Engagement Fee for a loan: LENDBASE
Real Estate Agent · Minneapolis, MN · Member since 2016 · 29 posts · 10 votes
Engagement Fee for a loan: LENDBASE
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Mortgage Broker · Dallas, TX · Member since 2017 · 657 posts · 275 votes
6yLol, that's a bit of a stretch. I wish I could pull something off like that... basically, its a fee to make sure you don't waste the lenders/broker's time. No I would not go with a company charging that. I get paid when the deal closes and so should any other lender.
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- 2yJonathan CarpenterPro MemberRental Property Investor · Whitefish, MT · Member since 2022 · 37 posts · 8 votesWe did not move forward with them. Personally I was not stoked on the engagement fee and on that particular project, the listing agent (who promised to notify us if anyone else was kicking the tires on the lots) sold one of them and the project didn't make sense at the new number or units.
Quote from @Charlie Moore:
Quote from @Jonathan Carpenter:
Hey there, this is my first Bigger Pockets post so yay!?
We're working with a mortgage broker local to us and he has put us in contact with Lendbase as well. We are not currently under any sort of contract and we just found this thread through a google search on Lendbase.
We are currently working on a construction loan to develop some residential lots, assumed the Mortgage Broker would be on the up and up... had some sales-ey call with a guy out of Utah.
I suppose the main question is, does this company actually come through. We're looking at a rather large loan and I feel like we could go down a different road if this place is not legit.
Thanks.
Did you end up using them - talking to them right now - and a little nervous to pay the engagement fee. Thanks
- Lender · Greenville, SC · Member since 2023 · 39 posts · 6 votes2y
@Geoffrey Serdar Don't do it!
- Member since 2023 · 2 posts · 2 votes2y
Working with Lendbase was a mistake. We were able to find another broker that provided exponentially better service and didn’t charge an upfront fee. I’d recommend you do the same.
It all started when we interviewing Lendbase we were told that all of the lenders in the Lendbase network accepted their underwriting. As a result, Lendbase was compensated by the lender we wouldn’t ever have to pay Lendbase anything except for an $8,000 upfront fee to process unlimited loans for us for three years. On our first and second loan we were presented with many options where we had to pay Lendbase and the lender both an origination fee.
Lendbase’s communication was terrible and delayed. As a result, we had to push our deadlines with the seller.
Lendbase was also misinformed of the requirements for agency loans. When we were on a call with Lendbase and the lender, the lender was telling us we needed $2.5 million in liquidity post-closing but after speaking with other brokers we found out we only needed $300k. As the borrower, we had to educate the lender and Lendbase how the liquidity requirements really worked.
Lendbase presented a lender to us that did not charge a prepayment penalty. This was our main reason for picking this lender. After we onboarded with the lender and sent all the deal info over, we found out that there is a prepayment penalty. Our rep at Lendbase never called to apologize or ask if a prepayment penalty was an issue for us.
Our rep would make up excuses, ignore us, was unprofessional, deflect from making a mistake and would speak to us like we were stupid. After several attempts to try to figure out a solution with our rep with no success we asked to speak with his manager. Our rep never responded.
We eventually got a hold of the manager through another Lendbase employee. We expressed all our frustrations and eventually the conversation ended with Lendbase saying they’d give us $1,000 if we signed a non-disparagement agreement. I guess Lendbase only puts a $1,000 value on their reputation. We spent $1,000 so we could warn others to not work with this company.
Save yourself a lot of time, money, and headaches and work with another broker with better customer service, expertise, and integrity.
- Member since 2024 · 2 posts · 0 votes1y
Quote from @Geoff Glade:
Working with Lendbase was a mistake. We were able to find another broker that provided exponentially better service and didn’t charge an upfront fee. I’d recommend you do the same.
It all started when we interviewing Lendbase we were told that all of the lenders in the Lendbase network accepted their underwriting. As a result, Lendbase was compensated by the lender we wouldn’t ever have to pay Lendbase anything except for an $8,000 upfront fee to process unlimited loans for us for three years. On our first and second loan we were presented with many options where we had to pay Lendbase and the lender both an origination fee.
Lendbase’s communication was terrible and delayed. As a result, we had to push our deadlines with the seller.
Lendbase was also misinformed of the requirements for agency loans. When we were on a call with Lendbase and the lender, the lender was telling us we needed $2.5 million in liquidity post-closing but after speaking with other brokers we found out we only needed $300k. As the borrower, we had to educate the lender and Lendbase how the liquidity requirements really worked.
Lendbase presented a lender to us that did not charge a prepayment penalty. This was our main reason for picking this lender. After we onboarded with the lender and sent all the deal info over, we found out that there is a prepayment penalty. Our rep at Lendbase never called to apologize or ask if a prepayment penalty was an issue for us.
Our rep would make up excuses, ignore us, was unprofessional, deflect from making a mistake and would speak to us like we were stupid. After several attempts to try to figure out a solution with our rep with no success we asked to speak with his manager. Our rep never responded.
We eventually got a hold of the manager through another Lendbase employee. We expressed all our frustrations and eventually the conversation ended with Lendbase saying they’d give us $1,000 if we signed a non-disparagement agreement. I guess Lendbase only puts a $1,000 value on their reputation. We spent $1,000 so we could warn others to not work with this company.
Save yourself a lot of time, money, and headaches and work with another broker with better customer service, expertise, and integrity.
Hi Geoff, who did you end up using instead if you don't mind me asking? I just got off a call with Lendbase and it sounded very good of course but now I am having second thoughts.
- 1yErik EstradaBusiness MemberLender · Member since 2022 · 6k+ posts · 1k+ votes
CRE lending is the wildwest. I do not recommend paying any upfront fees, unless it's with a large bank that typically requires a good faith deposit on larger transactions. Make sure you do your due diligence or work with a licensed broker.
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