This is the 2nd and final post from our review of the Rocket Mortgage website. In the first post, we took a look at the process for applying for a new loan from Rocket Mortgage. In today’s post, we will take a look at the refinance process.
Applying For a Rocket Mortgage Refinance
The first step in the refinancing option is to create an account. This “getting started” page states that you will first input your financial information, get an “approval” in minutes, and then you can lock your rate and close the loan.
After clicking the “let’s begin” button, the next page takes you to a form where you need to enter your first name, last name, email address, username, and a password. You also have to check a box to prove that you are not a robot and then click the “create account” button.
The website then takes you to a series of 8 different steps.
Step 1: My Priority
The first step asks you why you want to refinance. The options it gives are to lower monthly payment, pay off mortgage faster, or take cash out of your home. For the purposes of this exercise, I chose “lower my monthly payment.”
Step 2: My Current Mortgage
As the name of this step suggests, the user is now asked to provide information about their current mortgage. The following questions are asked in this step:
– What is your current monthly mortgage?
– Does the payment entered above include property taxes and/or homeowners insurance?
– What is your current mortgage balance?
– Approximately what is your home worth today?
– What is the ZIP code of your home?
– Are you interested in and eligible for a VA/Military loan?
Step 3: My Home Info
The first part of this step is fairly simple and asks the street address, city, state, and zip code of your home. Once you fill out that information, the 2nd part of the step asks the following questions:
– What type of property is this?
– How do you use this home?
– How much is paid in property taxes every year?
– Who provides your homeowners insurance?
– How much does your homeowners insurance cost per year?
– What was the original purchase price of this property?
– What year was this house built?
– When did you start living here?
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Step 4: Who’s on The Loan
This step asks you about your marriage status. If you state that you are married, additional information will be asked about your spouse.
Step 5: My Money
This step asks you to enter information about your income. As stated in part 1 of this blog series, you can either use the income search tool or enter your employment history manually. Unlike the last part, you are also given the option to enter any self-employment, retirement or other income sources.
Once this is done, step 5 continues and asks about your assets. Again, it gives you the option of using an automatic tool to find any accounts you own or to enter the information manually. Near the very top of the screen, you are also given the option to skip this step.
Step 6: Government questions
The following questions are asked during this step:
- Are there any outstanding judgments against you?
- Have you been declared bankrupt within the past 7 years?
- Have you had property foreclosed upon or given title or deed in lieu thereof in the last 7 years?
- Are you a party to a lawsuit?
- Have you directly or indirectly been obligated on any loan which resulted in foreclosure, transfer of title in lieu of foreclosure, or judgment?
- Are you presently delinquent or in default on any Federal debt or any other loan, mortgage, financial obligation, bond or loan guarantee?
- Is any part of the down payment borrowed?
- Are you a co-maker or endorser on a note?
- Are you a US citizen?
- Do you intend to occupy the property as your primary residence?
- Are you obligated to pay alimony, child support or separate maintenance?
- Have you had an ownership interest in a property in the last three years?
The following questions are optional and are not required to move on to the next step:
- Ethnicity
- Race
- Sex
Step 7: My credit
This step asks you to enter your birth date, SSN, and phone number in order to see your results. Unfortunately, you cannot proceed without entering a valid SSN. This would make sense if you are actually getting approved for a loan, as this is something that all major lenders will require eventually.
Step 8: My Solution
You are now shown some options that Rocket Mortgage provides given the information that you entered. Below are the numbers that will be shown:
– Current monthly payment
– New monthly payment
– Monthly payment difference
– Your credit score
– Interest rate lock period
– Loan-to-value ratio
– Loan type
You are also give the option to adjust your interest rate and the length of the loan to see how this would affect your payments.
Step 8: See If I’m approved
You must now click the “see if I’m approved” button to see if you will actually get a loan approval or not.
We hope that you have found this post and our last one helpful. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave us feedback in the comment section below.
Rocket Mortgage: A Review For Ventura County Residents, Part 1