LendingTree.com
Jul 6, 2004 | 5:21 pm
#31
Join Date: Jun 2004
Programs: No More Loyalty
Posts: 608
Originally Posted by steve100
On the buying/selling side (Real Estate Agent Services)... If you buy (or sold) a house for $500k, the cashback would be $3,700.
Jul 6, 2004 | 9:55 pm
#32
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Bay Area, CA
Posts: 653
Originally Posted by Sirecca
Agree on your point about exploring cash options. And great tip re: Costco (much better than the Home Depot promotion on the Lending Tree site).
I wasn't aware of the Costco deal... hmm, maybe if I joined now I could switch yet again.
That would be $3400 in cash....
Jul 7, 2004 | 10:29 am
#33
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: LAX/TPE
Programs: United 1K, JAL Sapphire, SPG Lifetime Platinum, National Executive Elite, Hertz PC, Avis PC
Posts: 47,225
cash back is a good option....if a customer prefers cash, I can do that - however, I also offer travel gift certificates instead of miles so a savvy customer can get 'cash' credit *and* earn miles.
we have a really neat plan with mortgage points - when a customer meets the conditions of tax deductability for points and wishes to pay them to reduce the rate on a loan (advantageous for loans kept longer than 7 years), we can rebate a large portion of the points back to the customer as their choice of miles, hotel points or travel gift certificates (not cash, to avoid IRS troubles for the customer). This can result in tax-deductable travel.
we have a really neat plan with mortgage points - when a customer meets the conditions of tax deductability for points and wishes to pay them to reduce the rate on a loan (advantageous for loans kept longer than 7 years), we can rebate a large portion of the points back to the customer as their choice of miles, hotel points or travel gift certificates (not cash, to avoid IRS troubles for the customer). This can result in tax-deductable travel.
Aug 27, 2004 | 4:55 pm
#34
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Sebastopol,CA
Posts: 180
Loan closed and funded
Originally Posted by ultraman
I am the reader that Gary is talking about. The loan I am applying for is a Home Equity Loan from Chase. The link on Gary's site for loans to receive United Miles was: http://www.united.com/page/article/0,6722,50776,00.html
The bonus for this loan will give me 4250 mile for each 10,000 borrowed.
When I applied via phone the agent said I can borrow the Maximum which is 500,000 and pay it off the day after the loan funds. The terms and conditions say that I will receive the miles based upon the amount of the initial funding. He then told me I could then apply for another Home Equity Loan for my rental property and pay off the first loan. The July 31, 2004 deadline is for the start of the loan application so I hope to have both loans for a total of
425,000 united miles.
Loan terms: Interest Rate is Prime +1/4 (presently 4.25%), The rate for a loan under $200K is at Prime. No points or fees and the appraisal is a drive by. There is a $75 per year admin. fee but the first year is free. Therefore the only cost will be the interest cost for a few days that I have the loan and since I will pay it off I am not that concerned about the interest rate.
I am waiting for the fed ex loan application that I will sign and send back with my 2 years of tax return, pay stub and insurance info. I will keep you posted as I progress.
The bonus for this loan will give me 4250 mile for each 10,000 borrowed.
When I applied via phone the agent said I can borrow the Maximum which is 500,000 and pay it off the day after the loan funds. The terms and conditions say that I will receive the miles based upon the amount of the initial funding. He then told me I could then apply for another Home Equity Loan for my rental property and pay off the first loan. The July 31, 2004 deadline is for the start of the loan application so I hope to have both loans for a total of425,000 united miles.
Loan terms: Interest Rate is Prime +1/4 (presently 4.25%), The rate for a loan under $200K is at Prime. No points or fees and the appraisal is a drive by. There is a $75 per year admin. fee but the first year is free. Therefore the only cost will be the interest cost for a few days that I have the loan and since I will pay it off I am not that concerned about the interest rate.
I am waiting for the fed ex loan application that I will sign and send back with my 2 years of tax return, pay stub and insurance info. I will keep you posted as I progress.
My loan closed on 8/23, funded for $400,000 (170k United Miles) on 8/26 and I just paid it off today. I am now applying for a new loan with Washington Mutual on the same bonus program for a $400,000 equity line of credit for a investment property and should receive another 170,000 miles. My only cost for these two loans will be ~ $350 for interest.
That is cool!
