I'm thinking of putting myself in hock* for the rest of my life.
Wanted to know what your experiences were with either of these companies, if any.
Also, if you considered using them, but went with a broker instead, I'd like to know why.

Thanks.

*Mortgage, first-time homebuyer.

I remember attempting to use E-Loan for an autombobile loan...just to check rates, etc. Pretty painless...the rate was very nice (lower than many banks) based on the good credit I had. They sent a check for much more than I asked for (within like a week), which was nice actually - and of course, whatever amount you use is the loan amount you would repay.

I ended up not going with them - actually didn't end up purchasing during the 30-days or whatever they give you - but knowing how easy and friendly they were (I did call them with some questions...everything was on the up-and-up)...I would look at them again for something in the future.

I got my last home loan through e-loan, pretty easy and very low closing costs.

But that was in 2003...

Lending Tree will put you in contact with three lenders, and then you take it from there. We did our home mortgage through Costco/Lending Tree and got an excellent rate with very low closing costs. But dealing with a mortgage company thousands of miles away is not for the faint of heart.

I might suggest getting a throw away e-mail account to use. A co-worker used lending tree, and he started getting all sorts of financial spam withing just a day or two. I really doubt it was a coincidence.

I used E-Loan to purchase my last car and the whole process was very fast and painless. I applied on line, got an approval whithin fifteen minutes, and had a check via Fedex the next day. Interest rate was less than I could get from bank/credit union.

I used quicken loans for my refi - went well, good rates...

i've use e-loan for a home equity line of credit and lending tree for a refi. both were fine though in my lending tree dealing, one of the lenders was a bit obnoxious in their sales pitch. i went with the other lender offer.