In December 2015, United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) partnered with Michigan State University to conduct a survey of 300 borrowers, with the objective of better understanding how consumers shop for mortgages and how they choose among mortgage brokers, big banks and online lenders. Key findings of the survey included:
Mortgage Shopping
►52 percent of borrowers shopped mortgages for less than two weeks before deciding where they would get their loan (choosing among brokers, big banks or online lender). Another 31 percent of respondents shopped between three and four weeks, and only 17 percent shopped for more than a month.
►70 percent of borrowers “cross-shopped” during the application process, meaning they completed multiple mortgage applications in order to make comparisons.
►Nearly 50 percent of “cross-shoppers” chose to work with mortgage brokers for loans that had more trouble in origination through direct online lenders.
Decision Influencers
Besides interest rates, survey takers reported the following factors as most likely to impact their decisions on where to get their loan:
►Fixed interest rate (54 percent)
►Trust in mortgage service (52 percent)
►Monthly payment (49 percent)
►APR (46 percent)
►Knowledgeable advisor/salesperson (46 percent)
Why Mortgage Brokers?
The following factors are the top five reasons that survey respondents chose get their loans through mortgage brokers over big banks and direct online lenders:
►Quick and easy application (38 percent)
►Best loan terms (i.e. interest rate) (37 percent)
►Recommendation by real estate agents (31 percent)
►Trustworthiness of broker (29 percent)
►Have a Web presence (22 percent)