Nov 19, 2004 | 2:24 pm
#35
Join Date: Apr 1999
Location: Cambridge, MA 02138
Posts: 2,104
Originally Posted by steve100
Earning something back for real estate transactions is great, and I wholeheartedly support that approach. I will probably get flamed for this, but do consider that there are alternatives to earning miles. In my case, the cashback options is far better than miles.
For example, if you are a Costco member, then have partnered with LendingTree on both buying/selling a home as well as mortgage services.
On the buying/selling side (Real Estate Agent Services)... If you buy (or sold) a house for $500k, the cashback would be $3,700 (plus $100 if you are an Costco Executive member - see link below). Whereas, if you go through LendingTree using the United Airlines promo listed above, you would earn 3,000 miles for each $10,000 of your homes value plus a bonus of 10,000 miles during the current promo. So, that $500k house would earn you 160,000 miles.... Since I value miles at $0.015/mile, that equates to $2,400. (even if I valued the miles at $0.02/mile, that would be $3,200).
Summary: I would much rather have $3,700 in cash than 160,000 for buying or selling a $500,000 house.
see: http://www.lendingtree.com/common/bp...9500H000000001
There is also Lendingtree.com and costco deals on home refinancing and mortgages as well. I haven't done the math on these, but my gut says that they too are better deals than earning miles.
see: http://www.costco.com/Service/MemberService.aspx
For example, if you are a Costco member, then have partnered with LendingTree on both buying/selling a home as well as mortgage services.
On the buying/selling side (Real Estate Agent Services)... If you buy (or sold) a house for $500k, the cashback would be $3,700 (plus $100 if you are an Costco Executive member - see link below). Whereas, if you go through LendingTree using the United Airlines promo listed above, you would earn 3,000 miles for each $10,000 of your homes value plus a bonus of 10,000 miles during the current promo. So, that $500k house would earn you 160,000 miles.... Since I value miles at $0.015/mile, that equates to $2,400. (even if I valued the miles at $0.02/mile, that would be $3,200).
Summary: I would much rather have $3,700 in cash than 160,000 for buying or selling a $500,000 house.
see: http://www.lendingtree.com/common/bp...9500H000000001
There is also Lendingtree.com and costco deals on home refinancing and mortgages as well. I haven't done the math on these, but my gut says that they too are better deals than earning miles.
see: http://www.costco.com/Service/MemberService.aspx
Note: I did NOT use the financing feature of the Costco/LendingTree program (I only used the Real Estate feature). Why? Well, I was able to find better mortgage rates (read: lower rates/fees) elsewhere. So, earning the cashback or miles would not have been prudent.
Nov 19, 2004 | 2:56 pm
#36
Join Date: Jul 2004
Programs: CO Gold; SPG Gold***; AvisFirst;
Posts: 3,970
Originally Posted by steve100
Well, since my original post above in July, I ended buying a house using a real estate agent procurred through the Costco/Lendingtree program. I just got my cashback check today in the mail. I have to tell you, the value of the check far exceeds the value of any miles that I would of gotten (even if I valued the miles at $.02/mile, which I don't. I usually value miles at $.015/mile.)
Note: I did NOT use the financing feature of the Costco/LendingTree program (I only used the Real Estate feature). Why? Well, I was able to find better mortgage rates (read: lower rates/fees) elsewhere. So, earning the cashback or miles would not have been prudent.
Note: I did NOT use the financing feature of the Costco/LendingTree program (I only used the Real Estate feature). Why? Well, I was able to find better mortgage rates (read: lower rates/fees) elsewhere. So, earning the cashback or miles would not have been prudent.
Nov 19, 2004 | 3:24 pm
#37
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: SJC
Programs: AA Gold; HH Gold
Posts: 2,850
Any great deals out there for a first mortgage to get AA miles? I'm going to check out Citimortgage and Wells Fargo, as they're the two partners listed on aa.com. But they both offer only 1K miles per $10K financed, and would love to find something better if it exists.
Nov 23, 2004 | 7:13 am
#38
Join Date: May 2003
Location: New York, NY
Programs: Hilton HHonors Gold, Delta Silver Medallion, Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 211
I checked out other banks through which I could have gotten DL Skymiles in addition to going through Lending Tree. All of the big guys, like Chase and Washington Mutual, were way higher than the best rate I got on Lending Tree, at least half a point. Things always have a way of changing in the mortgage game, but Lending Tree at least came through for me, and I have 41K more miles to show for my efforts. YMMV w/AA, but in checking around it seemed everyone had variations on the same theme.
