I worked with John Moony at Guaranteed Rate on two mortgages over the past two years. He and his team were fantastic! They were extremely detail-oriented and did whatever was necessary to get our deals closed. The second deal in particular was a pain, but the folks at GR were extremely professional and took great care of us. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! read more

Leo and his team were absolutely incredible. As a first time homebuyer, my husband and I were completely new to this experience. However, we felt calm and relaxed throughout the process since Leo made sure we understood each step. We are both so elated to have our own home and the backing of such fantastic team at Guaranteed Rate! read more

Never use Guarantee Rate! They told me our loan would not be a problem, promised more than they could deliver, was not up to date on mortgage laws, took $500 from us, and then denied our loan 12 days before we were to close. It was a horrible experience. read more

Quite honestly the biggest hassle I have ever had in closing a mortgage. The customer service there is awful. My credit score is over 800 so this should have been an easy thing. I would not recommend their services to anyone. read more

Guaranteed Rate my foot! They quoted me a rate over the phone and verbally locked me in at that rate. I received the closing documents 2 HOURS before closing with a higher rate. Was told there was nothing they could do. Already had $$ down and rates had gone up since then so I could not back out. Shame on me for not getting anything in writing. Not to mention this was a refi and it took over 3 months to complete! I will never use this company again. STAY AWAY!!! read more

Stay away from Guaranteed Rates! It was and still is a nightmare. Mistakes and errors on every level. Closing took four solid hours because almost all of the paperwork had to be done over. The nightmare continues... read more

This is one of the worse companies you could get a loan from. Take it from one of their former employees. If you read all of the reviews you really don't know what to think so let me lay it out for you and I'm sure it will all make sense. 1) The company is naturally conservative and will kill income and value at the first opportunity they have. Expect a desk review on every appraisal which could hack the higher value you were so happy about getting. They will also make the appraiser use comps within .25 miles which will really limit your comps and ability to get a more aggressive value. 2)Expect to also submit 2 years of tax retruns even though some approvals require only 1 yr. They don't care about the inconvenience it may cause you or the fact it may kill the deal. All they care about is that they won't have to buy the loan back. 3) The company has double standards for their employees pending the division they work for. If you are a retail guy who brings in ton's of business through the shady @properties realtors then you're golden! You're proably going to have one of the better experiences but its not a Guarantee (Pun intended). Underwriting won't make you jump through half the hoops but yes the processing team will manipulate numbers and dates to get it through. Not a good thing if it's not in your favor. The comp plans also differ, quite the disparity. The funny thing is all these retail guys have other bee workers putting the files together and doing all the work. These morons don't know squat. And homeonwers turn away other good lenders because they have been "referred" and think they are in good hands. DON"T ASSUME PEOPLE!! There are better actual BANKS (FDIC INSURED) in CHICAGO. They don't have to be the big 4. 4) It's just a smoke screen when the CEO or manager's try to do service recovery online by posting "this is not a typical customer experience" but you see that posted like 20 times!! Not typical? I bet they screamed and kicked for help during the process and no one came to their aide. It's all for public image, anything this company does is for public image. 5) Your rate may not even be locked in while you are under the impression that it is. If you didn't get the GFE with the rate lock details . You should not trust that you are locked in just because you checkled off "yes" on the diclsorues. 6) Don't buy the rhetoric "it's just that kind of market". Your loan process should not feel like a body cavity search and if it does RUN because it is a precursor of what the remainder of the process is going to be like! Don't let this name fool you, The same market conditions will apply if you're not locked in just as they would anywhere else. They won't even lock you in unless your appraisal is back. They just want to make their money without regard of what that means for you. People beware alot of the Mortgage Banks work just like this, Chicago Bancorp, Perl mortgage, Lending Tree Home Loan Center. The tides are turning, if you want advice on a good lender email me at shamfinder@yahoo.com read more

My wife and I refinanced with Guaranteed Rate and had a great experience; Kris, Katie, and Carmen (loan coordinator) guided us through our refi with a minimum of hassle (as much as anything mortgage-related can be hassle free.) Even when our old lender disbursed our tax payment after closing (which we had already paid to the new lender) GR worked quickly with the title company to get us a refund-within two days! Overall, I was quite a high maintenance customer and everyone was very responsive throughout. I recommend them highly. read more

