Hal Light of Light Mortgage is extraordinary. After working with him to find a lender for our Hayward, CA home in 2016 (and refinancing with his help in 2017), I would absolutely recommend him. Here’s our story interspersed with more about Hal.

In early 2016, my wife and I had only lived in apartments since our marriage. We had a 2-year old and a newborn. We were staying with my wife’s parents to save for a downpayment, as rents were beginning to skyrocket. There were a couple home buyers in our extended family, and one retired realtor, but we knew little about the entire home buying experience. We had gotten advice from our successful realtor relative to use a mortgage broker she used to work closely with. While searching on Yelp for that person and their company, I instead came across a list Yelp titled something like, the “10 Most Recommend Mortgage Brokers in the San Ramon area”. That’s how we found Hal!

The reviews were stellar, but I dug a little deeper. It was visiting Hal’s website and having our first phone conversation that really moved us to want to work with him and not the local bank. Hal had written his story online (you should read it!) about how he saw many friends and their families hurt by some of the mortgage products and financial decisions they made, and he wanted to make a difference. Since I had not long before been in a lot of debt (from co-signing loans), I knew I needed someone like Hal to guide me and protect me from making an unwise financial move that could affect us badly for years to come. The main thing was not buying more home than we could truly afford. If I was about to go half a million dollars in debt, it was crucial that I not mess things up for my young family. So, I sent Hal a message.

It was only hours later that I received a call from him! This was the kind of personal experience I knew I wouldn’t receive from the bank. Hal was energetic on the phone, and a great listener. I was beginning to sense that there was more to Hal’s company name “Light” than just a last name. He brightened my day at work with his friendliness, care and advice. Hal answered my initial questions about what to expect and took down some more of my contact info. He assured me he would be in touch with what info we would need to get started. I couldn’t wait to tell my wife about that call!

The promised emails came almost as fast as his first call! And Hal made what seemed like such a complex and foreign process almost seem effortless! A few things he needed from us were credit scores and income figures, etc. Later on during the pre-qualification stage we sent our recent pay stubs and bank account snapshots. One of the biggest surprises was learning that we didn’t necessarily need to put down the traditional 20% or even 10% to secure a loan without paying unaffordable mortgage insurance (PMI). Hal eventually secured a loan for us that had lender-paid PMI and an interest rate we could later refi down from (though we had no idea what the refi process looked like either).

Now, as any Bay Area home buyer knows, getting the financing is only half the battle. Finding a great realtor and a starter home in an acceptable area is where more decision making needs to be made. But Hal was always willing to take a call or answer a text as we got into this months-long process. We loved how he worked with our realtor. Having excellent cooperation and teamwork made things go smoother than we could have dreamed. There were, of course, the properties that didn’t pan out (we made two offers), but that didn’t deter Hal from helping us. Another thing he guided us on was including a gift letter (a promised contribution from family) that could count toward our qualifying for the mortgage. Speeding up to the end, once we found our home, we went from opening escrow to cleared to close escrow in 10 business days! About a year later, Hal walked us through the refi process and kept us posted on the rates and when would be a good time to lock those in. Once again, he was an invaluable resource.

Hal was tireless on our behalf and has become a good friend. He’s such a down-to-earth and friendly person.
I couldn’t recommend him more! Thanks, Hal!!

-Ernst v.

Honest, reliable, trustworthy, knowledgeable and extremely customer centric. Hal was always available to answer ALL and ANY of my questions. I would highly recommend Light Mortgage to ALL my friends and family exceptional service.

-Rimi A.

I would 100% recommend Hal to anybody looking to refinance their mortgage. A friend recommended Hal to us and I can’t thank her enough. Hal was absolutely amazing. He answered any and all questions we had (we had a lot) and kept an open line of communication throughout the entire process. He looked at all the options out there and gave us his honest opinion regarding when was the best time to refinance and when it was not worth it. He wasn’t out to just make a sale. He actually cared about getting us the best deal possible. We ended up closing with no closing costs all thanks to his diligent efforts to get us the best deal. I will definitely use him again in the future if we decide to refinance again.

-Cynthia F.