Sometimes Lending Tree has bonus deals with airlines on top of the regular mileage awards, as they did with Delta, so it definitely doesn't hurt to hunt around.
Sometimes Lending Tree has bonus deals with airlines on top of the regular mileage awards, as they did with Delta, so it definitely doesn't hurt to hunt around.
Nov 23, 2004 | 8:13 am
#39
Join Date: Apr 1999
Location: Cambridge, MA 02138
Posts: 2,104
murrayhill - If I can be so bold, I too found LendingTree's rates better than the 'Big Guys', but they were still considerably higher than many others. For a really good comparision site, checkout: http://www.bankrate.com/brm/rate/brm_mtgsearch.asp
I ended up closing on a rate that was 1/2% point lower than LendingTree (with identical programs and fee structures).
Good luck!
I ended up closing on a rate that was 1/2% point lower than LendingTree (with identical programs and fee structures).
Good luck!
Dec 9, 2004 | 8:50 pm
#40
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Charleston, SC, USA
Programs: Avis Pref+, Hyatt Explorist, Marriott Life Gold, Honors Silver, IHG Plat via MC.
Posts: 6,789
I used Lending Tree this Fall to sell my boyhood home in Youngstown, Ohio. I was very pleased with the special services above & beyond the call of duty by Jeanette of Century 21. My home sold for $105K so I am scheduled to get 36,750 NW miles + 4K or 6K bonus soon.
Closing was Nov. 16. I got an email from LT on Nov. 22 confirming that they had received my papers OK. They say allow 6--8 weeks, but:
How fast have you all gotten your miles, please? I hope I get mine ASAP so I can book a J ticket on Sky Team to Europe for March 2005.
Closing was Nov. 16. I got an email from LT on Nov. 22 confirming that they had received my papers OK. They say allow 6--8 weeks, but:
How fast have you all gotten your miles, please? I hope I get mine ASAP so I can book a J ticket on Sky Team to Europe for March 2005.
Dec 10, 2004 | 10:41 pm
#41
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: Ashburn, VA (IAD/DCA/BWI)
Posts: 2,757
Originally Posted by steve100
Earning something back for real estate transactions is great, and I wholeheartedly support that approach. I will probably get flamed for this, but do consider that there are alternatives to earning miles. In my case, the cashback options is far better than miles.
For example, if you are a Costco member, then have partnered with LendingTree on both buying/selling a home as well as mortgage services.
On the buying/selling side (Real Estate Agent Services)... If you buy (or sold) a house for $500k, the cashback would be $3,700 (plus $100 if you are an Costco Executive member - see link below). Whereas, if you go through LendingTree using the United Airlines promo listed above, you would earn 3,000 miles for each $10,000 of your homes value plus a bonus of 10,000 miles during the current promo. So, that $500k house would earn you 160,000 miles.... Since I value miles at $0.015/mile, that equates to $2,400. (even if I valued the miles at $0.02/mile, that would be $3,200).
Summary: I would much rather have $3,700 in cash than 160,000 for buying or selling a $500,000 house.
see: http://www.lendingtree.com/common/bp...9500H000000001
There is also Lendingtree.com and costco deals on home refinancing and mortgages as well. I haven't done the math on these, but my gut says that they too are better deals than earning miles.
see: http://www.costco.com/Service/MemberService.aspx
For example, if you are a Costco member, then have partnered with LendingTree on both buying/selling a home as well as mortgage services.
On the buying/selling side (Real Estate Agent Services)... If you buy (or sold) a house for $500k, the cashback would be $3,700 (plus $100 if you are an Costco Executive member - see link below). Whereas, if you go through LendingTree using the United Airlines promo listed above, you would earn 3,000 miles for each $10,000 of your homes value plus a bonus of 10,000 miles during the current promo. So, that $500k house would earn you 160,000 miles.... Since I value miles at $0.015/mile, that equates to $2,400. (even if I valued the miles at $0.02/mile, that would be $3,200).
Summary: I would much rather have $3,700 in cash than 160,000 for buying or selling a $500,000 house.
see: http://www.lendingtree.com/common/bp...9500H000000001
There is also Lendingtree.com and costco deals on home refinancing and mortgages as well. I haven't done the math on these, but my gut says that they too are better deals than earning miles.
see: http://www.costco.com/Service/MemberService.aspx
For a 500K home, you get $5,000 cash rebate for buying or save $10,000 on commission for selling...
Last edited by DH; Dec 10, 2004 at 10:45 pm