They tell you want to hear, and the lack of performance was unbelievable. This is my first review on YELP, but given my experience I feel compelled to warn others about this company - don't do it! I was purchasing a primary residence in CA while living in VA, and was contacted by Blayney White, VP of Mortgage Lending with GR. They had a very attractive rate and package, and all sounded good. Immediately, with no warning or discussion, I was handed off to 'the team'. I was contacted by someone about records, but had no idea who this was, and came to realize I would not be working with a single point of contact, but a 'team'. This was the first red flag. The second red flag had to do with my appraisal. GR hired a company to get the appraisal done. The appraisal was poorly done, and I asked for a rebuttal. My realtor prepared a solid proposal to review several more appropriate comps in the area.Blayney promised the the rebuttal was handled by a 3rd party, so they would re-work the appraisal and review my realtors proposal. Blayney and team filled out the form incorrectly, so the rebuttal simply stated that the estimate stands - no change. The rebuttal was handled by the SAME appraiser - not 3rd party as promised. When we pointed this out, GR refiled the rebuttal - the clock is ticking now on lifting contingencies. Then we get the second rebuttal back, and the same appraiser did not the comps provided or even reference the proposal from my realtor. Here is the catch - the appraiser sends a bill for another $450 - and Blayney and team insist I pay the bill. I refused to pay stating that not only did the appraiser do a poor job the first time, but they failed to do the job a second time. It is also standard in the industry NOT to pay for rebuttals. After multiple insistent emails from Blayney, I get a call from her boss - Corey who says it was a mistake, sorry there is no charge for a rebuttal. There were many small issues along the way - getting the numbers incorrect on initial documents, virtually refusing to communicate with my realtor, not giving me a good faith estimate until we were a week into the process, but the real issue was their performance when it counted. When it came time to lift my last contingencies - loan contingency - after lifting the appraisal contingency, I asked Blayney if things were looking good. I get back on the phone - 'no problem every thing is on track'. Given the experience with the appraisal, and nervous now, I ask to get that in writing in an email. Instead I got other questions and information and no answer after going back and forth about 5 times. Instead Blayney and team choose to pass the buck on the critical decision making to the Realtor. Also, it is also worth noting that when I needed to lift loan contingencies I talked with Corey, the Manager, who indicated he would get us the Conditional Loan Approval by the end of that day so that we and our Realtor could determine for ourselves as to whether we should remove loan contingencies. Corey failed to deliver. Instead I got an email from Corey that we had met 7 of 9 conditions. I emailed him back and asked again for the Conditional Loan Approval AND more specifically, what were the 2 outstanding conditions. I did NOT get an answer. This is NOT customer service, nor a company in which we want to conduct business. After this issue I sought out another lender that could give us the peace of mind and confidence we needed to close on this purchase, but it was unclear if they could deliver in time for this house. So, we had to continue with GR, while crossing my fingers the other lender could deliver. A few days before closing, and after not hearing anything from GR, all of the sudden they say the docs are in title and we have to sign today. The only issue there is I am across the country - in VA - and I happen to be on business travel. Typically docs should be in title about a week before closing or more. So, at the last minute they get nasty with title to do a rush job. Again, Blayney says everything is on track, when in fact, there is not way we would close on time given the process outlined by the other lender. Again, no communication on expectations or even what is the process and timeline. In the end, the other lender did in 10 days what GR could not do in 35+ days. Extremely poor performance. To top it off I get these snide emails from Blayney acting surprised that I went with another lender. BEWARE!! Mike W. read more

They will switch the terms on you the night before closing on top of the fact that it's the most disorganized organization I have ever seen.

I would highly suggest you look at another broker before proceeding with Guaranteed Rate! I was applying for refinancing on my Manhattan co-opt and 2 to 3 weeks before the close I get a call from the peson I was working with Dennis D'Agostino saying they (he) made a mistake and got the address wrong on our co-opt. As a result of this "error" they told me our building was not on their list of approved New York buildings. After going through almost the entire process and paper work I get a call because one of these guys cannot read english. My address is not that complex. Then they tried to pin the apparel fees on me until I complained. Also I called Dennis D'Agostino's manager Barbara Esposito and she did not have the courtesy to return my call. When I was talking Denis D'Agsotino he even said he was dealing with incompetent people. He had original worked for Manhattan Trust and they had been purchased by Garneted Rate recently. Again I warn you thee guts are trouble and bush league. read more

I am now on month six of the refinancing process with guranteed rate. I agree with critic x. they aren't very good. I have never been contacted when the rates went down.... they have NEVER contacedt me, i always have to reach out to them. They seem to be overwhelmed. do not use them, bad news. I have a feeling that all the positive reviews are their employees, i don't know what they are talking about. BUYER BEWARE!!! read more

