Country Wide Mortgage: anyone use them, likes/dislikes? (1 Viewer)

[todbnla]

My home mortgage carrier has pis_ed me off for the last time! Chase has really gotten crappy lately, anyhow, We are thinking about going to Countrywide Mortgage, anyone use them?
PLMK-Thanks!

 

[DaveF]

Interestingly, I'm with CountryWide. But I've only had them for about 2 months so I've no real opinion. The one annoying thing I've seen is that they have sur-charges for any automatic payment system besides the monthly. So if you want to pay semi-monthly, for instance, they charge a few extra bucks with each payment.

But this is my first mortgage, so I have nothing to compare to.

 

[Philip_G]

they service my mortgage too. I like the ease of the online payment system, no complaints.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

We've had Countrywide for some previous mortgages, but I never really dealt directly with them -- we went through a mortgage broker, and the mortgage was then assigned to Countrywide. We had no issues with them, though.

 

[Marc_Sulinski]

Same here. Regarding the bi-monthly payment system, I think that most mortgage companies do charge for this. From what I understand, it is a total waste of money, as you are generally free to send in extra principal payments whenever you wish, provided you do not have a pre-payment penalty.

 

[Kevin_Spradley]

I too have CountryWide and have been satisfied with them so far.

 

[Philip_G]

I think it's a little easier to budget half the mortgage every paycheck than all of it out of one for some people.

 

[Elinor]

I had CW for about 5 years in my previous house and about 4 years in my current one.

I was very pleased with them. I only left bec. they could not match the interest rate my credit union offered when I re-fi'd recently.

 

[Paul Bond]

We've been with Countrywide for 4 years now and are quite happy. Two years ago I called and asked if refinancing our then current mortgage would be a good idea. They ran the numbers, dropped the interest rate about 2.5% and we didn't have to pay any points (although we did have to pay for a new title search/verification).

And I was quite pleased when one of their reps called 2-3 months ago to see if they could work out a better deal for us. We talked about different types of mortgages and repayment methods and he said that he couldn't do much better for me that what we currently had. How about that?!?! He did recommend we consider going to a pay every two-week program.

Marc_S, I asked what the difference was between doing that and just paying some extra every month. The key, I was told, was that with the pay every 2-weeks, you generally get a better interest rate which means the total amount you pay will be less than just tacking on extra principle each month. Again, I was pleased to get a simple answer without any pushing to sign up.

Bond. Paul Bond.

 

[Mike Voigt]

I re-fi'd my first house with CW after a similar situation. Actually, our loan was sold, and then those folks started messing around.

So I checked for rates, CW had pretty decent ones, and went with them for 4 years.

They matched best rates available when we moved out of state. Then, when we moved back, they could not quite match best rate - but they had the necessary speed due to my being a current customer. And the rate difference was minuscule, not enough to make any significant difference even in the long run.

I also like the online system.

Mike

 

[Tim Abbott]

Todd,

Don't refi just to get away from CW. They will fund and service close to 1 TRILLION dollars this year. Even if they have a microscopic error sample, it will still be quite large based on the volume. That doesn't necessarily help you, but it is the truth.

Also, remember that whoever you get your mortgage through will most likely reserve the right to sell it. As rates go up and down, the balances of a lenders portfolio will change (ARM vs. Fixed). Natural rebalancing will require a lender to sell off a portion of their holdings whether they planned to or not. Keep in mind you could be with Chase for a couple of months and wind up right back to where you started with CW.

In general CW does a very good job of servicing their loans. I speak from a professional standpoint on that as we sell them many loans, but we don't receive many complaints at all.

Good luck and send me an email if you need more info or have any questions.

Tim

 

[Kevin Tx]

CW been ours for 4 years.
Nothing but good service from anyone I've dealt with

 

[Elinor]

Tim, very thoughtful advice, but you need to read more carefully. The OP is not getting AWAY from CW, he is considering going TO CW.

And lenders are required (I believe) to provide data about what percentage of loans they retain vs. what percentage they sell off. My CU, for example. has sold 0% of loans provided over the last 5 years.

 

[Ted Lee]

we had cw for about two years before we refied. up to that point, we were very happy with them.

i'd recommend them with confidence.

 

[todbnla]

Thanks, keep this rolling, remember I have Chase and am considering going to CW...

 

[Brian Mansure]

Country Wide customer for 5 years and very satisfied.

We had our first mortgage with them and just re-financed with CW a year ago. I've had nothing but good dealings with Country Wide employees and I do apprecaite the online account access and payment options.

 

[Eric_L]

Unlike standard mortgage brokers who are commissioned, I understand Countrywide is salaried.