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expired Posted by Greenworld123 • Dec 8, 2019
expired Posted by Greenworld123 • Dec 8, 2019

Amex offer: $2,500 statement credit for home refinance Better.com

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Must have an amex to add offer to your account. Details:

Unlock even more as an
American Express® Card Member with an exclusive mortgage offer from Better.com
Better.com is making the homebuying and refinance experiences more rewarding, with a $2,500 statement credit and more, exclusively for eligible Card Members. See offer terms below.

https://www.americanexpress.com/u...-OfferHub2

EDIT information from Better.com!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hello,
I work with Better,com and wanted to see if you could please add in the following information to your post on Amex/Better,com deal as it reads incorrect as it stands, especially regarding eligibility. We want to make sure the offer is stated as accurately as possible:
1) Mortgage rates of any specific customer, stated or otherwise, should not be taken as indicative of a mortgage rate available to all customers. Pricing is based on a number of factors, including the individual credit profile of a potential borrower.
2) The offer is only available to those borrowers who have been marketed to directly by American Express, and those who have not received the offer on their Amex portal or via email are not eligible.
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Community Notes
About the Poster
Must have an amex to add offer to your account. Details:

Unlock even more as an
American Express® Card Member with an exclusive mortgage offer from Better.com
Better.com is making the homebuying and refinance experiences more rewarding, with a $2,500 statement credit and more, exclusively for eligible Card Members. See offer terms below.

https://www.americanexpress.com/u...-OfferHub2

EDIT information from Better.com!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hello,
I work with Better,com and wanted to see if you could please add in the following information to your post on Amex/Better,com deal as it reads incorrect as it stands, especially regarding eligibility. We want to make sure the offer is stated as accurately as possible:
1) Mortgage rates of any specific customer, stated or otherwise, should not be taken as indicative of a mortgage rate available to all customers. Pricing is based on a number of factors, including the individual credit profile of a potential borrower.
2) The offer is only available to those borrowers who have been marketed to directly by American Express, and those who have not received the offer on their Amex portal or via email are not eligible.

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Jul 9, 2020
2,021 Posts
Joined Feb 2008
Jul 9, 2020
stm69
Jul 9, 2020
2,021 Posts
Quote from scorpioneyes :
1) I've read through this thread and notice many of you have significantly larger credits - is that part of the standard rate quote or discounts offered by your loan person (like my tiny $500)?
Just a quick note, credits are a function on how points work for mortgages. So let's say you have a 3% quote with 0 points. You can buy a point (pay) to get to 2.75% or you can take a point (credit) to go to 3.25%. What you pay or get credited, is approximately 1% of your loan - so when you're only borrowing $200K, your points cost or credit will be less than a $500K loan. Each lender's rate table might vary a little, and they may even charge slightly more to buy points and give out less in credit, but the example still holds.

To your other questions, optimally better will match plus $1K in your favor. Lately it seems like they're not chasing business. Your LTV is what owning desires, they'd be a good one to get a LE to match to better. And you can actually do both properties at same time and get multiple credits. My last better loan officer had a client doing 4 properties simultaneously on the deal.
Last edited by stm69 July 9, 2020 at 02:03 AM.
Pro
Jul 9, 2020
5,053 Posts
Joined Jul 2006
Jul 9, 2020
shahhere
Pro
Jul 9, 2020
5,053 Posts
Quote from nyforever :
Not sure how Radian is so cheap, because PA has a standard schedule of rates controlled by the government. See section 5.50, page 22 in the attached manual. So using ALT Title for $1,514, your mortgage balance is around $227k; but using Radian cost of $998, your mortgage balance is around $120k...

Not sure what to say but as I've said several times that whatever it is they are the cheapest Smilie. PA stopped the Reissue discount a long time ago as well as they got into the Refinance Money Making scam as well as there is no reason to run title over and over for the same timeframe.


