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Fred Gruber

CMPS, Director First Rate Financial Group NMLS #256707, CA-DRE #01455710
Fred Gruber has over 45 years experience in the business community. Using his excellent financial and analytical skills, he develops financial models and tools to present complicated concepts in simple terms. Fred has provided thousands of mortgages for a variety of clients and scenarios; from simple to complex qualifying situations.

Fred’s focus in educating clients is forefront; with guidance as the cornerstone of a practice that assists homeowners and buyers. Fred will present multiple options to make sure the borrower has an opportunity to make the best decision in selecting an appropriate strategy for financing their home. Fred uses a deep understanding of lending guidelines to uncover obscure options for borrowers, rarely leaving a stone unturned in the most complicated of situations.

Following a referral based business model, Fred recognizes that every transaction has two clients: the borrower and the referring party. Developing lifelong clients who become friends as well underscores his commitment to helping people achieve their goals.

First Rate Financial Group is a Mortgage Broker in Westlake Village, California, located in the heart of the Conejo Valley Business District. From its inception in 1989, First Rate Financial Group has become well known for its service, integrity and experienced loan consultants.

Fred's purpose is simply stated as "I Create Value Through Integrity."
Nov 13, 2023
Senior account manager, government services
I have purchased several homes during my life. Most of my purchase experiences were arduous, tedious, and quite demanding of my time. Working with Fred Gruber and his team presented my wife and I with a stark contrast to our previous experiences. The process with Fred was streamlined, efficient, and overall pleasant. From this point forward, I will only be reaching out to Fred and his team for all of my real estate purchase transactions.
Sincerely,
Bruce Arditte
Nov 6, 2023
Whenever you buy or sell a home it is stressful and needing a team is what makes this happen. Fred's team is rock solid and able to execute without a hitch. He also keeps you updated when rates move in your favor. I would highly recommend the Gruber team.
Oct 12, 2023
Managing partner of law firm
I have worked with Fred Gruber several times over the years for mortgage financing and other financial advice. He never fails to deliver. Fred is smart, and knows the market, whatever obstacles it presents. He is patient and takes the time to know you personally and give thoughtful and professional advice taking your personal situation into account. I have recommended him to friends and colleagues and will continue to do so and seek his advice in the future.
Jul 31, 2023
Fred Gruber did an outstanding job for us in regard to securing and placing our loan for a condominium.

Fred sought out the best rate and took the time to explain various instructions as well as providing us with the reasons the lender wanted certain information, and/or the best way to present it.

Fred was thoroughly knowledgeable, patient and friendly; he was just a pleasure to work with.



Sincerely,

Helene and Andy
Apr 21, 2023
Fred and his team were remarkably helpful. As first time home buyers, we had an abundance of questions and concerns about the entire process, but Fred was on top of things and had answers to all of our questions.
Mar 31, 2023
Being that my wife and I were first time homebuyers, we couldn’t have found someone being so helpful like Fred was. He was completely there with us breaking down each step of the home buying process. He was always available for us when we had a question. We can’t thank him enough for making the process go so smoothly on his side.
Feb 24, 2023
Director of Marketing
Fred was seriously incredible! As a first time home buyer, he walked us through every step of the process, including multiple presentations to make us feel comfortable with our budget, closing costs, and everything else that comes with the home buying process. He was also very detailed orientated and extremely available. Whenever I reached out, he responded quickly, promptly and always made sure to get everything I needed (from pre-approval forms to lender documents) on time. We could have not gone through this process without him. Highly recommend!!
Feb 20, 2023
Fred was a phenomenal and amazing partner in our journey to closing on our house. If I could give more than 5 starts I would.
Aug 26, 2022
Great experience. Fred and his team were great to work with.
Jul 22, 2022
Attorney
Fred and his staff were amazing. I went through many attempts to get a refi with no luck, with the last person taking months only to come up with nothing. Fred was able to get my refi in about a month! He is very professional and would not stop until he was able to help. He saved me thousands of dollars annually. I highly recommend Fred.
May 9, 2022
Fred recently helped us close a Refi on a rental property with an extensive cash back which we are going to use towards renovations. He truly found the best loan rate and also helped us to create a financial plan for the future of the property over the next year or so. All his team was lovely to work with and thorough. I highly recommend him to all.
Apr 13, 2022
Could not be any more satisfied with dealing with Fred. He is extremely knowlegable and helpful. He answered all my questions and concerns immediatly.
We are completely satisfied and would not hesitate to use him again.
Mar 24, 2022
m.d.
Fred is the man. He got us through a complex re-fi quickly and efficiently. We have used his services several times in the past and have been satisfied each time. Highly recommended.
Mar 17, 2022
We were recently presented the opportunity to purchase the home we had been renting for the last 5 years; but the owners wanted to do the purchase directly without agents, and very quickly.
Having worked with Fred previously on the purchase of a small townhouse, we went directly to him again for assistance & support.
Fred was absolutely critical to our ability to purchase our home. Not just in securing a lender for us at a great rate, but also helping an inexperienced family navigate the entire home buying process given that we were not working with an agent and had limited time/resources. He made himself available on weekends and after hours, and was always happy to answer our very basic questions on the financial aspect of the process, but also on the minute details of the purchasing/validation process as well.
I can confidently say that we would not have been able to purchase our home without Fred and his team's hard work and incredible help!
Feb 23, 2022
VP Sales-Katz Radio
My wife and I only use Fred for our real estate financing needs. Fred is thorough, knows the real estate financial landscape and provides the best options to fit what we are looking for. No one is better than Fred!
Feb 10, 2022
It was a pleasure working with Fred Gruber. He was able to offer a finance package that was far superior to our former mortgage holder’s. Fred and his team provided excellent customer service and made the process seamless. Fred took the time to personally meet with us and patiently answered our detailed questions. His staff was very efficient and responsive throughout the process. Overall, Fred and his team exceeded our expectations. We highly recommend him and will definitely reach out in the future for our mortgage needs.
Jan 22, 2022
Fred is amazing!

