Many Accept First Quote on Mortgages

By:: Kara Johnson | December 15, 2010

U.S. consumers, it seems, like to shop around for almost everything – except mortgages. That’s the conclusion from a new survey by Harris Interactive and Lending Tree.

The survey found that while 96 percent of Americans said they compare prices when shopping, nearly 40 percent obtained only one mortgage quote before taking out a loan. And only one in five said they shopped for rates online, even though 85 percent said they use the computer to comparison shop for other products.

“Choosing a mortgage is probably the most important financial decision most of us will ever make, yet any consumers simply take the first offer that comes their way,” said Doug Lebda, LendingTree CEO. “It’s a gamble that leaves many borrowers uncertain they’ve received the best deal on their mortgage.”

Nearly three-quarters of survey respondents – 72 percent – said they spent a day or less shopping for a home loan. Women were twice as likely as men to say they had not been involved in shopping for their last home loan, by a margin of 16 percent to 7 percent.

A key factor appeared to be that many borrowers are intimated by the mortgage process, discouraging them from becoming fully engaged in the process. Seventy percent of borrowers in the survey said they were frustrated by the process of shopping for a mortgage, with the major reasons being the complexity of the terms and the time required by the process.

The online survey was conducted by Harris International in late September, contacting 1,317 adult U.S. homeowners, of whom 659 said they were at least somewhat involved in obtaining their most recent mortgage.

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