Have you explored the possibility of getting a lower rate by paying more points? If you can get the seller to pay your closing costs, you save twice. Your agent and your lender should work as a team to put toghether an offer that benefits you now in terms of price and going forward in terms of interest rate.

Thanks Carl and John for your responses. I googled amerisave and noticed many negative reviews and that's why I posted the question. I could also see the value of dealing with a local lender, but I am trying to figure out if it is worth paying 0.25% more in interest rate over the next 30 years for that added service - the service that is one-time transactional service, for me at least (I don't think I ever dealt with my earlier lender at all after closing the loan). Having said that, I would not take the risk of going with a lender (online or otherwise) who is not fair and reliable in their practices.

You have taken the time to post this question on Trulia Voices, so I assume that you took the time to do a Google search for Amerisave. If not, you should. As you would expect, not all that you see is positive. In fact, the first few returns are quite negative.

Why did you look for an on-line lender? Was it simply to save money? And what guarantee do you have that you will actually save? As Carl has pointed out, not all is as it appears with on-line lenders. My opinion is that if you are only using a lender – or a real estate agent – because you are getting a discount or because you have been promised a savings of some kind you are dealing with someone who is simply buying your business. You can have no expectation of quality service because you have traded the expectation of responsiveness, professionalism, accountability, follow-up, etc. for a low rate or rebate or discount.

It is not always true that you get what you pay for…but do you want to take that chance on the biggest financial transaction that you have ever made?

Yes…I am biased. I use a local lender (I know several) with whom I can meet face-to-face, if needed, to advocate for my client. My client will also find that lender to be responsive and accessible. After all, the lender and I hope that you will do business with us again in the future. We hope that you will refer your friends and family to us. Neither the lender nor I will do your transaction and forget about you while we move on to the next person who is willing of obtaining a discount in order to do business with us.

Justlooking:

I recommend against Internet based lenders – it’s not just about getting a good rate. There are SO many other factors involved. I’ve had many buyers use online lenders and some of those have had their rates and/or fees “switched” at close of escrow. They always have some “technical” reason, and at that point, there is literally nothing that can be done except cancel the transaction and lose your deposit or proceed and pay the extra fees, rates, etc. There is usually no accountability or recourse with online lenders.

I prefer local lenders I can contact during the weekdays AND weekends, get hold of late at night if necessary, and, worse case, know that if I have a problem, I can drive across town and get it resolved.

In fact, because we do a large number of transactions, working with a top-notch local lender has become such an important issue for me I wrote the following post:

I WISH You Would Use My Lender - 6 Critical Reasons Why You Should
http://www.trulia.com/blog/carl_medford/2009/06/i_wish_you_w…
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Thanks for your response. I shopped around and amerisave came out to be at least a quarter point better on a 30-yr conforming loan than the brick-and-mortar lenders. The difference seems large enough to give it a try, if the lender is reliable and fair.

Not to criticize any specific lender, but lots of buyers run into lots of problems with online lenders. For that reason, many agents (and many sellers) become fearful when a buyer plans on using one. At the very least, get some quotes from some actual, brick-and-mortar lenders and see how the numbers compare.