Sterling Bank and Trust

John Ybarra was super responsive and as first-​time buyers he was always patient with us, friendly and genuinely helpful. We were able to deal with a ton of the application process just over email. When we went into the branch to open a deposit account, it was a pleasure to talk with John, and he was always super organized. John turned around our loan from first quote to close in under a month!
Thanks again John!

My business partner and I recently had the pleasure of working with John Ybarra from Sterling Bank on a real estate purchase here in San Francisco. Throughout the transaction John was attentive and communicative, two things that can be rare to find in a lender. Often times John would pre-​emptively answer questions our client had, and was ahead of schedule for the majority of the transaction. I would not have any issue whatsoever recommending John for any residential real estate purchase in San Francisco!

John Ybarra was great, he helped my client getting the TIC loan done on a timely manner. He is very detail oriented and very knowledgeable on its products. Yihou Han is also incredible, she closed my client’s loan in 10 business days same as cash. They now have the best rate for 15 years fixed!

I have been banking with Sterling for many years now and have always had great customer service. I originally opened an account because I needed a safety deposit box. John was wonderful in helping me obtain a home equity loan and equally efficient in refinancing my home loan later. I can’t recommend them highly enough.

Completing a new loan process with John Ybarra was great. He was very responsive in our back and forth emails and always stayed positive. Recommended!

I have been working with John for quite a few years now, and I can say he is consistently the most responsive loan officer with whom I have worked. He and his support staff work very efficiently, saving valuable time in this frothy San Francisco real estate market. He also has been able to structure financing for many of my clients who have been denied by other lenders. A loan pre-​approval letter from John Ybarra carries weight in the SF market, which has made the difference between my clients’ offers getting accepted when up against a similar offer.

Thank you, Kenneth Lam !
When I needed a notary, I walked into this branch of Sterling Bank and Trust and Kenneth Lam, the Manager, was so kind and helpful.
He actually notarized my document for me and I was on my way. He was so nice and truly helpful. I would recommend this branch for accounts just based on the wonderful friendly service alone.
THANK YOU!

This is by far the worst experience I have EVER had working with a bank. I unfortunately have to work with them since they are one of the only banks financing TIC loans, but it has been a terrible experience.
The actual process of getting the loan was fine. I will definitely not write John Ybarra a glowing review, but I would give him two stars. He was very unresponsive at times, but in the end he wound up getting us out the door with our loan and that is all I truly cared about.
This review is for all of the customer service experiences I have had since getting the loan. I just got off the phone with their mortgage «help desk» who was the rudest person I have ever dealt with. He was extremely unhelpful and eventually ended the conversation by saying «look, we are closing the office in 3 minutes. Call back tomorrow.» Click. End of conversation.
Um…ok.
Just blew me away. I would under all circumstances use a different back for your home mortgage if at all possible. And if not, be prepared for headaches, rude employees and a complete lack of communication.

If you need a TIC /​Fractional loan, save yourself the time and go straight to John Ybarra at Sterling Bank and Trust. I shopped around getting loan approvals at the few other banks that do these loans (e.g. Bank of Marin and Bank of San Francisco), and John at Sterling was the clear choice — no one else was even close. Their terms were slightly better than the other banks’ options (circa Fall 2014), but John was what really set Sterling apart. He knows TICs /​Fractional lending inside and out, and is as hard working and diligent as they come. Buying real estate in San Francisco is high stakes and fast paced and he’s the type of partner you want to get things done as quickly and efficiently as possible. I can’t say enough about his professionalism, answering all of our questions, going the extra mile, and remaining highly accessible and responsive.
The two annoying things about Sterling that I hope will change are their requirements (a) to pre-​pay your taxes to them each month and (b) maintain at least two month’s mortgage payments in a Sterling checking account to get their best rates. Makes sense why they do this, but for most people these are unnecessary burdens.
Sterling is not our primary bank, but we did setup an account to gain access to the rate discounts. The process was painless, and Sterling Bank itself is definitely not as bad as some of the other reviewers here have made it out to be — and in fact there are some areas where we have found them to be better than our primary bank. I was honestly worried based on the other reviews, but I got everything setup with their online banking pretty easily and the couple of times I’ve needed their help by phone I got to a real person who was able to help me very quickly over the phone.
In summary, for TIC /​Fractional lending — highly recommended!

