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October 11, 2005

Informatio: ,

Has anyone ever used LendingTree.com?

To tell you the truth, I am a little disappointed.

LendingTree.comI was referred to by a friend who has used them in the past. He told me that even if I don’t use any of the lenders who contact me, it’s a great place to get information about the current market and what I can do to negotiate with any lenders that I might find on my own.

Well enough, I thought… And, since it’s all online, it couldn’t be easier, right? (As you’ll see, I’m still waiting for the answer to this one.)

So, I went to LendingTree.com and entered all of my information. After completing the multi-paged form, I sat back to wait for (at least) four lenders (it says so on their main page) to contact me with their competing offers…

It’s been about a week since I filled out the form and, so far, only one lender has contacted me (and this particular lender says that they are LendingTree.com’s biggest lender).

Now, maybe it was the type of loan I was requesting, or the amount of money I was trying to get a quote on… Or something. But, clearly, on the main page of LendingTree.com’s website, it says:

Compare and act on up to 4 customized offers instantly!
Instantly? A week later, I’m still waiting for the remaining three to contact me.

Has anyone out there had any experience with LendingTree.com? Would you recmmend them (r their lenders)?

I’m not so sure I really trust their slogan at this point:

When banks compete, you win!
Really?

Posted at 11:06 am

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Comments (12):
haha. i’m looking into getting a job with them this week. maybe i can put in a good word for you…

dennisthemenace () - October 11, 2005 at 12:29 pm

Ha ha. No thanks! X-(

timsamoff () (URL) - October 11, 2005 at 1:37 pm

OK, I hate to be nit-picky, and I’m certainly not trying to sound like I’m an employee of Lending Tree or anything, but the line you quoted from their site states “up to four.” Well, that doesn’t exactly sound to me like they’re guaranteeing four, only that you could get one, two, three or as many as four… Maybe you’re only getting the one, their “biggest,” which leads me to be suspicious of the whole operation frankly…

Jodi () (URL) - October 12, 2005 at 07:52 am

Ok, yeah, Jodi… You’re right. But, the line gave me some expectations that weren’t met. Maybe that’s just my problem, though.

As for the “biggest” lender contacting me… It made me suspicious too.

timsamoff () (URL) - October 12, 2005 at 08:27 am

i’ve never used them, but i’ve heard similar issues. it might have to do with (like you said) the type of loan, amount of loan, equity used, etc… I always try to keep all my loans as ‘face-to-face’ loans as that seems to get better terms and a better deal overall…. I can refer you to some folks I’ve used in the past if you want…

jason () (URL) - October 17, 2005 at 5:32 pm

Thanks, Jason, but we’re covered now. I wasnted to keep our loan face=to-face as well, so I was really only using Lending Tree as a reference point. {Maybe they know that?!) ;-)

timsamoff () (URL) - October 19, 2005 at 05:59 am

Sorry to here about your expierence with LT. That bums me out to hear. We have a rather large company here and there are a few lazy folks among us. If you require any further info, please contact me direct at 888-866-1212 ext 4529. I will be glad to assist you with any questions or concerns you may have. I understand we have a mutual friend in Dennis Alvey. He is a great guy.

Thanks for your time and again I am sorry.

John Richard
Soli Deo Gloria

dennisthemenace () - October 22, 2005 at 12:19 pm

We have a similar service and sometimes there are less than 4 lenders are willing to “buy your data”.

If you have perfect credit, a high loan amount and are refinancing your current mortgage you would be contacted by 4.
If you have a low loan amount, bad credit, are buying a home and don’t have the property under contract, you are not a “hot” lead. LT should state that up to 4 lenders, not 4 lenders will contact you.

Also their commercials are somewhat misleading and make the lenders appear as desperate souls that are clamoring to give you the best rate.

I assume you are using the service to try to save money on your mortgage or other loan. If you read the fine print LT charges the lender several hundred dollars if you close a loan with one of their lenders and you will end up paying that fee through higher closing costs or higher rate (yield spread premium). Ultimately Lending Tree is a marketing company and the TV ads and radio spend is paid by fees charged to their lenders and those fees are ultimately passed on to consumers that use the service in the form of closing costs or YSP. If you use a local mortgage broker they don’t have those extra costs to cover so you may get a better rate. Just tell them you are active in the market and want the best rate they can offer.

Read this press release for some tips on how to deal with any lender or broker
http://www.prweb.com/printer.php?prid=23..

also try
http://www.mtgprofessor.com

Good luck!

Cityloans.com () (URL) - October 27, 2005 at 07:25 am

Interesting. Thanks for the info.

timsamoff () (URL) - October 27, 2005 at 08:57 am

I work for LendingTree. If you would like to contact me I would be happy to help you out. 800-942-3683 × 6583. Thanks :)

-Anthony Gutierrez

Anthony () - October 27, 2005 at 4:55 pm

They totally suck

Erik Draaijer () - November 01, 2005 at 2:03 pm

I work for one of the lenders that buys leads from Lending Tree. I can’t speak to the integrity of other companies, but the company I work for makes sure we are doing everything we can for the customer. Further, we don’t know who else bought the same lead or how many others we are competing against. We need to get our best offer out there right away.

Chris () - January 30, 2006 at 11:07 am

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