You CAN get a refinance loan through the internet!
Written: Apr 18 '02 (Updated May 29 '02)
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I reviewed home mortgage lending banks to do my home refinance through LendingTree.com (see my other review). I had short email correspondence with some of the lenders and phone conversations with IndyMac Bank. I was satisfied with the conversation and subsequent loan details and conditions that I reviewed with a Loan consultant and decided to do my refinance with IndyMac Bank.
IndyMac Bank is rated Number 1 by the prestigious www.gomez.com website for five consecutive scorecards. They claim “Over 17 billion in home loans funded last year” so they are not a small-time operation even though I had never heard of them before this experience. IndyMac Bank describe themselves as “a leading technology based mortgage banker with proprietary, award-winning systems to facilitate, among other things, automated underwriting and risk-based pricing on a nationwide basis”.
Before we get too far along, the bottom line is: I got my loan from these guys at a decent rate at a fair price. The ‘customer-service experience’ could have been a little better managed through increased communication (either through the phone or through internet resources), increased timeliness of transactions and quicker funding to prevent borrower penalties. That having been said, I still could not confidently recommend this bank to a good close friend. I might recommend it to some Stranger on http://www.epinions.com, but not a good friend.
Considering this is a bank primarily known for home lending and banking services processed over the internet, the loan status details provided over the internet were consistently holding outdated information and didn’t truly reflect the loan status. For example, for days, the Loan status displayed that there were outstanding conditions such as a 1 month paystub required, w-2 information due, and hazard insurance information requirements. I called the Loan Consultant and he said the information had been received the day after I sent it. There were other times when seemingly simple communication requests such as, ‘call me when you get the package’ went uncompleted.
I was also very disappointed with the delays in the processing of my loan. I have excellent credit and there were no major problems or complications associated with any of the paperwork and yet the processing of my loan took the complete 45 (46) days allotted for the lock-period. If this is typical for someone with no blemishes or complications, then I would certainly not recommend this for anyone with any kind of complicated credit history or transaction. The only excuse I received was mention that, “there are a lot of people ahead of you.” This is reasonable ,I guess, but I’m the one penalized for any delays in funding through increased interest charges ($25.50/day) and I also got slapped with a late payment on my previous loan of $56.63. (Funding 5 days earlier would have prevented this)
As a resouce tool, http://www.indymacmortgage.com/ is a comprehensive website with lots of information on the loan process. They have many tools that are used to calculate free home price checks, mortgage calculators, and news. There are ‘quick pricer’ calculators to give you a quick idea of loan costs and current mortgage rates displayed. It’s a great resource even if you do not use IndyMac Bank.
During the loan process, I could check loan status information. This area provided a Loan Details screen that showed the loan number, status, estimated funding dates, tool free numbers and email addresses of Loan Consultant, Loan Processor, and Team Leader. I found that most of the time the information on the website was a little out of date. The required loan documents that were listed as required were sent in many days before they finally disappeared from the “Outstanding Conditions”. I called my Loan Processor and they would give me information that was different than stated on the web site.
As I said earlier, in the end, I was able to get a refinance loan for 6.75% fixed for 30 years with no points. There were slight differences between the estimated lender charges and the closing costs I wound up paying at the end. I’m not enough of an expert in the loan process to know whether the costs were typical or not. IndyMac was able to lock in the rate quote immediately with a credit card deposit and do not require waiting until they receive all of your documentation. The deposit is applied to your closing costs and may be completely refundable if you do not close your loan. I’m sure I could have done better or worse. Overall, I’m fairly satisfied because I’ve replaced my Adjustable Rate with a fixed and don’t have to worry about any further fluctuations in lending rates until my next home. If you are looking for a more personal and open transaction, then you might want to consider a local lender or bank.
IndyMac does have a pledge that they have the lowest price and also a best service guarantee. I plan on applying for the best service guarantee since my loan did not close within 45 days as originally planned. It closed after 46 days. Hopefully, I still qualify after considering any ‘fine print’ that may not be immediately evident. I will keep you updated on the results of the request. I figure I might break out even with the extra penalties if the request goes through. If I had followed all the steps for the best price, I’m sure I could’ve guaranteed myself the best pricing there also. This would have required a little more effort but some of you may want to jump through those hoops.
UPDATE: 05/29/02 - I applied for the service guarantee and recieved it promptly from IndyMac Bank. There were no hassles during my claim process. // END UPDATE
Good luck.
Recommended:
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Epinions.com ID:
gerardoa
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Location: SandyEggo, CA
Reviews written: 8
Trusted by: 1 member
About Me:
Married guy.
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