Wouldn't it Be Nice If We Could Just Pick Up a Little Extra at the Money Store?

We all know that money doesn't grow on trees but can you really find money available at a money store? You've probably heard of The Money Store but is The Money Store worth checking out? With low interest many individuals and families are considering buying a home and taking out a mortgage and others are considering refinancing options.

Our personal experience and research indicates that The Money Store may or may not be your answer but can be worth checking out if you're not happy with your mortgage loan or refinancing options at your local or favorite lending institution.

What does The Money Store have to offer?

The Money Store is an online service that offers some basic financial services.

Mortgage quotes include options for first mortgages, refinancing and cash out refinancing.

You can apply directly for the loan of your choice through The Money Store.

There are many interactive tools available on The Money Store website including:
-Mortgage affordability
-Mortgage calculator
-Comparisons for ARM vs. Fixed rates
-Calculator for comparing mortgages points
-A rent vs. buy calculator

Daily information available once you log into The Money Store includes:
-30 year fixed rate mortgages
-20 year fixed rate mortgages
-15 year fixed rate mortgages
-1 year ARM
-Jumbo fixed rate mortgages

Attractive Features at The Money Store:

One attractive feature at The Money Store is the Lowest Cost Loan Guarantee, which promises to match any competitor's offer or else to give cash to the borrower.

My husband, a financial analyst, loves the Accelerated Mortgage Calculator. This tool shows how much interest can be saved if you pay your mortgage payment in bi-weekly payments instead of the traditional monthly payment. By using this tool and practice, a 30-year mortgage can be paid off in 24 to 25 years instead of 30 and saves thousands of dollars in interest.

Another tool he loves is the Mortgage Affordability Calculator. He says "I wish more borrowers would use tool like this one" before they sign on the dotted line for a mortgage loan." To use this tool, you simply enter a mortgage amount, other monthly debt payments and household expenses (See "Creating a Monthly Budget") to see have this information handy) and this financial tool will show you the different income necessary to pay a mortgage at varying interest rates.

How The Money Store Works:

In addition to the online financial tools available, you can enter some basic information and get results for the best offers for loans.

To get a rate quote you'll need to enter:
-Name
-Address
-Property value
-Desired loan amount
-Estimated credit score

You can receive up to four loan offers to compare and at this point you can the rate and closing costs.

It is important to note that the first list of scores you receive will not include points but you can ask for options with points at this time by clicking on mortgage points 1 through 5 and The Money Store will recalculate your option offers.

Our take on The Money Store:

The Money Store offers some low rates loans but watch out for closing costs and be sure that the lower interest rate offsets the closing cost. In many cases it can. Wells Fargo and GMAC along with a couple of other lenders seemed to keep showing up no matter how we altered our request. Our take was that even a 1/8 of point off would offset an additional $100.00 in closing cost.

We weren't thrilled that we couldn't view the offers we received side by side but rather had to pull up one at a time to compare. This is one improvement we'd like to see at The Money Store website.

Another thing to note is that the offers you get are based on the information you provide so if your credit score is different than you believe, then the actual offers you get after you make a loan application can be different than the offers you initially receive.

With all of this in mind, we recommend checking out The Money Store and using their tools if nothing else but also checking to see if you could save money on a new or refinanced mortgage.