Guaranteed Rate is one of the largest retail mortgage lenders in the United States. Headquartered in Chicago, the Company has approximately 210 offices across the U.S. and Washington, D.C., and is licensed in all 50 states. Since its founding in 2000, Guaranteed Rate has helped hundreds of thousands of homeowners with home purchase loans and refinances and funded nearly $19 billion in loans in 2017 alone. The Company has become the Home Purchase Experts® by introducing the world's first Digital Mortgage technology and offering low rate, low fee mortgages through an easy-to-understand process and unparalleled customer service. Guaranteed Rate won an American Business Award for its Digital Mortgage technology in 2016, ranked No. 1 in Scotsman Guide's Top Mortgage Lenders 2016, was chosen as Top Lender 2016 and 2017 by Chicago Agent magazine, made the Chicago Tribune's Top Workplaces list seven of the past eight years, and was named Best Overall Online Lender and Best Lender for FHA Refinance by NerdWallet in 2018.
When I first contacted my loan agent 02/xx/21 interest rates where 3%. Then when I contacted my loan agent to start the process 03/05/21 interest was 3.25% Today 04/21/21 interest rates are ALLEGEDLY the same. I watch the 10 year Treasury and follow mortgage rates. I see national average is 2.87% to 3%. When I received the call to lock because of new fees associated Fannie Mae etc , it started out as you where QUOTED . Ok yes quoted but If mortgage rates have went down , why are you saying they are still the same ? I believe so they can sell your loan at a better rate in the secondary market.
John from Ontario, CA
Reviewed in April 2021
Closed with Lender:
Yes
Loan Type:
Home Purchase
Review Type:
Lender Review
Do you want to flag this review?
(2 of 5)stars
GuarnteedRate
From the time I applied the process has not been good at all . I had to call them weeks later after applying online . In even after hearing from the them and them connecting me to agent she was not on top of job a lack of communication. It’s been over five weeks and nothing has been accomplished with Anika I sign Today to see that I have a whole new person which I never Heard from . Only thing discussed was the amount I might Be able to purchase after submitting my information to get the exact amount I never anything kind I have Emailed and text personal cell phone no response .
Sunshine from Camden, NJ
Reviewed in October 2020
Loan Type:
Home Purchase
Review Type:
Lender Review
Do you want to flag this review?
(2 of 5)stars
Unimpressed
Signed and locked GFE . appraisal came back and wanted time to think about it and they cancelled our agreement and push us on a different deal. Response time has been awful since I gave my cc info. Every time the agent called me he puts me on hold. Our first time refinancing and agent didnt do a good job explaining everything now we lost money on appraisal.
earl from Jacksonville,
Reviewed in May 2015
LendingTree Customer:
Yes
Do you want to flag this review?
(2 of 5)stars
Slow, disorganized, and caused us to close late
I worked with Alex and Ashley in Chicago and just completed a frustrating and disappointing loan with Guaranteed Rate with the net result being that we did
not close on time. My loan was pretty simple. I put 20% down, the appraisal came back higher than sales price, I'm unmarried, have good credit, have a
salaried job that I've been at for 11 plus years, we had 31 days to close, and this was a conforming loan. The only complication was that I was signing
remotely which meant that I needed to ship our signed documents the afternoon before closing.
It took 28 days from the time we started the process until they provided the loan documents to the title company. They set a handful of internal deadlines
to review documents, approve the loan, etc and missed them all. There were multiple delays due to asking for documents I had already sent that were not
reviewed correctly. The end result was that we closed late and had to scramble on the weekend to get a contract extension from the seller.
I wish I could tell you that I got the B Team and that your loan will go better. However, I reached out several times to express concern about the lack of
progress and they dismissed any concern I raised and stated that everything was going smoothly. This makes me believe that this is a typical experience
with Guaranteed Rate. After contacting client relations and multiple phone calls, they did offer to send me a small gift card. I'll leave it up to you to decide for yourself if you'd like to go through something similar.
I've gone back through all of our communications and here's the timeline:
6/09 - Our offer was accepted, made contact with Guaranteed Rate, filled out online application.
6/10 - Decided to use Guaranteed Rate, completed application over phone.
