Quicken ran an ad for their Rocket Loan that started quite the firestorm on Twitter. It’s another example of how social media can get it all wrong.
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I think this ad is great and will probably attract many new applicants to Quicken Loans. However, as a loan officer with 15 years of experience helping home buyers, I think loan officers need to take more time to really understand the needs of their clients and the concerning part about this ad is that it projects the loan process as quick-and-easy when many times it's not. I have had numerous clients that were preapproved by quicken only to find out their loan couldn't be done. When I stepped in I identified the problem and closed their loan. I do agree that this ad was blown out of proportion by social media and that there is no way it will cause another housing collapse. But with movies like "The Big Short" in theatres I think another economic collapse is on the radar for many people and that may be why this ad came under attack so quickly.
Nice job Frank. I guess the detractors think that getting a qualified QM compliant borrower a loan should be painfully hard and using technology to make this a bit smoother should be avoided. Maybe we should put all borrowers on the rack before the application process begins – this has gone too far. Responsible innovation in process should be rewarded and encouraged.
The rocket loan will not cause the next meltdown. The prospective homebuyers who still don't read anything they sign, and are now being convinced that buying a house seems as easy as buying a pair of shoes online – they will cause the next meltdown. Plus, how many automated pre-approvals will end up blowing up in underwriting.
I am all for streamlining the process, but I still believe that buying a house is a big deal, and that a one-on-one conversation with an experienced loan officer will yield a better borrower experience, all around.
It’s a shame that social media and the media in general blow things out of proportion. However, this is just the reality we live in and something we can’t control.
My issue is the fact that no mortgage is a rocket and nor should it be. We are financing homes not toys for children. It’s an irresponsible way to present a mortgage process. Instead of advertising rockets, we should be advertising to get you income and assets reviewed early by a qualified mortgage professional and allow the professional to do his/her due diligence on the front end so we avoid delays and issues later on integrity transaction. Whatever happened to setting a real expectation for a client starting a process? I don’t know about you but closing a mortgage is a step by step process. I’ve got 14 years experience originating mortgages. I just think it’s a joke to advertise a mortgage as a rocket. Plus like the person above me mentioned, how many times have I had to bail out quicken after they ‘approved’ someone and then later told them no? Many many times. I guess I’m happy because now, with rocket mortgage, quicken will do it faster so the clients get to me faster after they’re denied too.
Once again here is the major problem with social media. You can have someone who has followers who can get online and talk about something she or he have no clue on and now they are considered an expert by their followers. If this does not show you how many people have become asleep at the wheel then you are one of the ones who are asleep as well.
Why are you defending bad ads by a company who doesn't create relationships? I'm required to know my clients and I have a fiscal responsibility to know thier financials and guide them in THEIR best interest. An online mortgage apps, cannot do that. The Q ad comparing buying shoes to a mortgage was offensive to true professionals in our industry (the majority of us). Data collectors calling themselves Loan originators will get homebuyers in trouble. Just because a client qualifies for a loan, and even wants the loan, doesn't make it the right decision.
OMG…… so you are doing another show on this Quicken product? I thought we discussed this and came up with great examples of why this "product" is not good, etc, etc. Plenty of folks chimed in on why Quicken will only be a Refi bottom feeder sweat shop. And I get it……. talking bad about Quicken offends you guys. Here we go again. It's obvious you guys are in support of it and I would hope that Quicken is paying you guys for such support. This is the 3rd show on Quicken in the last 6 weeks, I believe. I would encourage you to not so blatantly support the largest sweat shop Corporation, when you know MANY MANY MANY true MLO's that are true Professionals can't stand their existence, and understandably so.
Social media can be so….misleading. we all use it (ie. i am here) AS ALWAYS..read/look and discern for yourself. but many people take no time to analyze and instead are 20 sec, a soundbite away from being educated. oh well… nothing ever really changes when dealing with humans
Agree that it wont cause a colapse but to say this is a great product is a little off. This product is not as streamlined as it says it is. There are way to many moving parts in a mortgage to give someone a preapproval in 10 mins. It seems every time you try to do a Rocket Mortgage it just ends up having you call a rep anyway.
