Debt Free

You may or may not win. It's all in how you view it. What many consumers may not know is that most services that have multiple competing for your business are really nothing more than lead generation services. They have contracts with multiple mortgage lenders to generate leads, which the lenders then pay a handsome fee for. In some cases the fees can range up to $500. Once you give the lead service your information, it's then sold to the lenders that they have the lead generating contracts with.

It wouldn't be a bad way to go for the consumer, but many consumers are not ready for the dozens of phone calls they'll get after signing up with such a service. Does it work for the lenders? In some cases, yes, and very well. The more information the lead generation site gets, the better, in theory, they can match the lender with the applicant. Different lenders are looking for different types of borrowers, and given enough information, they can do a pretty decent job of creating a match between the two. The problem is that many people on-line have the attention span of a gnat with ADD. The amount of information required to give a good match necessitates a fairly long form. That will, in many cases drive people away from the site, even though it would be beneficial for the lender to have more information.

The other problem with sites that require more information is that many people feel some trepidation about having all their personal information floating about on the Internet. The greater the amount of information, they larger their goosebumps. That concern can have some validity, especially when it seems like every other day there is a news story about a stolen computer or compromised database.

If you do use one of these sites to get a mortgage or refinance, make sure you are getting all the information. Remember, in addition to the interest rate, you need to include the fees and points that may be included in the offer when you are making your calculations. Before you can determine weather or not you're getting a good deal, you need to include all the pertinent information. Make sure you get all the necessary information, especially regarding an ARM, including the rate index, caps, maximum interest rate, and adjustment date. These sites will not offer this information in most cases. You'll have to get it from the actual lender yourself. Don't forget to do so.

So, remember that these mortgage lead generation services are a business. As such they have to get paid. Their employees, vendors, and investors would like to be paid, you know. They way they get paid is by selling your information to those who value it, in this case mortgage and refinance lenders. It's worth big money, too. They'll get from $100 - $500 per lead, per lender, depending upon the quality of the information, your demographics, and their contract with the individual lender. That means your information could be worth $2,500 to them, depending how many lenders they sell it to. Not to say that's a bad thing, but you should be aware of it.