6/11 - First contact from the processor, signed application, began delivering documents.
6/12 - I completed delivering documents one day early, was told they would be reviewed within 4 days (6/16).
6/17 - Asked for an update since there was no response on the review, was told they would be reviewed tomorrow.
6/20 - Asked for an update on the document review. Received no response.
6/22 - Document review was completed 6 days late. Received request for additional documents.
6/23 - I delivered additional documents one day early. Was told they'd be reviewed shortly.
6/24 - Loan submitted to underwriting.
6/26 - Was told loan should be approved today or tomorrow.
6/29 - Was told loan would be approved no later than 6/30.
6/31 - Loan was approved. Was asked to provide documents on account which I had provided the week prior.
7/01 - Was asked for insurance information which I provided the week prior.
7/02 - Was asked for verification of receipt of appraisal which I provided two weeks prior.
7/03 - The loan was cleared to close.
7/07 - Documents provided to Title Company in the afternoon leaving 1 hour for them to prepare, us to sign, and ship documents.
Thank you for giving us the opportunity to address your concerns as Guaranteed Rate prides itself on client satisfaction. We regret that your experience was less than satisfactory and that the gift card didn’t help offset some of the frustration. If you’d like to continue the discussion, please feel free to contact the Customer Care Hotline (773-328-6467) with any additional questions or concerns.
ALittleOdd from Austin, TX
Reviewed in July 2014
LendingTree Customer:
Yes
Do you want to flag this review?
(2 of 5)stars
Recommended
OK
The only broker that was not calling me every hour. Decided to go with someone local.
obnoxious from Wisconsin,
Reviewed in May 2013
LendingTree Customer:
Yes
Do you want to flag this review?
(2 of 5)stars
Be Aware
If you are planning on refinancing and have only W-2 or 1099 income, then GR is a good company to use because they have low rates.
If you need to rely on income from a Schedule E or Schedule C, GR is not qualified to handle this type of income. I have this type of income and it took four months to close my first loan with them and it was a struggle all the way.
Do not use GR if you are purchasing a home. If you do, be prepared for additional stress because GR's communications are extremely poor after the initial information gathering period.
Be aware that GR does not underwrite jumbo loans. These loans are done by the lender who will end up owning the loan.
By background - retired from being a corporate real estate broker for over 40 years.
Thanks for the feedback. We take a lot of pride in our 96% customer satisfaction rating and we’re so sorry we didn’t do a better job with your loan. This is definitely not how we like to do business. Not sure if it’s too late, but we’d love to make it right or at least hear more details so we can find ways to make our process more efficient. Would you mind emailing us at [email protected] with your loan details? Again, you have our sincere apologies. –Nicole, social media manager
Woodinville from Wa,
Reviewed in March 2013
LendingTree Customer:
Yes
Do you want to flag this review?
(2 of 5)stars
Recommended
Hold on after you get your docs in -
Lots of contact until the docs got in and d the loan was approved - then everyone disappeared until 2 hours vefore I was to sign papers. complete lack of contact and info - great rate, but lousy customer service.
Here are a few tips for writing a top-notch review for a company in our marketplace:
Do
Don't
LendingTree Certification:
The LendingTree Certification Program recognizes Lenders and Loan Officers with outstanding performance on the LendingTree Network, they are committed to providing exceptional customer service and are graduates of LendingTree University.
LendingTree Certification:
Certified Lenders have demonstrated their organizational commitment to employee development, at least 50% of their loan professionals have been certified while also providing exemplary service to LendingTree consumers.
Loan Officer Certifications:
Gold Leaf is the cornerstone of the loan officer certification program and is designed to recognize loan officers committed to their own professional development while adhering to LendingTree best practices. Gold Leaf recipients know the fundamentals of LendingTree and online lending, they are equipped with the necessary skills to be best-in-class loan professionals.
President’s Club is presented to an elite group of loan officers based on success levels in several areas including adherence to LendingTree best practices, commitment to professional development and dedication to customer excellence. Recipients have also met all Gold Leaf criteria.
Guaranteed Rate, Inc.
Let's answer a few short questions and see what offers Guaranteed Rate, Inc. and other lenders may have for you.