inquiries.

Jay didn’t just put together an amazing mortgage package for us, he put into place a mortgage plan that’s saved us thousands of dollars. First, he found us a mortgage option with an outstanding rate. Then he found a way for us to pay less than the full 20% down in exchange for paying a PMI of about $ 120/​month. Recently, when our property appreciated, he helped us go back to the bank for a BPO (kind of a re-​appraisal-​light) that showed our loan to value was now conforming, which knocked off our PMI. As an added bonus, the PMI company just sent us a check for over $ 2400 that we prepaid as part of the original mortgage package. We didn’t even know that was coming! So we paid less than 20% down for our house, no longer to pay PMI, and just got a surprise check.
Jay is not just a mortgage broker, but a true mortgage consultant who set us up with a great long-​term mortgage plan that’s saved us over $ 25,000. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED– FIVE STARS!

I’m throwing my 5 star review in with all of the other, well-​deserved ones. Jay is the best. He’s knowledgeable, patient and accessible and he will fight to make sure your deals close. And in this crazy difficult lending market, you need a fighter. Seriously, random lenders are not what you need in the Bay Area’s insane market.
I’m a Realtor and I work with a LOT of lenders. I’ve seen all kinds, good bad and terrible. In the 3+ years that we have worked together, Jay has been consistently amazing.
Also, he can work the numbers to help you if you are a little short with closing costs or if you want to try to keep down your monthly payment. He’s also generous, his fees are extremely reasonable. His goal is to do a good job for you, not to gouge you.
If you are looking for a great lender, don’t look any further. And if it’s after hours, you can apply on his site. He’ll see it in the morning and will be right on it

Jay helped us refinance last month. He was very attentive to our needs and always responded promptly to any questions or concerns we had. The process has changed a lot since we last had to go through getting a loan like this; Jay was there every step of the way. There were no hidden fees or conditions; everything was remarkably straightforward. Jay and his associates did a terrific job. If ever we have to refinance, we’ll consult with Jay Sondhi again.

Jay worked with us on our loan when we purchased our house and also helped us get our pre qualification letters for the five or six offers we put out prior to getting our house (freakin’ SF).
I am 100% sure that there is not a broker out there that could have done a better job for us. Not only was he knowledgeable and helpful, but he is also extremely genuine. He never did a hard sell, but rather presented scenarios and information to us to allow us to make the decisions. We were extremely confident that not only did he know what he was doing, but that when he advised us he did so in the way he would advise himself.
I had no idea what I was doing, and am glad that Jay was there to help. He also stays in contact and always offers opportunities for refinancing as an option if he believes it will actually save you money over your current loan. If you are looking to buy in SF, look know further. He has all the contacts and the knowledge to really make a difference in your experience.

We worked with Jay to buy our house with a VA loan in 2012 and he did a great job on that. A year later he informed us of the new rates and we were able to refinance with half a point lower rate with no closing costs! Jay was very helpful guiding us through the process and we would definitely work with him again. We were told that VA loans were more difficult to complete, but it seemed pretty easy to us!

I highly recommend Jay as a mortgage broker. He was so patient and helpful with me — I knew nothing about what I was doing. Even though I am in Southern California, I never had any trouble connected with Jay and the other folks on his team were helpful too. He always explained everything and made time to walk me through the ins and outs. We also got an great rate! I would work with Jay again and would recommend him without hesitation.

Jay was the most instrumental person in changing my life this year. After 10 years, we finally turned our TIC into a condo. Jay thoroughly handled all aspects of the new financing deal smoothly and got us stellar rates! We immediately asked him for new financing so that we could buy a home outside the City, and he got us a great lender with a 25 day escrow. Jay and his team were extremely courteous and knowledgeable both: how great is that? Plus Jay personally came to our closing at the title company. He is a great guy, very interesting and particularly excellent at what he does. I will refer Jay to anyone looking to re-​fi or purchase!

Jay is a great mortgage broker. He responds timely, he is very patient (we were first time homebuyers) and he really helped us maximize what we had in order to get the best rate and loan possible. We had a thousand questions, and needed the figures run a thousand different ways, and Jay was always there to help us. I highly recommend his services!

I know Jay through my realtor Farrah. Jay helped me to get really good rate on my new purchase condo. He is always very helpful and flexible to meet me at the work time. I never have problem to get a hold on him. even he is out of office, he will have someone to respond to me. I’m not a first time buyer but Jay helped me to understand california’s closing cost and all other important stuff.
I highly recommend Jay

You remember that part in the Borat movie where Borat and this other guy crashed this California Association of Mortgage Banker’s conference — albeit NAKED?!? And then they proceeded to fight all over the floor until the police came to break it up??!
Well, my buddy and colleague Jay was there at the time and when I asked him how his week went, he proceeded to tell me all about this crazy experience he had at his convention while he was serving as Government Chairman for CAMB. I laughed my butt off when he told me but at the time we both didn’t know that this was actually a scene in the upcoming Borat movie!
Anyway, back to Jay. In my 6 years of being professionally involved in the real estate industry, Jay has always been the sounding board of upcoming legislation, various mortgage products (as broad as they actually are), and the never ending changes to guidelines and regulation within mortgage banking. Now, If you really want to get a real pulse of what is happening in the real estate market — you need an independent banking insider and while It is quite a fascinating industry, especially in these times, you also NEED to have an ethical perspective from the inside out.
He has successfully lobbied for changes for conforming loan limit increases for the State of California and has been especially committed to the integrity of the industry as a whole. All within the context of delivering, on time, an excellent product and staying committed to the relationship at hand. Who knew I would ever build such a fantastic friendship with a fellow Berkeley grad beyond the scope of any successful transactions in a shared field?
The deal with mortgages is that it is a highly specialized field usually ran by persons or bankers who have very little technical background, so its very easy to just get a typical salesperson when you apply for debt. And let’s face it, at some point in your life you are going to need a mortgage and when you finally get one — the only thing you think about is how to get a better one.
So if you want sincere advice, integrity, and more than you ever wanted to know disclosure, all wrapped up in one package of solid ethical experience — you call this man. And if he does anything that makes you feel or think otherwise, well that’s when you PM me and I’ll handle it. =)
All I know, is that I am willing to bet the house that you won’t ever actually have to do that.