But the big disappointment is that shopping for loans online doesn't ward off the blizzard of paperwork that comes with financing a home. I'll give a slight nod to E-Loan for two reasons. E-Loan also does a better job of distilling the information you need to compare loans and figure out your overall finances. Mostly, this is a matter of presentation, since all of these sites provide the kind of information that I think is necessary. That said, don't expect miracles from any mortgage site.
Pricing is pretty much the same online as offline.
The surprising thing about online lending isn't how different it is from other loans, but how similar it is. First of all, let's talk rates. I ran a hypothetical applicant through a loan application at each of these sites, to avoid detailing my own credit history when I wasn't actually in the market myself. Because the cost of offices is only a small part of what you pay. That's set by the bond market, and everyone pays pretty much the same amount.