Wendy Jimenez

How Difficult Is the Mortgage Process for Buyers? Posted: 08 May 2013 04:00 AM PDT TD Bank recently announced the results of their inaugural Mortgage Service Index. The index was designed to identify best practices and trouble areas in home financing and act as a service indicator for lending institutions. Below are some of the key findings of the survey. Positive Experiences The index identified the percentage of respondents who had a positive (“excellent” or “very good”) experience in certain parts of the home buying experience: 64% had a positive experience during the home buying experience 55% finding a good Realtor 55% with the home appraisal/inspection process 53% finding the right lender 53% with the length of the entire home buying process What Creates an Overall Positive Experience? Certain key aspects of the relationship with the lender were important to those who said they had a very positive overall home buying experience. They rated their lender as “excellent” or “very good” in the following categories: Responsive 74% Accessible 76% Honest and transparent 76% Instilled confidence throughout the process 73% Helped buyers understand the process 73% Kept buyer informed during process 73% Explained the mortgage and available options 72% Other Key Findings: 1. On average, home buyers considered approximately two banks or lenders when applying for a mortgage 2. An equal number of those surveyed (43%) obtained information on the lending process from their bank and from their Realtor, demonstrating that Realtors are used as informative resources by consumers during the mortgage process 3. Only 34% of home buyers obtained a mortgage at their primary bank