Didn't Save Us Any Money
Written: Aug 07 '00
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Customer Service: |
 |
|
|
Pros: easy to apply online, quick responses
Cons: typical vulture lenders ignore customer requests
|
|
|
| pbyaeger's Full Review: LendingTree |
Oh, the perils of getting a mortgage--30 year fixed, 5/1, ARM, balloon, 7/3, points, paperwork--all designed to completely confuse the average homebuyer. As if it isn't hard enough to find and choose a house. But. most of us aren't carting around enough cash to eliminate the mortgage process entirely, and so, with heavy hearts and soon to be stripped wallets, we throw ourselves to the mortgage wolves.
As it turned out, the first company we approached was the company we went with--and we have been wildly happy with them. Our mortgage banker went above and beyond his job description to keep us happy. When our sellers finked out at the last minute, our mortgage guy waived the penalty for not closing on time. He kept us calm--he was better than valium.
During the process, though, we investigated several mortgage companies--and those included lendingtree.com. For those who aren't familiar, lendingtree.com isn't a mortgage company--it's a service, paid by the mortgage lenders. Lendingtree.com takes a traditional online mortgage application, and uses its handy computer brain to match applicants with 4 banks likely to approve the offer.
Until you say yes, the entire process is free--one benefit over other online mortgage companies. After you agree to work with a bank, the fees are fairly typical. For us, we got a better rate and lower fees from our mortgage bank--it was clear we'd eliminated the middle man.
Applying online was fairly simple. Once I completed the application, I had a confirming email within minutes. Less than an hour later, I had the names of all 4 banks considering our application.
An hour after that, 3 of the banks had approved us, and 2 sent emails. They also called, something I found irritating as I'd asked for email only contact. Another bank sent copious emails demanding I call immediately for details of their offer.
Grumble. Part of the appeal of lendingtree.com was that the offers were supposed to be posted on the website (via password access) and explained simply. Really, only one of our four banks did this, and their rates were higher than the others. Also, even though we asked for quotes on 30 year fixed rates, 3 of the 4 banks gave us 7/1 or 5/1 quotes only.
The easiest part of lendingtree.com was saying No thanks. All I had to do was click a button on each offer and confirm. Once I said no to all four, 3 disappeared. The other phoned and begged for my business, telling me he lived in the area where we were looking. I'm still not sure how that would've affected our mortgage decision--unless part of the service included unpacking all these boxes.
Recommended:
No
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
pbyaeger
|
 - Top 500 |
|
Member: Pamela Yaeger
Location: Long Island, NY
Reviews written: 157
Trusted by: 158 members
About Me:
I whine, therefore I am.
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.