Hal was our realtor when buying our first home – and he was amazing in that role – but we didn’t end up using him for our mortgage. Instead, as a millennial in the startup industry, I suggested we use Better Mortgage, a venture-backed player in the space. And while we ended up getting an incredible rate, it was only because they dropped the ball at multiple critical times and almost derailed the close that we were able to negotiate significant concessions from them.

Luckily for me, Hal never held that against me (or at least I don’t think he has, haha) and when there was an opportunity to refinance our mortgage, Hal took the initiative and let us know that interest rates were low and coordinated everything – all the diligence, all the phone calls, all the reminders to sign documents, all the notary appointments. I’ve never had to manage a complex process like this with so little effort, because Hal was taking care of us every step of the way! And now, we’re paying less on our mortgage on the terms that are perfect for us and we couldn’t be happier. Thanks Hal for keeping us in mind and really setting the bar high on what it means to provide client service! I hope the robots never make you obsolete.

-Tony W.

Refinancing your home had always seemed like such a daunting task but Hal was incredibly amazing. He was quick (closed in much less than a month!), efficient, thorough, communicative, and honest. After hiring a nightmare of a real estate agent previously, I had trust issues so I had him break out all the possible scenarios regarding different interest rates, loan amount, savings etc. He was very patient with me and always worked with my needs. I highly recommend Hal for all your refi needs.

-Stacy L.

This is my second time having Hal to help me! He is excellent and attentive to every single details ! Would highly recommend anyone to let him handle all the stress, troubles and process! Super fast and efficient in closing in escrow ! And Hal answered millions of my questions ! Thank you so much Hal! This is such a blessing to have you to walk with us in our loan journey twice!

-Grace C.

I met Hal in 2017 when we were in the market for mortgage (first time home buyer). He was very attentive and personable then and (still is) and we liked him instantly. Unfortunately, our plans to buy a place fell through so that’s that for 2017….We thought 2018 was the same as before so we planned for a nice vacation instead.
However, a property showed up so we reached out to Hal again (even after nearly a year Hal was the first name that popped up in my mind). He managed to win us over again with the same enthusiasm and willingness to work with you (and help).
Since all the vaca plans were done (meaning all $$ gone w/o chance of backing out) we needed someone to really work with us on being thorough with funding options and precise with the dates from putting in offer to closing the transaction….He did a marvelous job to say the least.

I myself am an engineer with many years of engineering lead and managerial background my appetite for detailed approach is not really easy to satisfy. Hal stuck with us and sailed us through whole home buying process with out a hiccup…answering to each and every question with a lot of patience and thoroughness.

I’m glad that we chose Hal for our First home purchase and he’ll always be our go to guy in the future…He made us feel like he was right next to us through out the whole process.

We wholeheartedly recommend him to anyone and he deserves each and every single shiny stars indeed…Thank you Hal

FYI: Even to this day we haven’t met the guy in person.

-Bobby V.

Working with Hal is as good as it gets!

My significant other and I were looking to buy a home together, we didn’t have an exact time frame but we decided to reach out to Hal to start on the process a year ago. We decided to place the search on hold. Hal was very patient with us during this time. Then out of nowhere we decided to buy a home! Once we were ready, Hal was ready to go. He made the entire process easy and smooth. He explained each step to us. Buying a home “sounds” stressful, but it definitely didn’t feel that way with Hal.

We look forward to working with Hal again.

-Ha N.

I was stuck on Bank of America loan process for over 45 days . Hal was able to save it and close it on time so that I didn’t have to loose the house. I would recommend him to anyone and would use his service again anytime I need to do loan process. He is very easy to talk to and willing to help you out sincerely anytime.

-Susan S.

My husband and I are first time home buyers without prior experience with the home loan process. Hal was very patient with all our questions and was always available for a call to answer our questions. He guided us through the process and helped us find the right lenders for our financial background. Hal worked with us through any hiccups we faced at the time of closing and made sure that everything went well. Hal was proactive and reached out to our builders ahead of time, to ensure that our loan was processed on time. We would recommend Hal to our friends and family if they need a reliable Loan officer.

-Neetha M.