My options for lenders who accommodated new construction was limited and so I opted for Kitsap Bank as at the time they had the most competitive rate. Their tag line "helping our community prosper and grow" should be changed to "helping Kitsap bank prosper and grow".

As with all new construction lenders I paid a hefty set of points for this loan and literally without ever laying my eyes on the loan officer/s. I had to go to the branches to pick up my docs, I had to make the phone calls to get an update, most all communication was done by email and I can't count the number of times I heard "I don't have answer to that question but I can check into it". At no point did I feel a sense of "community" banking in this transaction. Community defined as "a social unit of any size that shares common values." Common values, I think not. They never bothered to ask what was important to me, like personal touch and service. In the end they even failed to tell me when my loan funded and closed. I'm sure my loan officer is corking a bottle of champagne tonight and as for me, I now owe them my life which is my new home. I pray their legacy of service doesn't live on in the form of a slumlord that would just be "Murphy's" law.