Kristine McMahon Pitts in the office at 6100 Fairview Rd Ste 353 * Charlotte, NC * 28210, was an absolute mess! It took three months to close this loan on a purchase that was *easy*, handed to her on a platter. She had all of the paperwork needed from day 3, and made a mess of the process week after week until my husband and I had to ask our lawyer to finally intervene to get Kristine's attention. She lost digital files regularly and we had to resend emails with the attached files biweekly to her. She never took responsibility for her mistakes, but rather started each re-request for information with "You never sent me" or "I never got" or "I can't find". She never apologized. We had to call or email her at least twice a week to remind her of what the bank, the sellers, the lawyers needed from her that week, and her responses were across the board snarky and unprofessional. Moreover, she couldn't put together a complex sentence, let alone a business paragraph to save her life. At the closing, there were three lawyers in the room with us, and all were absolutely dumbfounded by Kristine's incompetence, noting that up until the very last day of the closing, the paralegals were dealing with Kristine's inability to comprehend and respond to basic business requests. Needless to say, all of the closing paperwork was triple checked to make sure there were no last minute mistakes. Avoid Kristine at all costs, and please note that Andrew Miller, her boss, was very little help to us when we begged him to attend to Kristine's mistakes. There's no way to find assistance in the Guaranteed Rate corporate structure if you are stuck with a dud of a mortgage rep like we were. read more

My experience with the purchase of my first home was a nightmare. After the banks home inspection, I was given a list of items that had to be accomplished prior to them approving my loan. After sinking $11,000 of my own money into the home, guaranteed rate decided to force me to put 20% down instead of the initial %10 we had agreed upon. I had no other choice to come up with the 20% or lose the money I had already invested. I am a single mother of two and live below the national income average. Guaranteed Rate knew that I needed a new septic and the additional 10% down left me with very little to put into a new septic. So, essentially, they were ok with taking all of my savings while my two children and I have to live in potentially hazardous conditions in exchange for an additional 10% down. I am thoroughly disgusted by Guaranteed Rate and the banker out of the Remax of Jennersville, PA office. read more

This was by far the easiest Mortgage and /or refinance I've been through. Most of the paperwork is computerized and I was even able to close when I was out of town. The employees were very professional and prompt in answering my questions. I would rate them more a 4.75 only because I wasn't aware I had to pay at closing, therefore since I was out of town without a checkbook I had to pay to wire money. I would definitely recommend and use them again. read more

I had a terrible experience with Guaranteed Rate...more specifically with Daniel L. Beyer, who claims to be a VP, but his follow up skills, communication and sense of urgency are more like a High School graduate. I have dealt with many banks and brokers, and have never experienced this poor customer service. Definitely seek other options!!! read more

I am a first time homeowner and had been pre-approved by several lenders. I chose Guaranteed Rate as they educated me on the process (Susan Cooley was very knowledgeable), were quick to respond to questions or concerns, and were able to provide me with a low rate for my first mortgage. I had heard so many horror stories from first time home buyers, but this was a very good experience for me. They were even able to provide me with an itemized list of the closing costs so I could budget appropriately in advance. They were very easy to work with and I would both use them in the future or recommend them to friends/family. read more

Kevin Sprincz at Guaranteed Rate is by far the BEST lender on the planet. I've been a Realtor for over 13 years and have used a lot of excellent lenders. Never, have I seen the level of service, care and professionalism that Kevin consistently offers. At each of the closings with him, even the other parties to the contract and other Realtors are raving about him. If you're looking for a lender, call Kevin. If he isn't the best, I don't know who is! read more

Sam Sharp and his team were very professional and put together a smooth and professional financing process for the home I was purchasing. I've been involved witht he purcahse of several residential properties. The Guaranteed Rate folks were the best! I would heartily recommend Guaranteed Rate as your first choice as a mortgage banker, especially if it is your first time in the purchase process. read more

I just closed on a house with Guaranteed Rate's help. I'm very happy with their work. It seemed all so easy from the start till the end. I would definitely recommend them to my friends. Thank you Joanne, Mary, Sophie and Matt;-) read more

Worst HOME CLOSING process of my life. Guaranteed Rate, Chicago Office, totally dropped the ball on our mortgage application. Les Fink called me mid-afternoon Tuesday, the day before we were scheduled to close and told me we would not be able to close as scheduled. At this point, a rented UHaul was packed and sitting in our driveway. Documents I'd sent to Michelle Mulero were just sent to underwriting. Once in underwriting, it was another 48 hours before Emerson Ruis even verified my husband's current employment. As of this moment -- Friday -- afternoon, Les has still not been able to guarantee closing next Wednesday. Did I mention my husband and I have excellent credit? I wanted to be satisfied, but so far none of the folks at Guaranteed Rate have offered anything other than empty apologies. The sick feeling I have in the pit of my stomach is that next Tuesday afternoon, Les will call me once again to postpone our closing date. My husband and I have closed on many homes over the years and I will never work again with a mortgage company, particularly not Guaranteed Rate. I will do business with my hometown bank or credit union! read more

