Has anyone used rocket mortgage?

[Bees18]

This is a part of quicken loans, which you do everything online. If so can you share your experience? 

The other places im looking is new American funding. We are looking for a conventional 97% loan where you only out 3% down.

[chiefone4u]

I attempted using, but ended up using a different bank. For myself the fee's (closing costs and interest) where significantly higher than the next closest lender I checked.

Rocket mortgage also wanted 18 months worth of reserves as part of my approval.

The loan officer I was working with said she'd never seen an approval requiring 18 months in reserves; she stated "most of our loans require 6 months in reserves unless your middle score is above 680".

They also were only willing to extend $90k loan when all other banks I checked were offering $250k.

YMMV.
Best of luck!

[Bees18]

Oh wow. That doesn't sound good at all. What do they mean by reserves ? Is that something required due to a credit score? 

[Bees18]

Can I ask what bank you did end up going with? 

[JVille]

Please stay away from online lenders like Rocket or Quicken. Just don’t do it.
Go see your local Credit Union or Lender recommended by Friends, Family or Co-workers.
These outfits promise much but do not know your local community.

[chiefone4u]

Reserves are cash (savings) available to cover your debts incase of job loss.

I ended up using US Bank. They had competitive rates and fee's, and was the only bank that I spoke with that services the loan for the full term (I will always pay US Bank, not some other company).

My mortgage scores used at time of loan shopping/ purchase are in my signature.

[JVille]

Reserves = money left in the bank after closing. Typical requirements are anywhere from Zero to 3 months reserves.

[Kismetavah]

Well, I haven’t used Rocket but I am using New American Funding (they have local offices in most states)right now and the process has been going smoothly thus far. I was preapproved within 4 days (manual underwriting) found a house about 4-5 days after (offer accepted), locked in my interest rate and now am getting inspections, appraisers this week. Hope it continues down that path. Good luck in your search!

[Bees18]

Thanks, do they require an inspection along with appraisal or is that your choice ? Do you have to pay for both out of pocket if they do?

[Anonymous]

When I bought my home the appraisal was one of the items included in the closing costs. I believe this is pretty standard.

For a home inspection, you absolutely should do one even if it's not required. This you will typically pay out of pocket and have to setup yourself (ask your real estate agent if the have any recommendations for quality home inspection professional). You are making most likely the biggest purchase of your life. Get some help to make sure the house doesn't have any major issues.

As far as using Quicken/Rocket, I had started into the process with them as it was my first time ever getting mortgage and they were the familiar name from TV ads. My real estate agent wasn't crazy about it, had heard mixed feedback about them. But I said for now I'll move forward with the pre-approval they gave.

I put an offer on a house, and seller's agent inquired about financing. When she found out it was Quicken she said she had terrible experiences with them, and would be advising seller not to accept an offer with Quicken financing. Said multiple times had situations where Quicken shut down loans last minute causing buyers to scramble for new financing and delaying the closing. That was enough for me to say forget Quicken, and ended up going with different bank (TCF Bank). I don't know if that's a fair assessment of Quicken, but I wasn't willing to take the risk.

My experience with TCF wasn't exactly glowing either, but we got it done. Going forward I'm taking the advice to work with a smaller local lender and/or CU.