Shahhere
Jul 9, 2020
102 Posts
Joined Sep 2019
Jul 9, 2020
PeterParker13
Jul 9, 2020
102 Posts
When I contacted Radian for a reissue rate, this is what they said:

"Unfortunately, Radian is currently going through a revamping of the customer experience and our Title Direct channel is temporarily suspended until late this year when the revamping is complete.

We are not accepting orders for processing until that time."

Any good providers for NY?
Pro
Jul 9, 2020
5,053 Posts
Joined Jul 2006
Jul 9, 2020
shahhere
Pro
Jul 9, 2020
5,053 Posts
Quote from scorpioneyes :
Hi all, I've got a multi-part question, any advice is greatly appreciated Smilie

I refinanced with Better back in 2018 and it was a very good experience. I saw this AMEX offer and applied/got pre-approved a couple weeks ago, been getting calls from a guy named Andres - quite responsive and calls me daily to try and get me to lock in rates, but the fees/points are not attractive:

*Currently 3.75% w/28 yrs to go, $230k/$1.1m value in SF Bay Area, 711 FICO per the soft-pull.
*Better is quoting 30yr @ 3% & $2700 in points + approx $1870 closing costs (no impounds).
*Andres will give a $500 discount for being a repeat customer. He tries to make me believe it's a deal since AMEX waives appraisal & the $2500 credit offsets the points (shady salesmanship, IMO)
*Lenderfi's quick quote (based on FICO & income, not actual app): 30 yr @ 2.875 & $693 in points + $1610 closing costs. Will put in an actual app and obtain LE


Thank you in advance!

To be honest if you read the bulk of this thread you'll get your answers and I get it that the thread is long but in these cases reading the last 10 pages will give you a gist of what the current situation is.




1) I've read through this thread and notice many of you have significantly larger credits - is that part of the standard rate quote or discounts offered by your loan person (like my tiny $500)?


Shopping for Rate should be done on whats called a PAR rate or the rate that nets you the closest without paying Points or exuberant costs out of pocket. So for example a 3% rate nets you to pay $300 in fees before 3rd party then from there people (like me) sometimes elect to go up in the rate for more credit. In this example I'll go up to 3.25% and get $2900 in negative points (credit) to close the loan.


The above example depends on several factors such as your loan balance; your credit score etc....so if you only have a $100,000 balance you wont see as big a credit vs someone who has a $300,000 balance.


The rates are so low right now that the lenders are keeping the % high enough but are offering credits back to people is what I think.





2) When presenting the LE, is it customary for Better to beat or simply match the competition?


Better used to match/beat more often based on the responses in the past few months than now in the past 2-4 weeks. In my personal case they came close to the lenders match but are still off by $600+ and if you account for the other LE without the appraisal costs it would be almost $1200; all this not counting their $1000 guarantee which they are no longer doing in lieu of the Amex credit which they are putting in the response.


3) Owning.com: does anyone have any recent experiences to share? My whole office got the 2.99 with zero out-of-pocket costs, and now they're 2.75 but I'm waiting to for them to take loans under $300k


Many people are quoting them and are so far saying that their rates are very competitive but it looks like they are only in Cali so the responses are limited.


4) I've got an investment property as well, and Lenderfi's rates appear to be as low as owner-occupied rates: is it wise or do-able to have two applications happening at the same time? Ideally I would go with Better for my primary home and Lenderfi for the rental


My advice (please note that I am not a certified Mortgage broker so take this on your own accord) is that you line up 4, 6,8, 10 lenders that give you the rate quote before running credit so you have an idea who is worthy of a good rate. Then formally apply to all those that meet your criteria all withing days. Let them run credit as credit checks within the same window count almost as a single hard credit pull especially for mortgage checks and I believe its a 15 day period.


Then once you have gotten Lender Estimates (LE) see if anyone of those lenders are willing to beat your best offer and if the rate looks good your priority would be to lock that rate else it will not stick. Advantage is that you've got that quoted rate without changing and the Downside is that if the rate goes lower you wont be allowed by most lenders to move down or take a bigger credit and will in most cases have to wait another 6 months to reapply with them.


