Is Countrywide any good for mortgage?
March 24, 2009 7:44 AM Subscribe
How good/bad is Countrywide for a mortgage?
I am looking to buy a house soon. I was directed to Countrywide by two sources one being the city who deemed them acceptable. I gave them a call and the Countrywide associate/lender/person gave me a great quote.
While talking with a relative I was told to not even touch them. This relative has a friend who went through them and was fine until they stopped withdrawing his mortgage. He ended up getting months behind and lost his house cause his car broke down and he had to choose which to pay. She also said they were hooked up with bad lending practices.
I'm trying to get a better opinion on them other then just google. I did read that they were bought by Bank of America and am hoping they have improved. The house will cost 69,900 with a possible add-on for repairs which should be no more than 75000.
Is Countrywide worth it or should I just look to my other two possible choices?
I am looking to buy a house soon. I was directed to Countrywide by two sources one being the city who deemed them acceptable. I gave them a call and the Countrywide associate/lender/person gave me a great quote.
While talking with a relative I was told to not even touch them. This relative has a friend who went through them and was fine until they stopped withdrawing his mortgage. He ended up getting months behind and lost his house cause his car broke down and he had to choose which to pay. She also said they were hooked up with bad lending practices.
I'm trying to get a better opinion on them other then just google. I did read that they were bought by Bank of America and am hoping they have improved. The house will cost 69,900 with a possible add-on for repairs which should be no more than 75000.
Is Countrywide worth it or should I just look to my other two possible choices?
well, in the past they were one of the major sources of 'toxic assets', they wrote a ton of subprime mortgages and then sold those mortgages on to third parties. I don't think that would have much effect on getting a mortgage from them.
posted by delmoi at 7:55 AM on March 24, 2009
posted by delmoi at 7:55 AM on March 24, 2009
Didn't ALL the banks practice bad lending practices?
You can get bad lender stories with just about ANY mortgage lender. CountryWide also still buys up a large number of other companies mortgages so you may wind up with CountryWide later anyway. (Yes they seem to be a little better now that there are BoA - but that's a whole 'nuther issue)
Sorry to hear about your friend, but it would seem that if they stopped withdrawing his mortgage (whatever the cause) your friend would have an extra $800-$3000 a month accruing in his bank account. If he over looked this AND spent it all, and couldn't make the payment because of a car repair - I think you friend had more money management issues than he can realistically blame on CountryWide.
IF you think the house is worth 75k...
IF you can afford the payments for 75k...
IF you feel secure enough that you can continue those payments in spite of car failure and economic dowturns...
IF you can get it with few fees and hopefully no points... (others can argue the tax advantages of paying for points)
...sure, why not consider them. Of course you should still shop your rates and package details to other lenders. Bypass most brokers if you are able to deal directly with the lenders, sometimes you can get better rates that way. Right now... hovering around 5% is pretty darn good (historically).
Here's more tips from the Federal Reserve Board.
posted by emjay at 8:03 AM on March 24, 2009 [1 favorite]
You can get bad lender stories with just about ANY mortgage lender. CountryWide also still buys up a large number of other companies mortgages so you may wind up with CountryWide later anyway. (Yes they seem to be a little better now that there are BoA - but that's a whole 'nuther issue)
Sorry to hear about your friend, but it would seem that if they stopped withdrawing his mortgage (whatever the cause) your friend would have an extra $800-$3000 a month accruing in his bank account. If he over looked this AND spent it all, and couldn't make the payment because of a car repair - I think you friend had more money management issues than he can realistically blame on CountryWide.
IF you think the house is worth 75k...
IF you can afford the payments for 75k...
IF you feel secure enough that you can continue those payments in spite of car failure and economic dowturns...
IF you can get it with few fees and hopefully no points... (others can argue the tax advantages of paying for points)
...sure, why not consider them. Of course you should still shop your rates and package details to other lenders. Bypass most brokers if you are able to deal directly with the lenders, sometimes you can get better rates that way. Right now... hovering around 5% is pretty darn good (historically).
Here's more tips from the Federal Reserve Board.
posted by emjay at 8:03 AM on March 24, 2009 [1 favorite]
consumerist tag countrywide
ripofreport: countrywide
posted by krautland at 8:13 AM on March 24, 2009
ripofreport: countrywide
posted by krautland at 8:13 AM on March 24, 2009
one more: Countrywide CEO Accidentally Emails Homeowner, Calls His Plea For Help "Disgusting"
posted by krautland at 8:14 AM on March 24, 2009
posted by krautland at 8:14 AM on March 24, 2009
We bought a house in 2004 and our lender sold our mortgage to Countrywide (they were a lender that sells 100% of their mortgages and we knew this would happen. Our broker even said it would probably be Countrywide that purchased it).
