Lending Tree.com

[juddling]

I'm just wondering if anyone has used this site for a house loan or maybe know someone who has???? If so....did it work out???was it a pain in the ass??? just not worth the hassle??? just wondering.

 

juddling

[FlaSoxxJim]

I don't know about LendingTree, but we just used quicken for our home purchase and regeret it very much. They closed very quickly and the rates were competitive, but literally 1 month after closing they sold the loan out from under us to some lender we have never heard of and never would have used in a million years.

 

Jason might be able to chime in and answer whether this is par for the course for the big lenders. It sucks because we know we have been assessed at too hogh a property tax rate and will need to be fither refunded from the escrow account or have the extra money applied to our principal at teh end of the year. The loan ofricer at Quicken was up to speed on all of this but this new outfit has no idea what I'm trying to tell them.

 

I am really mad.

[YASNY]

I don't know about LendingTree, but we just used quicken for our home purchase and regeret it very much.  They closed very quickly and the rates were competitive, but literally 1 month after closing they sold the loan out from under us to some lender we have never heard of and never would have used in a million years.

 

Jason might be able to chime in and answer whether this is par for the course for the big lenders.  It sucks because we know we have been assessed at too hogh a property tax rate and will need to be fither refunded from the escrow account or have the extra money applied to our principal at teh end of the year.  The loan ofricer at Quicken was up to speed on all of this but this new outfit has no idea what I'm trying to tell them.

 

I am really mad.

 

From what I understand, just about all lenders sell their longterm mortgages off. Or am I mistaken about this?

[EvilMonkey]

Most lenders sell their mortgages at some point or another. usually they are sold in larger groups. My current loan has been sold 4 times over the last 10 years, and with each sell, the new placed keeps screwing up the handling of the escrow.

[kapkomet]

Yea, the same thing happened to me. And I just got a refund from our escrow account, just in time to turn around and hand it right over to Uncle Sam. Nice see the money, and nice to hand it right over.

[EvilJester99]

My mortgage has been sold so many times I have a hard time trying to remember who my friggin lender is anymore...and they ALWAYS screw up the escrow account....

[FlaSoxxJim]

My mortgage has been sold so many times I have a hard time trying to remember who my friggin lender is anymore...and they ALWAYS screw up the escrow account....

 

That's my biggest fear, since there should be a couple $K more in the account than the actual tax rate at the end of the year and I don't want to have to jump through a hundred hoops to get that money back.

[EvilJester99]

I tell you the worst friggin thing that happened... I got sold to Washington Mutual and they sent me a check telling me my escrow account was over...well come to find out they kind of forgot to pay my friggin taxes... luckily I didn't spend the money because it seemed way to strange...f***ers could have cost me big time.

[Steff]

I used the internet sites in the past to get offers.. then took those offers to Wells Fargo and Bank One. Both companies matched the internet offers (and WF waived all but $100 closing costs) to get the business. I worry about those companies selling your info if you don't use them..

 

juddling if you want a name of a loan advisor from Wells Fargo PM me.. they are pretty good about answering questions and that way you have someone direct you can email versus having to cold call them.

 

Either way.. congrats and good luck.

[Queen Prawn]

From what I understand, just about all lenders sell their longterm mortgages off.  Or am I mistaken about this?

 

I think that must be true - it happened to my parents and Brian.

[Queen Prawn]

juddling if you want a name of a loan advisor from Wells Fargo PM me.. they are pretty good about answering questions and that way you have someone direct you can email versus having to cold call them.

 

My cousin is a loan officer there (he closed for us on our consolidation of pre-existing mortgage and construction loan at ABN-AMRO before he switched about a year ago or so).

[Steff]

I don't know about LendingTree, but we just used quicken for our home purchase and regeret it very much.  They closed very quickly and the rates were competitive, but literally 1 month after closing they sold the loan out from under us to some lender we have never heard of and never would have used in a million years.

 

Jason might be able to chime in and answer whether this is par for the course for the big lenders.  It sucks because we know we have been assessed at too hogh a property tax rate and will need to be fither refunded from the escrow account or have the extra money applied to our principal at teh end of the year.  The loan ofricer at Quicken was up to speed on all of this but this new outfit has no idea what I'm trying to tell them.

