When searching in Google for information on a company, many times, the Google Suggest feature will suggest relevant searches. for example, if you search for “Lending Tree”, it will suggest “Lending tree Reviews” and “Lending Tree Complaints”. It is wise to see what is showing up and at least respond to any complaints when possible. Otherwise, you get some negative reviews ranking well, such as Lending Tree’s situation.

USAA also has some issues as seen by these USAA Reviews.

Action items you can do to help:

1) Set up a Google Alert that will notify you when your company name shows up.

2) When you find negative reviews, try to get detailed information on the issue and respond to it, but don’t make it a canned response. Make it relevant. It takes extra worth, but will be worth it.

3) Finally, simply try to do as much as you can to provide good customer service. Service has always been important, but now, you don’t control your perception through marketing anywhere near as much as your customers control it. So it is worth the extra investment.

In May, Fannie Mae announced that they would require multiple credit reports from borrowers when getting a loan that would be underwritten to FNMA standards.

And if you aren’t careful, this new “last minute credit report pull” can delay or possibly even deny you being eligible for a loan.

When getting a FNMA conforming loan, lenders are now required to pull a “new” credit report on the day of closing and if any new accounts show up, then the loan will need to be re-underwritten taking the new information into account. This can delay your closing. Even worse, if an account suddenly shows up (say that you went out and bought a new car) it could disqualify you from being eligible because the new debt will be counted in your debt to income ratios.

So the general rule of thumb is this:

If you are in the process of getting a mortgage, be sure not to go open any new credit accounts during the process.

This has generally always been the case, but now with this new FNMA rule in place where lenders pull your credit report on the day of closing, there really isn’t anything good that can come out of opening new accounts – it can only put your mortgage loan approval in jeopardy.

The reason for this new rule? I suspect that it was the discovery by Fannie Mae that many homeowners who defaulted on their loan in the last 24 months had went out and gotten additional debt after their credit report was first pulled by the lender. There was a direct pattern and trail of results that showed a correlation between homeowners incurring additional debt between application and closing and defaulting on a mortgage loan.

Moral of the story?

If you are in the process of getting a home loan, be sure not to take out any additional debts during the process. Wait until after you close your mortgage and move into your new home.

Thinking of refinancing into a 15-year mortgage? Or maybe you are planning to buy a home and want to finance it with a 15-year home loan instead of being tied into a 30-year mortgage. Consider the pros and cons of 15-year mortgage loans.

Current Mortgage Rates Are Low 

Anytime you finance with a 15-year mortgage you are going to get a lower rate than with a 30-year loan. Rates on 15-year fixed mortgages are at 4.21% and 30-year home loans are averaging 4.78%. Mortgage rates on both types of loans are exceptional right now by historical standards, but you’ll need to do the math to decide if a 15-year term makes more sense for your situation.

Monthly Payments Are Larger

Obviously you will end up paying less interest over 15 years as opposed to 30 years. But keep in mind that a 15-year loan is going to require a larger monthly payment than a 30-year mortgage. If you have any doubt about being able to make the larger monthly payments, you’re probably better off going with a 30-year term. You can always make extra principal payments to pay off a mortgage loan faster.

It’s hard to say how long these low mortgage rates will last. If you believe that refinancing into a 15-year mortgage can help your financial situation, now is the time to act.