I cannot recommend them at all. A company is only as strong as the customer support they provide when problems occur, and they have not provided any customer support. After selling my loan, they wired money to the new entity and did not ensure it was properly allocated to the correct account. When I discovered the problem, I contacted Guaranteed Rate for help, and they essentially wiped their hands of the matter. The other entity has called daily and walked me through steps I could request of Guaranteed Rate to get this settled. Guaranteed Rate has not cooperated with each request. It's been a nightmare working with them. read more

Worst company ever! I could go into detail but that would just be wasting everyone's time. I suggest you do not work with this company. They are truly the worst. read more

If you're looking to finance a home and want both professional and personalized service, you can't go wrong with Carrie Bertsos and Guaranteed Rate. I was fortunate enough in landing perhaps the best realtor in Chicago (thank you Mark), and did some exploratory loan searches on my own through my banks and Lending Tree referrals, but eventually heeded his recommendation to contact Carrie and the rest is history. Carrie, Brian Stokes, and their team made themselves available to me from beginning to end. No question was too trivial; they ensured every detail was addressed in a timely manner; and while a certain level of anxiety is inevitable in this process, they reassured me everything would be okay, and it was! I don't think I realized how truly efficient she was until closing. Only after did it dawn on me that she had reviewed and prepared me for every document that crossed the table. The successful purchase of my condo was a result of finding the right place and putting my trust in the hands of the right people. Although I may not be in the home buying arena again anytime soon, Guaranteed rate and especially Carrie Bertsos have earned my respect and have my highest recommendation. read more

Great experience with Michael Bischof's team at Guaranteed Rate. Great communication along the way and very helpful given our need for a quick turn-around. Highly recommended! read more

Bob Hathorne and his team made our refinancing process very simple. He was very helpful and was able to get us a great rate. Would highly recommend Guaranteed Rate!! read more

This review is for Edmond Gosseling and his team. I came to Ed with minimal time for him to get my loan approved after being let down by another lender. He and the other employees at GR were amazingly efficient. They were able to get the loan pushed through and were incredibly responsive (texting me back in the late evenings and making time for me when I know they were very busy). I am very impressed with their well oiled machine. read more

speechless,,,,,,,,,,of all my experience in the dreaded mortgage world,,,,,,,,,,,,hands down the best experience ever,,,,,,,,,,,,,i hope i never need another mortgage,,,,,,,,,,but if i do,,,,,these guys will handle it,,,,,,,,for starters they ,,,,PICK UP THE PHONE,,,,,,,,,,,,,2 if they dont, they call back in minutes,,,,,,,seemless effortless,,,,,,,,,THE BEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! read more

Ryan Mecum and his team are as good as it gets. Their flexibility and step-by-step easy direction literally made us feel as if we didn't have to do any work. I felt completely unorganized going in, and totally organized when it was completed. And oh by the way, the rates were sick!!! I will direct everyone I know who is looking for new mortgages or refinancing to Ryan and his team at GR. read more

They were absolutely wonderful and helped us get organized and focus in on what we needed.

We used Guaranteed Rate to purchase our first condo in downtown Chicago. Christin and Jeff were both awesome. They went far above and beyond their expected duties to explain things to us, and make the process as easy as possible, and I can assure you we had plenty of questions for them to answer! We were really impressed with how accommodating Jeff was. He worked very quickly to get us the lowest rate possible on our home insurance, but then went even further to cancel our old rental policy, research car insurance rates, and transfer our old plan, so that the combined deal was even lower. I can't over state how appreciative we are of all they did for us given our somewhat extraordinary situation of having on partner working abroad during this whole process. We will be sure to recommend them both to all of our friends as they move through this exciting phase of their lives. read more

Easy to work with, great follow up, and good rates.

