https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXRNGgRYjtM&list=WL&index=7
When a lender offers to match any rate, it may sound appealing, but it often indicates that the lender's standard rates are not competitive. Instead of providing their best rate upfront, they wait for you to find a lower rate from another lender and then match it. This practice requires you to do extra work and does not necessarily benefit you.
Key points include:
Overall, if a lender offers to match any rate, it’s often best to walk away and choose a lender who provides competitive rates without making you do extra work.
Mortgage 101: What Does It Mean When the Lender Says They'll Match Any Rate?
Okay, so that always sounds good. People are like, wow, they'll match any rate. As a lender, I hear that, and I hear I could offer you a better deal, client. However, you've got to go work for it, and then I'm only going to offer you as good of a deal as you find from someone else. Well, that doesn't sound as good, does it? Does it? Nope, nope, it doesn't.
So look, I am not a fan of the match game, and I'm going to walk you through why. First of all, when you're comparing lenders, they should offer you what their rates and fees are and be very transparent. If they're saying, oh yeah, don't talk about it, just bring me what everyone else does, and I'll match it, that tells you that they know their rates are probably going to be higher than other companies. So they want you to bring them something because then they can go to their company and say, hey, I need an exception, they got this better deal. Right? They don't want to show you their hand upfront because their hand isn't good, and they know that they're going to have to take another lender's loan estimate and go negotiate with their boss.
Okay, now as a client, you're like, well, okay, that's okay. I like it's nice that they'll match the rate. Guys, just go with the lender that offered you the lowest rate. Like, if you're just interested in rate, just go with that lender. Anytime a lender is saying, hey, I'll match the lowest rate, it is code for they could give you a better deal, but they're not going to without you doing extra work.
It always boggles my mind, you know, because sometimes, look, I will be the first person to say I think I'm very competitive on rates, but I'm not always the lowest. No lender is always the lowest. And sometimes people will be like, okay, well, if I find a lower rate, will you match it? And I'm like, if you find a lower rate, you should reward them with your business because the last thing I want to do is be going to my company saying, hey, you're screwing all my clients, but this one figured it out. Can you honor this? Uh-uh, that's not a good precedent, and that's part of the problem.
So what's happening is there's lots of mortgage companies, I mean, this happens at banks, this happens everywhere, guys, where basically the pricing structure is high, but they've told the salesforce, well, if you get something, we'll match it. Okay, all that does is keep the pricing high for every other buyer that doesn't go do all that homework. And the reason I hate that is because, A, I don't think you should have to do the work, but also, B, it affects people adversely, right? If someone's not as educated on rate shopping, you know, if someone doesn't have that financial background, they're going to end up with a higher rate because they're not playing this game.
So look, I would say this, if a lender says to you, oh, I'll just match whatever you get, just walk away because they are not being honest with you. If someone says, hey Jen, what are your rates today? I'm going to say, hey, this is where I am today. You know, are you in a position to lock? And if you're like, no, I'm just shopping, I'll be like, look, you know, rates change every day. We'll talk about the market. But if someone said to me, hey Jen, what are your rates today? I would never say go get a bunch of offers and I'll match the lowest one. It's just lazy. It's just lazy.
So I really want you guys to be aware of this. You know, I was talking with a client the other day, and he's like, hey, these people really want my business. They said they'll match anything. And I'm like, if they really want your business, why don't they give you the lowest option upfront instead of just saying they're going to copy the person who gave you the lowest option, right?
When you guys are thinking about where your money goes, think about this. Anytime you play the match game, all you're doing is rewarding a company that's giving the bulk of buyers higher pricing. When you go with the lender that actually gave you the lowest rate, right, actually gave you the lowest rate, you are teaching the industry that in order to be competitive, they have to offer better rates. So look, do it as a lesson.
Now, in fairness, have I matched stuff before? Very rarely. Very rarely. You know, in certain circumstances, there may be a client where their deal is incredibly tricky, and the odds the other lender is going to be able to close it is really slim. So in a situation like that, like, yeah, I mean, look, if someone says we take this to management, we're always going to do that, but it's not something I ever want to encourage. And nine out of 10 times, we're going to say, hey, you should reward that other company with your business. Like, they're treating you right, and that's a good thing. That's a good thing.
You know, and look, if it's not locked, is it definitely a lower rate? No. Until something's locked, it's all just noise. But the key of this video was that if a lender is saying they'll match the lowest rate, all they're telling you is that they could get you a better deal, but they're only going to get you a deal that someone else has. Walk away.
Okay, have you guys seen this? Have you guys had a lender say, well, I'll just match anything? Yeah, drop it in the comments. Thanks for watching.