Selecting a mortgage lender

[The Night Owl]

So, I am in the market for a house. The real estate person I am working with is pushing Countrywide mortgages, but after looking up Countrywide on the web, I found a lot of scary complaints about them. I also found, however, that Countrywide scored fairly well on the JD Power website, which ranks lenders on the basis of consumer ratings. So now I don't know what to think. Can anyone here shed light on this matter?

[loathesomeshrub]

1. Search the web on anybody! You'll find complaints. I am a realtor.

My clients used Countrywide all the time for a while in OKlahoma. I never heard complaints.

[The Night Owl]

5. Thank you for your professional opinion!

I figured I would find a number of complaints when researching a company as large as Countrywide, but what bothered me was the number of complaints and the very high level of anger in those complaints. Are large numbers of wrathful complaints normal for large lenders?

[loathesomeshrub]

8. Anyone can make you mad!

I had a pretty good experience with Progressive insurance the other day. I went online to search for a place to post it. The complaints I found! Before that, I did some checking on Allstate. Same thing, horrible complaints and stories. So I would imagine, the most vocal people are going to be the ones who had a bad experience.
I would say, beware of online lenders. Sometimes, you get a rude shock right before closing, or you don't close on time. The most important thing to me is that my clients are preapproved, up front, with no surprises down the road. Most agents work with a lender they trust. Hopefully you have an agent to advise you.
Best of luck

[EmperorHasNoClothes]

2. Don't know anything specific about Countrywide

but bankrate.com is a good place to research rates

[Mizmoon]

3. Talk to a credit union too

see what their rates are. Often they are outstanding. I've heard bad things about online lenders - it's not quite a nailed down science yet.

[agates]

12. I'll second that

Our credit union has been great. They did a new construction loan and then converted it to a conventional mortgage. I've never had such great service from a financial institution. If you belong to or are eligible to join a credit union, check it out!

[flamingyouth]

4. We went with Bank of America

They were our bank, and that worked for us, plus we got a good rate. They just take the $ out of my acct. on the first of each month.

My friends have Countrywide and like them. Congrats on getting a house! :D

[The Night Owl]

6. Thanks. (NT)

[dr.strangelove]

7. Realtor and Real Estate Attorney's two bits

Bank rate is a good place to start. Dozens of my clients have done the "auction" for rates at several online sites. Where banks "bid" for your service. Of course they don;t really bid, they just give the site a daily low number and automatically sends you their best rate based on your score.

I wouldn't use Countrywide because I had a bad experience with them personally, but I won't get into it here. Call around and if you talk to someone you like, go with it. Watch out for hidden closing fees like paying the closing agent and "tips" for the recorder that some NE states "require" (also used in the SW more often now).

Good luck with your purchase. If this is your first home, consider buying a home warranty.

[pagerbear]

9. You can find lots of lenders online

Research a number of lenders--apply to a number, too--before settling on one. With any luck you'll have several offering you mortgages and you can pick and choose.

[BuddhaGirl]

10. My husband is a loan officer for a very good mortgage company

and their in-house lender is Countrywide - in his opinion - overall they are pretty good.

Are you in California? (Shameless plug here!) He can get you a great rate. If you're interested, PM me :-)

[SW FL Dem]

11. We had a good experience with ELoan.com

easy and all done over the internet.

[RollergirlVT]

13. NO!

Stay away from country wide unless you have bad credit. They are a preditory lender of last resort. Doing business with bad lenders gives them more power to rip off people who can least afford to be ripped off. Do business with a reputable lender. If possible try a Credit union they tend to have great rates and are more loyal to their customers. Check out bankrate.com for information about quality lenders. Read consumer reviews. If you see alot of people complaining about the same lender then look to other lenders.

[The Night Owl]

15. Actually...

My situation is a bit unusual. I have excellent credit ratings. My credit scores are all in the high 700s and I have everything paid off. My work situation, however, has been dicey for the past few years up until about 7 months ago. I started working for a startup in 2001 after deciding to make a major career change. To make a long story short, my company made very little money up until about 7 months ago. We have since been doing well. Contracts are coming in and people are getting paid. How would my sitation look to a lender? Would a conservative lender run away screaming from me?

[flvegan]

14. Countrywide...

They're more of a prime A paper lender. Go with them. You'll find complaints about every lender in the world. Countrywide Home Loans has created their own title company to try to keep it all in house.

They're also pretty good with the whole loss mitigation side of defaulted loans, so you have a tiny bit less to worry about if you get behind.