If you have non W2 income like I do, he is able to work wonders!
Jan 3, 2022
Straight forward and easy
Working with Fred for my home mortgage has been great. This is my second time working with Fred and I am beyond happy with his services. He offers a secure online downloader so as you prepare all Of the documents he requested it’s easy to upload and know that he has what is needed. He remained in constant contact with us once we got our home buying process going and we closed on time with no surprises. Would recommend using him to any friend.
Dec 27, 2021
Physician and business owner
Fred was very helpful and insightful in guiding us through a complex process in refinancing our current home while acquiring an investment property. He made it manageable and palatable. When things needed clarity, and direction he was able to provide this in order to close the deal. It was a pleasure working with him.
Dec 13, 2021
Fred Gruber and his team did a great job helping us with our loan refinance! They communicated with us throughout the process and helped us to complete it as quickly as possible.
Sep 20, 2021
We first met Fred Gruber in 2010 during our first home purchasing experience. This most recent refinance completed marks our 3rd time partnering up with him and we would not hesitate to recommend him.
Fred is friendly and patient and takes all the time to explain each step of the process and make sure you are comfortable. He is always available to answer questions and always has the interests of his clients in mind.

Thank you Fred
Sep 18, 2021
Fred was recommended to us by an old friend who said “ you’ll be in good hands”. And indeed we were.
From the beginning, Fred and his attentive office personnel were available to answer all of our questions on a timely basis. Fred himself came up with numerous options for both of our refinances and explained all of them in great detail.
The entire procedures were executed flawlessly and in a time frame that fit our needs.
Anytime we reached out to Fred with any questions, he returned our calls personally immediately.
The whole experience was exceptional.
Sep 18, 2021
Business owner
After being on escrow with another broker for more then 2 months & many false promises Our realtor Robin recommended “the magician broker”
Fred Gruber and let me tell you she wasn’t wrong after 14 days of contacting fred he made it happen me and my husband bought our first home
Fred was super knowledgable extremely profesional & works fast. He will not make you loose your time.
Fred is Very easy to work with he
Answered all of our questions & phone calls I will totally used him again. If your having issues with your loan please call Fred you won’t be disappointed.
If I can give him more then 5 stars I would thank you fred you are terrific !!!
Sep 14, 2021
Fred and Team, is a excellent source for financing a second home and other financing needs.Fred went above and beyond with different saving programs to suit my financing budget.Fred had no problem baby stepping me through the loan process and explaining loan options with a excellent rate that I didn't expect to receive on a second home purchase.Great job Fred and team for the great painless/flawless/closing on time experience in achieving my dream of owning a second home in the mountains.
Sep 9, 2021
Realtor
My new title for Fred Gruber is the Magician Mortgage Broker. As a realtor, it is important that my clients work with someone who can make things happen because, if you can't get a loan, you can't buy a house. Over many years of working with him, Fred is the one broker who consistently gets the job done.

We recently had a client who consulted two lenders who promised that getting a loan would not be a problem. After weeks of back and forth, both lenders declared it was impossible, given the buyer's finances and that he owned his own business. Along the way, I kept encouraging our client to call Fred. FINALLY he did. Fred, of course, pulled a rabbit out his hat and made it happen.

Fred loves what he does and he makes our clients feel good about the process. This client was totally demoralized after being told twice that he couldn't get a loan. Fred quite simply made him feel better. The client keeps thanking me for putting him in touch with Fred. Exactly what every realtor should want. A mortgage broker who makes us look good!

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