Mortgage Grader Offers A Better Way

contributing writer Michelle Mogel

Jeff Lazerson was not happy with business as usual among mortgage brokers. He felt much of the process of getting a mortgage was unfair and exploitive. So he convinced the Ford Foundation to help him create MortgageGrader.com, a site that hopes to assist the applicant in finding the best rate possible.

This article by Jack Guttentag compares MortgageGrader to two other methods of online mortgage shopping: Upfront Mortgage Brokers (UMB) and Upfront Mortgage Lenders (UML). All three allow the borrower to shop and compare rates. But each method has a different set of information requirements and degrees of difficulty and each seems tailored to a different goal.

UMLs gather a minimum amount of information from the borrower in order to provide an accurate rate. Given the small amount of personal information required, it's fairly quick and easy to fill out one form and thus easy to compare rates on different sites. UMBs are more flexible in that they allow the borrower to negotiate their fee and will lock in at the rate and terms when directed by the borrower.

MortgageGrader's main differences are in the amount of information required of the applicant. Several screens worth of personal information is gathered and this information is not retained, creating a headache when the borrower wishes to try another lender. While this may provide a more accurate rate and fee, it's also extremely difficult to shop and compare prices. So, this option seems to be best for those borrowers who have one lender in mind. Which, to my mind, kind of defeats the purpose. MortgageGrader also offers only a fixed fee that is related to the amount of the loan.

MortgageGrader is currently licensed in California, New York, Florida, and Idaho.