Who Has Your Social Security Number?

If you’re unfamiliar with LowerMyBills, it’s similar to Lending Tree, and if you’ve watched any TV at all, you know that Lending Tree markets itself as a place where you can have banks compete over you. It’s a great concept, but the companies that call you in response to your applications on these sites are rarely banks; they’re mortgage brokers. As I went over in Use A Mortgage Broker And Save $$$$, rate shopping for banks is one thing, rate shopping for brokers is entirely different. If you submit your application on LowerMyBills or LendingTree knowing you’re going to be contacted by brokers, not banks, and your intention is to interview the brokers, not shop them for rates, then you’re doing the right thing; you’re also probably the only one.

What’s the lesson here? When shopping for a mortgage, find out who you’re speaking to; is it a broker or a bank? Keep in mind, you’ll get a bunch of brokers calling themselves wholesale lenders or wholesalers; those are just fancy words to describe brokers. You may also hear some companies refer to themselves as direct lenders; again, another form of broker; although direct lenders do have a slight speed advantage over brokers in that they can sometimes get approvals in house. I’ll explain how direct lenders work in detail in the future. If you’re speaking with brokers, don’t rate-shop them, interview them as I go over in Use A Mortgage Broker And Save $$$. And always remember, with brokers, you get what you pay for, so don’t get upset if you rate-shopped ’till your heart stopped and things changed at the signing table.

Related Articles:

Mortgage Shopping - It’s A Jungle Out There
How to Save Money With a Mortgage Broker
Lead Brokers - How Mortgage Companies Generate Business
Rate Shopping - The Story of The Too Low FICO
Mortgages - You Get What You Pay For