There are many different places in the market where you can get your mortgage. There are mortgage originators, mortgage brokers, banks, and other lenders. Lending Tree is essentially a mortgage broker.
What is a Mortgage Broker?
A mortgage broker is a service that is going to take all your information and look to find you the best mortgage from a list of banks that offer mortgages. The trick of course is that they don’t work with ALL banks out there, so while it is nice that they are shopping for the best deal for you, they are not shopping all avenues. They are only going to shop the banks that they have set up relationships with and are going to get paid from.
This doesn’t mean it’s bad, it just means that you need to be aware that there could be better offers out there. But this is true when you go directly to a bank as well, and they aren’t shopping around anywhere. At least when you got to a broker you are shopping 10, 20, or more banks all in one stop.
Lending Tree is one of the bigger mortgage brokers out there. The bigger the mortgage broker the more likely they are shopping you at more and more banks, so the chances of you getting a better deal are likely higher. Like I always say you need to read the fine print and make sure you are indeed doing well, but that aside a broker can really be a good way to go.
How do they make money on a Lending Tree Mortgage?
So the first question that most people have when they first hear about a mortgage broker, is how they make their money. The assumption is that you are going to have to pay a fee for them to do the work of finding you a mortgage. And if that were the case then can they really find you such a good deal that it is worth paying that fee instead of just looking for a mortgage on your own?
Well that question doesn’t really matter because that isn’t how a mortgage broker really works. A mortgage broker is going to get paid by the bank, not by you. So the broker is going to shop you around and when you pick the bank and go with the mortgage that winning bank is going to pay a fee to the broker for bringing your business to them. So there is no out of pocket cost to you.
Like always you do need to be aware that the fees these banks are willing to pay brokers vary, and they over course know this. So a broker is going to want to get you in a mortgage with a bank that is willing to pay them the most. Whether that is the absolute best deal for you may or may not be the case. You should definitely look over the fine print of all the offers that come back from the broker, not just the one that they are pushing.
What is the best way to deal with a Mortgage Broker like Lending Tree
Mortgage brokers can really be a great way to go when it comes to looking for a mortgage deal. I personally would be upfront with them and let them know you are also shopping elsewhere. You can shop around like you normally would and that would include brokers like Lending Tree Mortgage. If they come back with the best offer then take it. If you find something that is better for you on your own then take that. It’s that simple. At the end of the day what is best for you is obviously the way to go.