We've never had a problem. We even refinanced with them recently, and it went smoothly and we are very happy.
posted by peep at 8:18 AM on March 24, 2009
We've never had a problem. We even refinanced with them recently, and it went smoothly and we are very happy.
posted by peep at 8:18 AM on March 24, 2009
My loan was sold to Countrywide and I haven't had any trouble. The only advice I can give you other than that is to make sure you have all the terms of your mortgage settled and in writing well in advance of making an offer and especially closing. A friend got baited and switched at the last minute and ended up paying quite a bit of money because he was unwilling to back out of the new terms.
posted by electroboy at 8:22 AM on March 24, 2009
posted by electroboy at 8:22 AM on March 24, 2009
My friend's mortgage company was not Countrywide, by the way.
posted by electroboy at 8:23 AM on March 24, 2009
posted by electroboy at 8:23 AM on March 24, 2009
We just received a notice that Countrywide is now Bank of America. How's them apples?
posted by pianomover at 9:18 AM on March 24, 2009
posted by pianomover at 9:18 AM on March 24, 2009
Personal experience: Have had our home loan with Countrywide for 10 years, great rate, and their customer service has always been very good.
posted by jbickers at 9:19 AM on March 24, 2009
posted by jbickers at 9:19 AM on March 24, 2009
My original loan was with Countrywide, and we've refi'd twice through them (in 12 years). I've always been outstandingly happy with their service, rates, and (especially) website document access.
They were purchased (actually the word that gets used a lot is "acquired") by Bank of America, which scares me a great deal. I suspect that once they get BoA-ified, we'll move on, but for the past dozen or so years we've been very, very happy with them.
posted by anastasiav at 9:44 AM on March 24, 2009
They were purchased (actually the word that gets used a lot is "acquired") by Bank of America, which scares me a great deal. I suspect that once they get BoA-ified, we'll move on, but for the past dozen or so years we've been very, very happy with them.
posted by anastasiav at 9:44 AM on March 24, 2009
I bought a mortgage from someone in 2005, and then the next month that mortgage got sold to Countrywide, and absolutely nothing changed. They weren't good, they weren't bad, they were just the people we wrote a check to every month.
posted by the dief at 10:34 AM on March 24, 2009
posted by the dief at 10:34 AM on March 24, 2009
It might be better to go through a mortgage broker rather than dealing directly with lenders. Worked great for us.
Chances are your mortgage will be sold from one company to another, maybe more than once, so who holds the mortgage is not that much of an issue.
posted by ecorrocio at 12:29 PM on March 24, 2009
Chances are your mortgage will be sold from one company to another, maybe more than once, so who holds the mortgage is not that much of an issue.
posted by ecorrocio at 12:29 PM on March 24, 2009
My mortgage has been with Countrywide since 2003 or 2004, when they bought it from the originator. I have no problems to report. At one point I needed to buy out my house's co-owner and Countrywide let me assume the entire mortgage without refinancing, which saved me a bundle and made me very happy.
posted by magicbus at 1:27 PM on March 24, 2009
posted by magicbus at 1:27 PM on March 24, 2009
I have two Countrywide mortgages, and both have been utterly uneventful. I went through them for my primary residence and they have had the mortgage on that for 15 years. I went through a different lender for my vacation home (an upfront mortgage broker), and the loan was subsequently sold to Countrywide. That was about three years ago.
posted by HotToddy at 5:09 PM on March 24, 2009
posted by HotToddy at 5:09 PM on March 24, 2009
My mortgage was purchased right after signing by Countrywide. Like peep, our broker said that they would likely do so. We've yet to have a problem.
posted by sugarfish at 9:31 PM on March 24, 2009
posted by sugarfish at 9:31 PM on March 24, 2009
My parents have investment real estate with a Countrywide loan, pre-bubble (conventional ARM). I wouldn't say that I've ever had anything bad to say about them.
The purchase by Bank of America really hasn't changed much. Despite the fact that they went under due to the subprime mess, and there were specific issues with the company's loans, I don't think this necessarily affects you if you're going in for a non-exotic mortgage with a healthy down payment, which is the only type going through right now. In fact, I would shop around, but less on the basis of the company's rep than on concrete financial grounds, e.g. closing costs and interest rates.
posted by dhartung at 1:51 AM on March 25, 2009
The purchase by Bank of America really hasn't changed much. Despite the fact that they went under due to the subprime mess, and there were specific issues with the company's loans, I don't think this necessarily affects you if you're going in for a non-exotic mortgage with a healthy down payment, which is the only type going through right now. In fact, I would shop around, but less on the basis of the company's rep than on concrete financial grounds, e.g. closing costs and interest rates.
posted by dhartung at 1:51 AM on March 25, 2009
We also have our mortgage with Countrywide (refinanced with them about four years from Wells Fargo). I just got an email from Countrywide roughly two weeks ago saying that they were bought out to BoA and that I'd be receiving info about the transition.
Since I do autotransfers and one is due in a couple of days, it should be interesting. Still, to answer your question, I've not had any problems at all. In fact, Countrywide's website is pretty compehensive in terms of getting all of our mortgage info - taxes, etc. - without having to deal with any phone center monkeys.
posted by dancinglamb at 6:16 AM on March 25, 2009
Since I do autotransfers and one is due in a couple of days, it should be interesting. Still, to answer your question, I've not had any problems at all. In fact, Countrywide's website is pretty compehensive in terms of getting all of our mortgage info - taxes, etc. - without having to deal with any phone center monkeys.
posted by dancinglamb at 6:16 AM on March 25, 2009
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As for lending practices, there are two ways to mitigate that:
- Have a lawyer. It's actually required here in NYC, which is probably a good thing. Mortgage paperwork is now required to come with a document that I can't remember the name of, but is essentially a one-page, plain-English explanation of the terms.
- Shop around. Get another quote. If one is substantially more favorable than the other, make them explain why.
Good luck, I know it's a totally nervewracking process.
posted by mkultra at 7:52 AM on March 24, 2009 [1 favorite]