Mortgages are a common thing for the past decades, mainly to finance a home.

A mortgage is a loan needed to but a property. The loan extends for a period of time, during which monthly payments are made to refund the loan plus the interest. The property is the residence that is being financed through that loan.

Then there are the borrower, the lender, and the interest the borrower has to pay as a financial charge for using the lender’s money, apart from the loan itself.

What should I look for in an online mortgage

Moving online for a mortgage is easy, fast and very convenient. Nowadays we see work, shopping and a lot more activities moving online, so why shouldn’t loan mortgages do also?

Everything happens online, where the client can simply access a lender’s web page, fill the application and provide the needed documentation.

There are plenty of online mortgage lenders out there, either new ones or traditional companies, which offer different digital tools to help the customers.

Some of the advantages are:

• convenience,
• is fast,
• automation,
• saves money.

OK, so now that we know which are the benefits of online mortgage, let’s see what should we have in mind when browsing or choosing one lender.

Here are a few things to consider:

• what is the most that you want from a lender – is it best for first-time buyers, the refinance, the overall online lending process, or maybe the customer service?
• the minimum credit score,
• the minimum down payment.

Another thing that every customer should mind is the Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM), and especially the interest rates. Those rates change over time. At the beginning of a 30-year loan, that rate is below the market rates, but after 5 to 10 years will adjust up or down, depending on an index calculated based on different factors.

Best online mortgage lenders of 2020

Some of the best players on the market right now are Homebridge, Rocket Mortgage and Better.com, all having a minimum credit score of 620 and a minimum down payment of 3%.

Being on the market for more than 30 years now, Homebridge has almost 3,000 associates and 250 retail branches. You can read here the homebridge mortgage review. One of the pros is that has a low credit score requirement, and one of the cons is that charges an origination fee on some loans.

Other pros are:

• a generous variety of loan types,
• a lot of education material on the website,
• it is licensed all over United States.

Other cons are:

• the mortgage application cannot be tracked on the website,
• the branch locations are limited, so in this case an online mortgage loan is recommended.

Rocket Mortgage is an online mortgage application developed by Quicken Loans and launched in 2015. One of the pros is that is very mobile-friendly, being the best for mobile experience. But there are other pros:

• the whole online loan process is self-service upon the point when the customer needs human support,
• the loan amount for which the client is qualified is displayed within minutes,
• is time saving.

It also has some cons:

• everything happens online, so customers who prefer a direct interaction can forget about that,
• does not consider alternative credit data.

Better.com is a digital mortgage lender and also has on-demand human assistance. With a mortgage loans experience since 2014, Better.com is well-known for customer service and has an easy process.

Other pros are:

• no origination fee,
• for homes with higher value, it offers 10% down with no mortgage insurance on jumbo loans,
• a preapproval letter is offered in 24 hours.

There are though some cons:

• is not available in all 50 states,
• does not offer home equity loans.

Summary

Going online for a mortgage loan application is as easy as it is practical. And all data is accurate, safe and reliable. On a market with more and more players, choosing an online mortgage loan is really an option to think about.