ING Direct Mortgage Review(s) and Rates
ING Direct (a brand name of ING Bank, FSB) offers a number of online banking products ranging from checking/savings to adjustable rate mortgages. Their home loan and mortgage line is very narrowly focused and consists of just a couple of ARM (adjustable rate mortgages) which are frequently advertised with enticingly low interest rates and APRs. Their “Orange Mortgage” product line is displayed with general rates and payment structures as well as their “rate guarantee” – which states the following – “You get a free, guaranteed rate for 60 days when buying a home or 45 days when refinancing. From the day you apply for an Orange Mortgage, your rate is guaranteed, even if rates go up during that time.”
Current mortgage rates offered through ING Direct:
(Rates accurate as of 9/2010. Visit ingdirect.com for updated information and mortgage rates.)
- 5/1 ARM Orange Mortgage going for 3.396% APR with interest rate of 3.250% when 80% or less of the home’s value is borrowed.
- 7/1 ARM Orange Mortgage going for 3.50% APR with interest rate of 3.499% when 80% or less of the home’s value is borrowed.
Terms and Conditions:
APR based on a 30-year $250,000 loan as of September 13, 2010. Interest rate may increase after fixed rate period. Projected interest rate based on current index plus margin.
- 5/1 ARM Jumbo Orange Mortgage going for 3.555% APR with interest rate of 3.750% when 80% or less of the home’s value is borrowed.
- 7/1 ARM Jumbo Orange Mortgage going for 3.719% APR with interest rate of 4.00% when 80% or less of the home’s value is borrowed.
APR based on a 30-year $500,000 loan as of September 13, 2010. Interest rate may increase after fixed rate period. Projected interest rate based on current index plus margin.
Overview of Orange Mortgage (from ingdirect):
The average American gets a new mortgage every 5 to 7 years. Why pay a higher rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage when you can pay a lower rate that better matches the length of time you’ll keep your mortgage? If you are eligible, you can relock your rate for another 5 or 7 years at the current Orange Mortgage rate.
The Orange Mortgage
- Great Rates – With low rates and no rate buy downs, you could save thousands.
- Low Closing Costs – Unlike other banks, we don’t have application charges, rate buy downs or other junk costs.
- Quick and Easy Application – Apply online in minutes and even do your closing online or by phone.
- Rates Guaranteed – Free 60 day rate guarantee for purchases and 45 days for refinances.
If you have experience with the home loan process through ING Direct, please share by leaving a comment.
October 22nd, 2010 at 3:43 am
Beware ING says they have no application fee. Here is my recent experience. What they do is just lead you along until the point where you have to accept the offer and the application fee is due. Then there is still another step in the process, the appraisal. Of course, their appraiser then says the house can’t be appraised for the amount of the loan. You paid the fee and get no mortgage.
December 1st, 2010 at 6:01 am
Dont get a mortgage through ING! They sometimes have ok rates, but customer service, application fees and headaches make it not worth it at all!!!
December 17th, 2010 at 7:47 pm
Don’t apply for a mortgage through ING. I spent so much money faxing them paperwork and then they kept asking for more. They wanted me to send them court documents from my divorce and even though I sent everything I had, they said it wasn’t enough. They wanted documentation that doesn’t exist! Then they tell me that since my child support will end in a few years, they can’t approve the mortgage and charged me $350. When I called to dispute this, I was told that it gets charged if the loan is disapproved for ANY reason! That means they are just offering mortgages to get this fee from everyone dumb enough to apply because they will always find a reason to not approve it! I am VERY disappointed with this experience. I have been a customer of theirs for 10 years but now I am ready to close all my accounts.
May 31st, 2011 at 7:26 am
ING Customer Service
Although ING has very competitive rates, they should not be used for mortgages. They set a variety of tricks and traps for unwary consumers to capture bogus fees. Many comments on this website will attest to this problem, I will describe our issue.
We refinanced our home, starting in October 2010. It took nearly five months to complete the refinancing, which was irritating, but not the focus of this note. In May of 2011 we decided to move for reasons unrelated to the mortgage. I knew that we had agreed to a 1% pre-payment penalty, but asked, and was told, that this penalty would be waived if we financed the new purchase with ING.
We got contract on a new house prior to selling our first property. When we went to finance our new purchase with ING, we were rejected. The reason given was that we were attempting to hold two primary residences. ING insisted that this was our intention even though we had contracted with a realtor to list the home, and the homes were approximately five miles apart. ING would not accept that we were trying to sell the house. When we asked for a waiver of prepayment penalty, since we had attempted to purchase the new home from ING they refused, again claiming that we were trying to own two primary residences. When we pointed out that if we wanted to hold both homes, we wouldn’t care about prepayment they sent the following message:
Hi XXXX,
We will review the 1% penalty if/when you decide to sell your current home. If you have additional questions, please give us a call at 1-877-464-2151.
Thanks,
Justen
ING DIRECT USA
Member FDIC
Equal Housing Lender
Less than a month later, we received an offer on our existing home (the one financed by ING). At this time, we had already gone through financing with another institution, one that realized that we probably weren’t trying to own two primary residences in the same city.
However, when I called to check on the waiver of the prepayment penalty I was refused. Crystal (Employee number 701590) told me that regardless of what I had been told, or what had been written previously, they would not waive the prepayment penalty. She instructed me to apply again. When I told her that ING was not trustworthy enough for me to reapply, and that we had furthermore already paid some fees to arrange our new mortgage, she told me that ING would enforce the penalties. She did promise that Justen would get a slap on the wrist for what he had written us, I’m not sure how that will help me.
$1800 is certainly not enough for me to ever trust ING again. They are a very poorly run operation. Hold times for any discussion or decision are eternal. In our case, instead of financing our new purchase, they decided to grab our money and run with it. This bank neither wants nor deserves new customers. Do not be fooled by their rates. Do not finance your loan with ING. I have learned my lesson.
June 1st, 2011 at 10:34 am
ING has resolved the above listed dispute to my satisfaction. If moderated, please remove my comment.
August 31st, 2011 at 7:52 am
ING has resolved the issue listed above just because I publicized this issue. Is it worth going with ING?
October 28th, 2011 at 3:35 am
Hey Neil, Yes, it is moderated but I’ll keep the comment for the record. I really appreciate you sharing. I had a friend do the exact same thing, he was unhappy with the (lack of) customer service at another major bank regarding his checking account, savings and credit card that he had with them. He was never able to get it resolved until he went social with his issue (twitter, facebook, and blog commenting). Once he made enough “noise” he was able to get everything resolved and even got a few additional bonuses from the bank.