Yeah, I've seen it go both ways. My first mortgage was with a small local bank, and it was nice dealing with someone face-to-face, but they weren't ex...

Totally agree about credit unions being more flexible. When we refinanced, our local CU actually waived a random fee after we asked about it—can't ima...

Definitely agree with this. I've dabbled a bit with private lending myself, and from what I've seen, success hinges on preparation. It's easy to under...