You mention a lot how amazing this product is. I have not tried it myself but everything I have read on blogs by customers who have tried it say it's just a bait and switch call center for most. It walks you through several data capture screens for you to submit for your instant approval and it comes back and says you need to speak to a representative where it forwards you to one of quickens call center representatives. Who knows, maybe this will catch on for Quicken, I know they have spent a lot of money on it but for the consumer, in an era where experience matters more than ever before, I think a lead capture system that eventually sends you to a telemarketer for finalization cant be good. I'm a little surprised you guys endorse it so heavily. In my opinion though when it comes to the largest, most complex financial purchase for most consumers, PUSH BUTTON, GET MORTGAGE, may be a little irresponsible and I think that is the concern, and a valid one, that has set off this firestorm for quicken.
Rocket Loan is just the same AUS that we all use, most likely DU, that is only as good as the information put into it. If you put the wrong info into H&R Blocks website you will file your taxes incorrectly but where is the outrage? This interface looks pretty cool to me.
Actually David it’s not. Their system actually goes out and electronically verifies EVERYTHING in seconds. Payroll, deposits – Everything. It’s truly a major advancement in mortgage origination. It’s insane bro, it’s not at all a simple DU thing. ~Frank
Frank the pre-approvals delivered by Quicken whether are almost always worse than worthless. They waste time, energy, effort, provide false hope, and “stir the pot” period. Your show used to be good but I see a continued slide and smell a lot of selling out.
Much ado about a natural evolution by Quicken. They will continue to pick off those who want simplicity in a complex process. Many won't qualify, and many will be turned off when much much more info is asked for than the potential client expected. On the one hand it will muddy things, and maybe bring more clients my way, as they shake their heads and wonder why their promised Rocket exploded. On the other hand, Quicken sure got a lot of bang for their Super Bowl buck with all the free attention. I see them getting more market share, AND getting more buyers to take action.
We're stewards in an obtuse process. Guidance toward the correct product while steering away from known AND unforeseen roadblocks will always be better for the client. Quicken cannot "Rocket" through most loans, though some WILL be relatively easy. It is my belief that they will simply continue to promise to get their clients to some distant goal, while crashing many, and simply abandoning many others. Meet the new boss…same as the old boss.
Deceptive advertising, and the CFPB is on it. They are claiming a fully underwritten loan according to Fannie guides in 8 minutes. Suppose a VOE is needed? Sourcing that $8,000 deposit on last months bank statement? Why don't the YTD paystubs match the annual compensation on the 1003? What about this disputed tradeline on the credit report that has to be removed? What will that do to the credit score and how will that affect pricing? IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO FULLY UNDERWRITE A MORTGAGE IN 8 MINUTES. Only a dumbass millennial that creates apps for a living would think otherwise…..Have any of you bozos that support Quicken looked at their online reviews???? This place is a chop shop with a cool app. They market a promise of financial Nirvana, and then fail miserably on the delivery of service. Aren't we all taught to do just the opposite???
Here, have a look: http://www.yelp.com/biz/quicken-loans-detroit
While I have not seen the Rocket Loan in action, based on the feedback from other loan officers, they have had clients who have applied for mortgage loans with Rocket (and just recently i might add) and if there is any little “quirk” or something that does not fit into the automated system, the loans are denied. I makes me think that it’s created for the “easy, no brainer” loans and anything outside of that is not approved. Makes me wonder if that is true, they are going to have a Fair Housing issue on their hands, as well as cries of “discrimination”. Karen Deis.
Whoa! Step back and take a deep breath! All Quicken did with Rocket Mortgage was to expedite the process……NOT the qualifications. Same results as traditional means, just faster.
Long time listener and first time writer. I think the majority of responses here are in line. The phrase seems that follow the money trail and you will see what the truth is. It seems to be another story about defending Quicken Loans. I am sure like most that posted below the "local" mortgage professionals that we have received the calls of the bait and switch and denials of loans from online companies that do not get the correct information from clients. Not only do we receive the calls from clients that are denied days or weeks before closing because the person on the phone didn't know the guidelines but also the Real Estate Agents and Realtors that continually pend houses for sale to then find out a few weeks later that their loan is denied by online lenders. I have fielded 100s of calls of the sorts. So maybe it TILA laws should be reviewed in misleading advertising that using a word such as Rocket implies that the loan process will be fast and easy. All of the professionals know that it may not be that way. So in discussing working with millenials and your focus to this group, I have spoken with many of them and they too believe that it will be a much easier process, but to find out just like all of our clients do that there are 1000s of pages of rules that we must all answer too. So if one truly cares about the industry maybe some transparency on the process would be a great start.
