I totally understand why online home loans are so popular among many homebuyers. The allure of exceptionally low interest rates, quick service, and the convenience of a mouse click on your computer screen can be tough to turn down. However, it’s important to consider all of the potential ramifications of going with an internet lender for your next home purchase.
This is the first article in my blog series on online home loans. Before I get into my article, please understand that I’m by no means saying that online home loans are always a bad idea, as there are definitely some good internet lenders out there. I work with a lot of Northern Virginia homebuyers, and some choose great lenders and some choose terrible lenders, so I’ve seen the good the bad, and the ugly, as they say. Buying a home is an amazing experience, but there can also be stressful things that come up during this process, and the last thing you need is for the loan process to be stressful.
Online Home Loans – Is There Enough Accountability?
One of the main reasons why some online home loans can be stressful is that there isn’t necessarily as much accountability during the processing of your loan. Online lenders get the majority of their business from lots of television and internet advertising – not from word of mouth referrals. What does this mean for you, the customer? If the loan officer from your internet lending mortgage company isn’t on top of meeting your contractual deadlines and simply does a bad job overall, they’re still going to get a steady flow of business from their company’s marketing efforts. Great local lenders, on the other hand, rely a lot more on referrals for their business, which makes them more accountable both to you, the customer, and to your Northern Virginia real estate agent. If a local loan officer knows that their customer and the customer’s real estate agent won’t refer them if they do a bad job, this gives them an extra incentive to give better service.
Read Part 2 of my blog series on online home loans.
Are you in the process of getting Northern Virginia home loan quotes, and you’re curious about which lender will give you the best rate? If you’re getting quotes for online home loans, you owe it to yourself to get quotes from a local lender as well.