Is An Online Mortgage the Right Kind of Mortgage for You?
As you surf the web during the day, you may notice many ads or blogs that advertise loans that you can only apply for online. These online banks usually offer some form of online mortgage loan, and like most things you purchase on the internet, they can be less expensive than their non-cyber world counterparts, but you need to watch out for a few important things very carefully.
An online mortgage from an online bank may sound like a cool, futuristic, environmentally friendly and paperless way to go. You may congratulate yourself that you are somehow saving the environment while at the same time updating your image. You could also get stuck with bad or nonexistent customer service. Consider this fair warning.
The reason an online only bank exists at all is because they (whoever they are) are trying to save money by having less overhead and employing less people. The reasoning is that by saving on frills such as office space, personnel, and salaries they can pass those savings on to you, the consumer. These companies know all too well that once a customer gets a quote from them, they are not likely to change because they have invested time into the process.
No doubt that applying for an online mortgage is easy since you can do it from the convenience of your own home and there is no salesperson to pressure you. Or so you think. Many of these so-called online banks are nothing more than lead generators for mortgage companies. Sort of like Lending Tree, only the banks dont fight for your business, they just buy the information you have given voluntarily on the website and call you day after day, hounding you mercilessly until you throw your hands up in abject surrender.
A good online mortgage would be one where it is easy to apply and where the Loan Officer on the other side gives you good customer service. A home loan should not be so tough to get in an ideal world. There are just a few basic things that need to happen and the loan should just fund by itself. In the real world we know that every home loan or mortgage is a totally separate and individual process that takes time, work, planning and organization. This means that you need actual living, breathing people in order to get one done. To my knowledge there are no computers that can do a loan all by themselves without human contact.
Do homeowners really want to get a home loan without ever talking to another human being? This is not realistic or particularly desirable.
As you surf the web during the day, you may notice many ads or blogs that advertise loans that you can only apply for online. These online banks usually offer some form of online mortgage loan, and like most things you purchase on the internet, they can be less expensive than their non-cyber world counterparts, but you need to watch out for a few important things very carefully.
An online mortgage from an online bank may sound like a cool, futuristic, environmentally friendly and paperless way to go. You may congratulate yourself that you are somehow saving the environment while at the same time updating your image. You could also get stuck with bad or nonexistent customer service. Consider this fair warning.
The reason an online only bank exists at all is because they (whoever they are) are trying to save money by having less overhead and employing less people. The reasoning is that by saving on frills such as office space, personnel, and salaries they can pass those savings on to you, the consumer. These companies know all too well that once a customer gets a quote from them, they are not likely to change because they have invested time into the process.
No doubt that applying for an online mortgage is easy since you can do it from the convenience of your own home and there is no salesperson to pressure you. Or so you think. Many of these so-called online banks are nothing more than lead generators for mortgage companies. Sort of like Lending Tree, only the banks dont fight for your business, they just buy the information you have given voluntarily on the website and call you day after day, hounding you mercilessly until you throw your hands up in abject surrender.
A good online mortgage would be one where it is easy to apply and where the Loan Officer on the other side gives you good customer service. A home loan should not be so tough to get in an ideal world. There are just a few basic things that need to happen and the loan should just fund by itself. In the real world we know that every home loan or mortgage is a totally separate and individual process that takes time, work, planning and organization. This means that you need actual living, breathing people in order to get one done. To my knowledge there are no computers that can do a loan all by themselves without human contact.
Do homeowners really want to get a home loan without ever talking to another human being? This is not realistic or particularly desirable.