Definately an over reaction! Obviously the original tweeter was pretty naive to say the least! This is 2016 where everything is on line!
Another bone to pick which I wish you guys would address. HUD is practicing "Restraint of Trade" . I and many of my clients buy distressed housing rehab it and sell them; "Flip" them! I started doing this in the early 70"s. We buy the worst house in the neighborhood, put many contractors to work, purchase new everything, improve the tax roles and provide good affordable housing. In it's wisdom, HUD requires that they be held for 90 days before a contract can be written unless it is conventional financing. Also often 2 appraisals are required. WIth the new TRID loan requirements, we end up holding a property for a minimum of 5 months and sometimes 6 to 7 depending on how fast it goes under contract!
I'd like to think the Tweeters went to the RocketMortgage site to click they before posting.
I haven't gone thru it but it seems that RocketMortgage is just the data delivery and any loan still goes thru an underwriting process? It seems to me that this type of program would derail the housing market in the same way a poorly Tweeted Tweet would derail the Internet….. Not at all.
I personally prefer a more hands on approach to the process as humans see nuances in a clients wants or needs and can educate a client based on that but still, kudos to Quicken for pushing the tech envelope.
It's easy to rally ignorant people when you use fear as a catalyst.
Any ad that says you can get a mortgage in "seconds" is plain misleading. They imply that the loan will have a full approval in seconds when it will not.
what amazes me about the whole "social media" storm here that gets ramped up is : does this ONE person who tweets something represent EVERYONE ? Does the Quicken tweet (done by who-know-who) is that ONE person sending that ONE tweet really representing the ENTIRETY of QL with their little tweet ? Same with the CFPB… which single person has their finger on the "twitter" button !? it's a bit insane right ?
This is a brilliant lead generation tool for Quicken. I’m sure that they are well aware of the complexity of the loan approval process. If someone applies for a Rocket Mortgage and is not approved they will be contacted by Quicken in an attempt to approve them through a more “conventional” process.
You are 100% correct Brian. This is not the next armageddon. 120 million Americans without jobs (US Labor Board Participation Rate at 37.3%) the real unemployment numbers…Now that is what scares me more than somebody renaming another way to do a 30 year fixed mortgage.
I saw the commercial and was simply stunned and embarrassed. The mortgage industry is still not very well respected and commercials like this personify a Couyntrywide like corporate image "fog a mirror and here is a loan." Incredible at the end how the toddler was reaching for the smart phone and makes a valid point of why you don't want all that sensitive data a few clicks away from anyone on a mobile device. This is a market leader? They deserve all the negative press, tweets and whatever comes for acting like its 2005.
Once again here is the major problem with the current mortgage industry. You can have a company with huge assets that hire unlicensed loan officers that have no clue about the programs and products that best fit their customers needs and now they are considered an expert by the folks that are swayed by expensive mortgage bait and switch ads. If this does not show you how many people have become asleep at the wheel then you are one of the ones who are asleep as well.
Marc Emrich
People who make major decesion based solely on an advertising and a tweet without research was the point of my comment. Hands at 10 and 2 please
We shouldn’t be upset that someone can get loans done quicker unless they are not doing their due dilligence with verifying income and credit. If the mortgage company can answer the questions of can they pay and will they pay with confidence, then good for them.
On a side note, you may want to be careful with what your background is. Not sure if you noticed the naked lady.
I find it horrible that you are shamelessly advertising for Quiken loans. ANY PUBLICITY IS GOOD PUBLICITY. Thanks for spreading Frank. Sell it a little more Frank, please.
Curious why you are defending the "Rocket Mortgage" now when you were lambasting it before (did Quicken pay you guys?). I agree with the comment below! Comparing one of the BIGGEST financial investments in most people's lives to buying SHOES and furniture is CRAZY! Is there a niche market for this product amoung individuals who are financial savvy and know what they are doing? – yes. But for the MAJORITY of Americans, having someone that can consult and advise them through the process is imperative. Rocket Mortgage might not be the "end of the world" but DEFINITELY reminds me of the days when you would meet LOs that were told to just go "hand out cards" and could not tell you how to read a Loan App or GFE if their life depended on it…
Eris I agree – Frank, knock it off! Bad business is bad business…
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