Smarter Internet Research; How to Find the Best Mortgage
Refinancing or Second Mortgage Company
Shopping for a mortgage can, unfortunately, be complex,
frustrating and time consuming. If you are in the market for a
mortgage refinancing or second mortgage, the Internet can be a
great place to research and shop for a loan on your terms. At
the same time, the amount of information available regarding
mortgage refinancing programs on the Internet can be
overwhelming. For example, searching for the phrase "mortgage
refinancing" on Google returns 8,600,000 results. Searching for
"second mortgage" on Yahoo returns 37,500,000 web pages.
>From these millions of results, you will find two main
categories of websites:
1. Actual mortgage companies
2. Lead sellers or "aggregators"
Following is information for both types of results.
Mortgage Company - This is just as it sounds and is an actual
company that is in business to do first or second mortgages. It
will likely take the form of either a mortgage broker or
mortgage banker. You can usually recognize websites that are
mortgage companies by the following:
1. They will post an easily viewable phone number that you can
call.
2. They will post their address.
3. Their mortgage licensing information should be posted on the
site.
4. They may post current interest rates for either their
mortgage refinancing or second mortgage programs.
5. They may have an "about us" or staff directory page.
Lead Seller - Lead sellers are in business to gather your
information and then sell it to a mortgage company. They are not
mortgage refinancing companies and do not make loans. The
majority of these sites use some variation of "simplify the
mortgage shopping process by completing 1 form and have up to 4
mortgage companies compete for your business". While these sites
can certainly deliver as promised, you should also consider the
following if you are completing one of their forms:
1. Are they using a secure connection to collect and transmit
your information?
2. Do you know where your information is going?
3. Are you sure they will only sell your information 4 times. As
with many industries, this industry has its share of dishonesty.
The lead sellers are paid each time they sell your name, so some
do not stop at 4 as promoted. From personal experience working
on the mortgage side of business, I have spoken with clients
whose names have been sold 15 - 20 times. The end result is a
phone that keeps ringing and frustration.
4. Be careful filling out more than one of these types of forms.
Completing more than 1 will likely inundate you with telephone
calls and emails.
When shopping for a mortgage refinancing or second mortgage, it
is wise to speak with more than 1 company. If, during your
search, you cannot find at least 2 or 3 mortgage company
websites that you like, you might consider completing a lead
aggregators form. Just remember that you do not want to end up
with information overload.