I cannot speak more highly of John Ybarra! He did an absolutely fantastic job in helping me with TIC loan and got me approved and funded through multiple hiccups with the TIC I was purchasing. John even took time out of his vacation to ensure my loan was processed. I am so incredibly grateful for everything he did. When considering a TIC in San Francisco you absolutely have to go to John. I can’t thank him enough!

John Ybarra is amazing! If you are looking for a TIC loan I would definitely work with John. John will assist you in going through the whole TIC buying process from getting prequalified to close of escrow. He is very professional, knowledgeable, and communicative. He just assisted my daughter with buying her first home and there were some last minute issues that could potentially have stopped the purchase. John was on vacation and actually worked for 4 days of his vacation to make sure her loan was funded. He completely went the extra mile … and then some! I highly recommend working with John … he is the best at what he does!

I have been working with John Ybarra for many years. He has always delivered for my clients time and time again, especially with TIC fractional loans. If you know TICs, you know that they are sometimes complex and do take patience to close properly. John has consistently assisted buyers close their deals on time and with great confidence. Look no further than John when considering lending needs.

The worst banking experience ever. As with others, I am forced to use them because of TIC loan. Customer service is HORRIBLE with the exception of one or two people who at least tried to answer my questions, they blow things off, they are unhelpful and they generally don’t care. Their website is horrible too.

Fast, efficient and we closed in under 21 days. While Sterling implements policies to protect their liability, the direct deposit protocol enables a seamless month to month experience. John Y was very helpful. He worked very well with my agent and title to make the close very easy. Thank you!

I really wanted to stay local, after Umpqua bought Circle (Umpqua has hardly any branches and no ATM reciprocity). But although the branch staff is friendly and helpful, the bank is horrible at digital banking. The website was updated in 2013 to be usable, but the security requirements have gotten overly stringent, even with their 2^nd-​factor authentication, making it very hard to use and inevitable you’ll get locked out regularly. And you have to call during business hours to get unlocked. Your mobile check deposits are rejected if you don’t write your account number on the back (do you know that number?). All in all, the bank’s tech team is really backward yet clearly is running the show. It’s 2014, not 1984.

Below average. I got a TIC mortgage through them, and while they clearly have a good amount of expertise and competitive rates for TIC financing, and were mostly competent in the closing process, their policies, paper processes, computer systems, web site, and loan officers are mediocre at best in terms of working with customers. I would never work with them by choice, I was basically forced as they are one of the only TIC lending options in San Francisco. They’ve forced me to do unnatural things when it comes to maintaining the escrow account, as well as «use» their terrible checking/​savings services. It certainly seems like they survive because they have little to no competition. I will get rid of them as soon as possible.

By far the worst Bank experience I’ve ever had. they basically lied to me and went back on a commitment they made with me. Their lie cost me an extra % mortgage interest rate. I am posting this on EVERY Sterling site so that everyone knows NOT to deal with them for anything. Im going to post this to BBB and any other sites i have access to.
Buncha lairs and cheaters!!!

This bank is utterly average. Walk in and it feels like a morgue, and finding someone with a pulse who actually knows what’s going on is challenging. Such a painful experience.

They finally updated their online banking system to something modern in 2013. So my old complaints are no longer valid in that regard.

This review is for John Ybarra at Sterling Bank and Trust. John was absolutely amazing in helping us get quick (sub 24 hours) pre-​approval on a TIC loan. I agree with the comments from another reviewer about John’s ability to cut through the crap to move quickly. He got to the point very quickly and was extremely responsive even at odd hours and over the weekend.
I cannot imagine working with anyone other than John for a TIC/​fractional loan.