Here's How Cody and Erica Saved $17K with Own Up
20 Apr 2021
Cody and Erica were close to closing on a home when they realized that the mortgage company their real estate agent referred them to might not be giving them the best deal. The experience made them pretty skeptical of the whole homebuying process, so when their search for a better offer led them to Own Up they were wary. But then they saw Own Up’s innovative prequalification technology and lender matching system at work. Own Up found the optimal local lender, secured them a below market interest rate, and served as their advocate all the way to closing.
Here’s their story.
Cody and Erica were looking for a home in the North Shore of Boston and found a house that they were ready to move on. They had been working with a mortgage company and were nearing their closing when they received a quote that made them question if they were really getting the best rate.
“We had gotten in touch with a “sales guy” for a mortgage company, but he was not pitched to us that way. We didn’t recognize until we were quite late into the process that he wasn’t a broker in the sense that he was talking to other institutions to get us the best rate. He was just like ‘here’s our list of mortgage products, now pick one’.”
“When he came back to us with a rate that was much higher than we were expecting we realized all of a sudden that we needed to start shopping around. We didn’t realize that wasn’t what we had been doing with this other person. The lack of research on our part and lack of transparency in our experience with this person made us ask ‘what’s really going on here’?”
As they started to explore other lender options, what they really wanted was a company they could trust that could shop their application around to multiple banks and find them the best deal. They were surprised when their search led them to a tech company, Own Up.
“We started shopping around with two specific mortgage companies and at the same time did some research to see if there were any organizations out there that could blast out our application to a number of banks. That’s how we found Own Up. Own Up was the only company we found through our extensive online searches that looked trustworthy and could get our info out to a bunch of different banks. They were exactly what we needed.”
After their previous experience with a mortgage company, they were nervous that a tech company they found online like Own Up would really be able to live up to its advertisements. But after a conversation with one of our home advisors they were convinced that Own Up’s unique matching technology could help them find the best possible rate, and as a bonus, could do it without causing a hard hit to their credit.
“Erica came to me and said I found this company, what do you think? We both found ourselves to be on the far side of skepticism, especially after our recent experience. But we figured we’d give them a call, thinking that the chances of this seemingly up and coming company being exactly what we need them to be were pretty low.”
“Our first conversation was with Mike and he blew us away. The sense we got from him was reliability and transparency. We had been hesitant to just dive right in with someone new, but everything Mike said and did, the extent to which he was consistent with follow up and always transparent, made us feel confident in moving through each next step with Own Up.”
Own Up found a local bank that Cody and Erica had never heard of during their extensive home research, and was able to work with them to secure an interest rate that beat the offer from their original mortgage company. The better rate will save them approximately $17K over the life of their loan.
“After things flamed out with our original company, we intensely researched and applied for a mortgage at three other banks in a day. We thought we had done a pretty good job of finding our best options and looking at local banks that might be able to give us a better offer. But when we went through Own Up none of the banks were ones we had found through our own research. Before we worked with Own Up, we had no idea that there was so much flexibility in the market. Thanks to Own Up we were able to have a huge savings over the life of our loan.”
When their original mortgage company learned about the new rate Cody and Erica were able to secure through Own Up, they told them it was too good to be true.
“We brought our new rate back to the guy we had originally gotten the offer from, who ended up basically being this salesman for a mortgage company. He wanted to talk when we told him we had been quoted a better rate. He told us not to trust Own Up because he’d never heard of them, but we were able to say ‘look, we’ve confirmed this rate, we’re not being charged for it, and we’re moving ahead.’ He was incredulous. And we were thrilled.”
Cody and Erica closed on their home in September and are already recommending Own Up to their friends.
“We were so impressed by their response time and transparency throughout the process. We never felt like Mike was trying to sell us on something, or explain why we needed someone like him. It was just that we had this need, and Mike took care of it. We’re really so happy and grateful.”
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