Shahhere
Pro
Jul 9, 2020
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Jul 9, 2020
shahhere
Pro
Jul 9, 2020
5,053 Posts
Quote from refitime :
Better is a joke. They emailed me and said they can't match. They didn't even try because the difference was more than $2,500.

Did they provide you an offer? Did they mention anything about this being a byproduct of your low credit score by any chance?

I've read that loans over $500k aren't subject to the match or something silly along those lines.

That said most of the recent replies including my case are that they aren't match 1 for 1 nor the $1k beat guarantee and are simply pointing back to the Amex deal.

If anything the right way to do it is to apply directly on the website; get a Competing Lender Estimate ASAP and get them to beat the rate. Then switch to the Amex offer midway in the offering as many have done and basically doubledip.

It also seems like if the rates stay or go lower they'll be willing to do more matches and effectively bring the cost down but if the rates go up they'd probably have no incentives.


Shahhere
Jul 9, 2020
41,436 Posts
Joined Apr 2006
Jul 9, 2020
SDRebel
Jul 9, 2020
41,436 Posts
Quote from cdancer20 :
wire transfer. Luckily I had a bank that did 82 cent outgoing wires.
damn, which one is that? i have a ton of bank accounts (due to bonuses Big Grin ) but only a couple with enough for the closing.
HSBC is very stupid, so I think I'm going to have to do Chase
Jul 9, 2020
28 Posts
Joined Nov 2004
Jul 9, 2020
luckyclover004
Jul 9, 2020
28 Posts
Quote from MrDioji :
They're very clear that the LE for the price match guarantee has to be submitted within 1 business day.
My apologies, to clarify and amend the info re date..
6/26 - submitted online application with Lenderfi...but since it was Fri after hr/weekend...I did not receive an LE from the agent until Mon. 6/29. I emailed Better 4 hours later, with the attachment citing the date and time stamp of the LE from Lenderfi. This was a valid and legit competitive offer for Better to honor their price guarantee. But they flat out reject other offers.

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Jul 9, 2020
900 Posts
Joined Nov 2017
Jul 9, 2020
gk6740
Jul 9, 2020
900 Posts
Slightly off topic, but maybe not.

Looking to buy a car and my "closing" is in 2 days, and "funding" is 4-5 days after that.

I am not tight on qualifying, but wonder if I need to be concerned. Do they do another credit check after "closing"?
Jul 9, 2020
1,894 Posts
Joined Feb 2006
Jul 9, 2020
indymale
Jul 9, 2020
1,894 Posts
Quote from micky_d :
FYI so far I got 5 loan estimates and all of them have been based on soft check on my credit. No hard inquiry. I have credit monitoring setup , plus I pulled my 3 credit reports yesterday to double check that.
Which ones did soft check and get you an LE? I have a credit freeze and can possibly remove it for a day to soft check the rates I'm getting.
Jul 9, 2020
900 Posts
Joined Nov 2017
Jul 9, 2020
gk6740
Jul 9, 2020
900 Posts
Quote from indymale :
Which ones did soft check and get you an LE? I have a credit freeze and can possibly remove it for a day to soft check the rates I'm getting.
You can do multiple hard checks and it only counts as one. To get a valid LE you really need to go with a full application.

UNFREEZE and let it go. When it does ding your FICO, it is only a few points.

https://www.myfico.com/credit-edu...-inquiries

So, if you find a loan within 30 days, the inquiries won't affect your scores while you're rate shopping.
In addition, FICO Scores look on your credit report for rate-shopping inquiries older than 30 days. If your FICO Scores find some, your scores will consider inquiries that fall in a typical shopping period as just one inquiry. For FICO Scores calculated from older versions of the scoring formula, this shopping period is any 14 day span. For FICO Scores calculated from the newest versions of the scoring formula, this shopping period is any 45 day span. Each lender chooses which version of the FICO scoring formula it wants the credit reporting agency to use to calculate your FICO Scores.
Jul 9, 2020
1,298 Posts
Joined May 2005
Jul 9, 2020
rspray
Jul 9, 2020
1,298 Posts
So mad that MA is excluded from Better. I just re-fi'd last year at 3.25% (30 yr, no pts), and might cave and go again if it starts going < 2.75%.
Jul 9, 2020
2,741 Posts
Joined Jun 2008
Jul 9, 2020
KaatuPaadi
Jul 9, 2020
2,741 Posts
I have the following.. Giving in APR to make it simple. 500K loan. Doing 25% 30 year