Horrible, just horrible. I recently used them to try to refinance. The appraiser they sent me didn't even know what neighborhood he was in (E. Pilsen). So when I got the appraisal back, imagine my surprise when ALL "comparables" were over a mile away in Little Village and only in a price range below my purchase price 5 years ago. Now you may say that this is not their fault, but the interactions I had to contest this gross oversight by the contractor they used led me around in circles for months. Guaranteed Rate admitted that this was wrong but led me on into thinking they would address it and do something about it. Deceitful, unethical and lazy. I'm out $350 looking for professionals, not these swindlers. read more

I have been in the mortgage business for over 30 years and working with this company for my daughter's loan and it has been a nightmare. I have never worked with a company this cares less for it's customers. They have forgotten that the borrower pays their salaries. My daughter has been working on her loan for over 2 months and her contract has expired and we have gotten no help from anyone involved with her loan. Their processors and underwriters have a GOD complex....Would suggest any company but this one. read more

I have worked with many lenders over the last 10 years and this has been an horrific experience. We were supposed to close on the 28th of Nov and as of the 20th of dec , we still didnt have a clear to close. Not sure if it was the loan officer or the company but will never use this company again! read more

I had a terrible experience with Renu Jutla and Jason Jesudoss. While shopping to refinance my house, Guaranteed Rate gave a competitive quote with a decent rate and a lenders credit of $1000. I was frustrated and disappointed as they did not honor their promise by not giving me the credit that they promised. Renu Jutla is a very unprofessional lady, it was very tough to build a trusted relationship with her as she always behaved like a car salesman. She made me send her all the documents three times, the first time she lost the documents, she called me and sounded very upset and mad, she would call and almost yell at me, saying that her assistant lost all the documents and she now has to do a lot of work again, since she is so busy, i should send it to her right away or i would lose the credit and the agreed rate. After sending the documents on the same day, I would not hear from her for days and she would not return my calls, after three weeks, when she called, she would say that i would not get all the credit as i delayed in sending all the documents. After multiple disappointing experience, i escalated the issue and said that i would only do business with them if her manager got involved. Here enters Jason Jesudoss, Renu Jutla's boss. He convinced me that i would get my discount and close the loan within a week. After two weeks, same thing happens, Renu calls me and says that they not going to be able to give the agreed credit as I was late in submitting the papers, so i had to go back to Jason. He sounded very helpless, but at least he was honest. He said, yes, he agreed to the lenders credit and the rate, but his higher ups were not willing to honor it. When i told him that i had his confirmation in writing, he said, yes, he knows, but he is helpless. Finally, to end this transaction, i had to agree to a lender's credit of $500. When i signed the papers, i saw the credit i received was for $350. After four phone calls and many emails, Jason agreed to send me additional $150 in the form of a pre-paid debit card. I said ok, but did not receive it for a month. Everytime i would follow up, Jason would say that Renu is going to send it the next day, and that he had no idea why Renu did not sent it the lat time we talked. Finally after two months, I received the pre-paid credit card for $150. To summarize, Guaranteed Rate has at least two people who are very unprofessional, they lie to get your business, treat you badly and are really rude on the phone. It took almost 6 months for my loan to close from the time i decided to go with them, in the end, i did not get the best deal as they did not give me the promised credit. I am currently exploring my options to sue them. read more

I had good experience with Guaranteed Rate in refinancing. My agent Salvatore was really nice to work with. There was an issue caused by a last minute issue in my credit. And they were able to finally remove the point charge. My only wish is that they can be little bit more competitive. But the service is good. Overall a good experience. read more

* Guaranteed Rate, Inc. switched our guaranteed rate from 3.5% to 4.25 after it was locked. We had locked a rate of 3.5% with Guaranteed Rate for a 30yr-fixed refinance on 5/13/13, we were told the rate will be locked for 40 days and were also assured that the 40 day period was more than enough to close the deal, if not, the time period can be extended. We scrambled to provide all the necessary information and fill all the forms, in short did everything the company asked for well ahead of the due date. During the loan process, we were assured 4 times by the vice president and loan processor that the loan was ready to clear and close and a company rep will come to our house to finalize the transaction "this weekend or early next week" we were told. But that day never happened, and nobody informed us that "you need to pay to extend the rate" or that " your loan is about to expire". Today 7/23/13 we were informed "your loan has expired on 6/28/13". And what Guaranteed Rate is going to do is "offer you a loan with a rate of 4.25%." in spite of the fact that all the delays in closing this deal were caused by Guaranteed Rate, Inc. We all know the dirty tricks played by some mortgage companies. Unfortunately Guaranteed Rate appears to be one of them. The fight has not ended yet, will post updates as things unfold. read more

As a first time home buyer with a complicated financial issue that involved foreign assets, I got very nervous buying a home but Shant Banosian was great. I really appreciated his punctuality and professionalism. Guaranteed Rates does use multiple coordinators per buyer but as far as helpfulness, I was extremely pleased. Solid. read more

This review is for Michael Knopf in the Chicago online office. Michael is warm, bright and thorough. In addition to analyzing the best possible option for us, Michael has helped at least a dozen of our friends save hundreds of dollars a month after refinancing. After shopping around, GR ultimately was able to offer all of them the best rates, and Michael provides excellent service by all accounts. read more