 

I am really mad.

 

 

Jim.. here in Illinois if it's within 6 months of closing a re-eval can be done and the escrow amount adjusted at no cost. I don't know about down there.. and I don't know if it's been sold.. but might be worth a shot to call and inqire sternly.. ?

I would also call Quicken... and something else Illinois has is a sort of "complaint hotline" for those who think they got "taken" in the mortgage process. It's mainly for those that have been denied conventional loans.. or have been wrestled into FHA's when they are qualified for others.. but I think they might at least be able to steer you in the right direction to get the escrow squared away...

[Steff]

My cousin is a loan officer there (he closed for us on our consolidation of pre-existing mortgage and construction loan at ABN-AMRO before he switched about a year ago or so).

 

 

I've used them for all 3 of my purchases. They have been great. And they have a ton of offices which I like so you can go into any one of them and talk to someone face to face if you have a problem.

[Chisoxfn]

Ya its standard procedure to get the mortgage sold. You can get it flipped so many times it just kind of depends. I've seen loans that within a year have gone through 5 different lenders.

 

As far as the escrow accounts go, as long as you have the statements that show how much PITI you have and then get the tax bill at the end of the year just to see the amount. Tally everything up in like an excel sheet. Talk to someone at the company and then demand your refund.

 

However, I'll warn you, a lot of the times they'll have it a little higher depending on the interest cause you may get supplemental bills and such. But I'm not an expert cause the property tax issues may be different in Florida and lenders may handle escrows differently as well. I know California is one of the few states where the property taxes don't really change every year, its just simply based on the value you paid for the house.

 

As far as lendingtree goes, don't know anyone that has used them. I hear eloan or whatever its called is supposed to be decent. The big thing you want to watch for is that your getting a loan with a hard prepay (which means if you sell the home within a certain time period your going to pay a penalty). Soft prepays aren't too big of a deal (that means you only pay the penalty if you prepay because you refid the property). The other thing you want to check for (if your doing an adjustable loan) is whether the margin is low or not. They could get you with a real low start up rate but have a high margin which forces you to refi once it adjust up (this may not be a big deal, depending on the situation).

 

Really a lot depends on the situations. Adjustables with low start rates can be great for people buying their first house that are quite young. You get to get in the property at a lower payment which means you have money to get furniture and everything else. Plus since your young your income stream will be going up and then as it goes up you can start paying higher payments and the affordablility kind of grows in.

 

Tell me what the rates are judling and on Friday I'll look at some of our wholesale rates. I probably wouldn't be able to get a super accurate comparison because a lot depends on the terms and all that, but I could at least give a ballpark figure. Assuming the cost is low on the loan and your getting a good rate I don't see what would be wrong with going with them.

[FlaSoxxJim]

Steff and Jas, MANY THANKS for your insights. I get a headache staring down all of this stuff and I appreciate your input.

[Steff]

Steff and Jas, MANY THANKS for your insights.  I get a headache staring down all of this stuff and I appreciate your input. 

 

 

I know that escrow crap is a pain in the rear end.. when we bought it was new construction and our first tax bill was based on undeveloped land.. that bill was a joke.. the next year we knew it would be a lot more.. but not $5K more (tax here is approx 3% the value of the home)!!! One phone call to WF and it was straightened out.

[Chisoxfn]

For that reason I rarely do PITI loans or at least rarely recommend them. I figure as long as the people have good credit and can keep that part straight your better off having the money to yourselves for the whole year and then paying it cause there are plenty of people that can do better things with that money and maybe get a decent return than otherwise.

 

But I also realize it makes it a hell of a lot easier, especially with rental properties which are often times more difficult to keep track of. That and it definately is a lot handier but a lot of the times they collect too much and I'm not a fan of someone else holding onto my money.

 

Out in Cali they hold your property sales now at a ridiculous percent for the entire year until you resell the property (if you have capital gains) and its freaking ridiculous. Most people get at least half of that back. Thats why if anyone ever buys property in California that they plan on flip, I recommend getting an LLC or a Corporation because they can't do that.

 

It went into effect about 2 years ago and its stinking awful. Its the stupidest thing.