The
internet is teeming with lenders who are vying for your business. It
seems like everyone wants to loan you money. You are truly in the
driver’s seat by going online for your mortgage, refinance, and
consolidation needs. But how do you select a lender? How do you choose
the right institution? How do you know who to trust? In this
brief article, we will cover the 6 simple, practical, and essential key
points that we feel you should evaluate, when exploring online lenders:
Feel free to print this out, and use it as a free guide, while pointing
and clicking your way to success: 1. Privacy
2. Design
3.
Popularity and Reputation
4. The Short Form
5. Communication
6.
Points, Fees, Terms and Rates
1.
Privacy: In the modern world of ecommerce, it is essential
that all respectable businesses honor your right to privacy: a)
Check for a posted PRIVACY POLICY, prominently displayed on the homepage
of your prospective lenders site. Read it. Does it make sense to you?
Does it address how they will use your email address, your name, and
your private information? b) Do they ask for things that may seem
unreasonable at this stage of the game? Be wary of requests for credit
card numbers, social security numbers, and similar information that may
not be appropriate early on, for example, when you are filling out the
initial, short form. Naturally, your lender will need that information
down the road, but certainly not right out of the gate, when initiating
the first steps towards a relationship with you. c) Is the lender
a member of a posted, third party, privacy program? For example, TRUSTe
is one such independent company that will designate a member site. You
can look for their emblem, and similar third-party companies. This is
not a requirement for securing a good privacy policy; however, it is
worth noting.
2. Design: The
storefront of the online world, is the website. Therefore, it is
important that you examine the sites design, and evaluate it, much the
same way that you evaluate an office or store as you walk in the front
door. Let me give you a couple things to consider: a) Is it a
fast-loading site, or are you waiting forever? b) Is it
straightforward or elusive? Can you glean important, direct information
from the homepage, or does the site appear to coax you in deeper? c)
Are you inundated with pop-ups, pop-unders, and other in-your-face ads,
or does the site seem helpful? Remember, how the lender presents
themselves online, is a reflection of their business philosophy, and it
tells you a lot about what kind of lender they may be, after you sign
on the bottom line.
3. Popularity
and Reputation I’m sure you learned in high-school, that
popularity and reputation aren’t everything. However, just like in the
real world, it is important to gather information on these two key
points, and use them as a gauge. a) By typing your lenders URL
into http://www.alexa.com, you will be able to ascertain how popular
your lenders site is, because Alexa will tell you how much visitor
traffic the site gets. This isn’t a science, and popularity isn’t
everything. For example, an extremely popular website could treat you
like a number, and a relatively new lender or smaller institution, might
not be frequently visited, but still be a perfectly viable choice. So,
review popularity alongside rock-solid common sense.
Read
this article in it's entirety by clicking HERE.
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