Better - 3% rate - 3.033 APR. 3961 A+B+C ( 2500 cedit)
BOA - 2.875 APR 2.926 ABCD=5700
Loan depot is doing 2.77 APR

Better is doing appraisal monday and I have a conditionally approved.. I would like to go with better but if they don;t match, I'm wondering if you can just switch the lender to what u r comfortable ?? What type of hassle is it?? Closing is August 10

How late u can bailout of better if needed??
Jul 9, 2020
1,258 Posts
Joined Oct 2007
Jul 9, 2020
micky_d
Jul 9, 2020
1,258 Posts
With soft check, they actually do get pretty much everything your score / debt etc, without showing up as hard inquiry in your report. So honestly, I dont get to understand why people keep saying get the hard check for so called estimate.
When I do the final lock with someone and for loan then of course hard inquiry will be required. But I can not imagine what different they will find then if they already have my scores and other other debt information with soft check.

With soft check I got LE from
Chase, Ally, Better, Loan Depot, PNC just to name a few.

In few instances, I had to call them and asked them if they were ok to give estimates with soft check and they agreed. I provided them with last 4 of social do the soft check. and they could get everything they needed. As I said I have credit monitoring setup and credit files that I accessed couple of days ago from all three agencies, and I did not see these reports being requested under hard inquiry.

Loan cabin was the only one that did not let me get any LE without hard inquiry, and they were very unprofessional in responding to my emails, so I dropped them from my consideration.



Quote from indymale :
Which ones did soft check and get you an LE? I have a credit freeze and can possibly remove it for a day to soft check the rates I'm getting.
Quote from gk6740 :
You can do multiple hard checks and it only counts as one. To get a valid LE you really need to go with a full application.

UNFREEZE and let it go. When it does ding your FICO, it is only a few points.

https://www.myfico.com/credit-edu...-inquiries

So, if you find a loan within 30 days, the inquiries won't affect your scores while you're rate shopping.
In addition, FICO Scores look on your credit report for rate-shopping inquiries older than 30 days. If your FICO Scores find some, your scores will consider inquiries that fall in a typical shopping period as just one inquiry. For FICO Scores calculated from older versions of the scoring formula, this shopping period is any 14 day span. For FICO Scores calculated from the newest versions of the scoring formula, this shopping period is any 45 day span. Each lender chooses which version of the FICO scoring formula it wants the credit reporting agency to use to calculate your FICO Scores.
Jul 9, 2020
3,720 Posts
Joined Oct 2010
Jul 9, 2020
k1ngkev1n1
Jul 9, 2020
3,720 Posts
Quote from KaatuPaadi :
I have the following.. Giving in APR to make it simple. 500K loan. Doing 25% 30 year

Better - 3% rate - 3.033 APR. 3961 A+B+C ( 2500 cedit)
BOA - 2.875 APR 2.926 ABCD=5700
Loan depot is doing 2.77 APR

Better is doing appraisal monday and I have a conditionally approved.. I would like to go with better but if they don;t match, I'm wondering if you can just switch the lender to what u r comfortable ?? What type of hassle is it?? Closing is August 10

How late u can bailout of better if needed??
is that bank of america? pretty low rate from them.

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Jul 9, 2020
205 Posts
Joined Aug 2013
Jul 9, 2020
SomeXYZ
Jul 9, 2020
205 Posts
Quote from apple1122 :
Hi, did you personally receive an email offer from Amex? Asking because wiki states need to receive the email offer in order to receive the $2500 credit. Thanks.
I did not receive any email. I asked better to confirm my eligibility. They are positive about it.

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