1. We don’t want Customers to be burdened with a 15-30 year loan.

2. Based on our research, Customers tend to move or refinance every 5-7 years.

3. The loans are amortized, so payments are manageable.

3. Orange Home Loans are designed to save Customers money throughout the life of the loan.

4. Customers have options to extend the fixed rate period of the loan.

5. In the event a Customer enters the loan’s adjustable rate period, the adjustable rate is capped, so the rate does not drastically rise to an unmanageable amount.

6. We’re a conservative lender –so we make sure we’re offering the right loan products and amounts to the right Customers.

7. We’ve always been prudent –ING DIRECT never got involved with subprime mortgages.

Responding to some other random comments by above bloggers:

“Dont know if ING Direct will be here”
Response: We meet every regulation set forth by anyone anywhere. We met our deposit goal for the year in the first quarter of 2009. We also do not qualify for a bailout like a lot of banks are getting (IE: Bank of America) because we are an internationally owned institution.

“Points”
Response: We dont offer them.

The other thing that you have to keep in mind is that ING Direct Associates are available 7 days a week 8 am to 8 pm ALL time zones (even in our Loan Department). Tell me you can do that with Wells Fargo, Bank of America, or your local credit union, you simply cant.

Last but not least, responding to Al: You are exactly right, We are for everyone, but if you know you are going to be at your home for 15 to 30 years, then these types of mortgages are probably not for you.

ING also looks at mortgages like this- many, many people buy a home and get a mortgage, then sell that home or refinance within 5-7 years. If that is the case- if you know that you are purchasing a “starter” home or you know that you will be refinancing once your credit is more firmly established, etc.- then it’s somewhat silly to pay more for a fixed rate.

However, if you know that you will be in that home for more than 5-7 years, then this type of mortgage may not be for you.

The pessimist in me believes we are in for a terrible bout of inflation thanks to Y’obama’s multi-trillion dollar deficits. Us older farts remember the Carter years with 12% fixed rate mortgages and worse. That’s when ARMs became popular.

Anyway, let’s compare the rate to see if it competitive (as of August 11th, 2009). Easy Orange rate is 4.25% for 5/1 ARM. And for Orange Mortgage, it is 4.5% for 5/1 ARM. Wells Fargo mortgage rate “traditional” 5/1 ARM is 4.25%. I put “traditional” to make sure the comparison is made against Orange Mortgage rate, instead of Easy Orange rate.

ING also advertised lower closing costs, but I think it is somewhat inflated. It is showing $2,000 for rate buy down. But to compare head to head, I would compare when the rate is the same without points. Thus for the example I gave with Easy Orange and Wells Fargo, the advertised savings in closing costs is inflated by $2,000. But the true head to head is actually between ING Orange Mortgage and Wells Fargo 5/1 ARM, which in this case, Wells Fargo offers lower rate, but may be higher closing costs.

Several things I like about ING are everything done online and no escrow for real estate tax, insurance, etc.

Overall though, I would strongly consider other options instead of simply think ING offers the most competitive rate. I have not find my next house yet, but when I do, I don’t think I will go with ING Direct since I was not approved for Easy Orange and I don’t think Orange Mortgage offers the best rate out there.

“You actually want as much debt as possible in an inflationary environment”

Not with this job market… Save and Pay is what I’m sticking to.

As far as the ING loans, the only reason I could see going with an ARM right now would be if I was purchasing a property to flip or I was looking at a short-term pay-off.

You actually want as much debt as possible in an inflationary environment. Fix it now, and pay back with inflated dollars.

Best,

RB
Rich By 30 Retire By 40

We refi’ed a little over a year ago into a 15-year fixed at 5.25. Now, we like it, but I admit I’m occasionally tempted by the ING rate and then wanting to sock everything at it. If we were 10 years, I might do it, but at 14, we’re sticking with the fixed.

Our very legitimate, longstanding, wonderful CU for many, many, many years offered only ARMs (5 or so years ago, it introduced fixed), so I don’t know how much one should read into the absence of fixed-rate mortgages at a given financial institution. The ARMs our CU did offer were (and are) very legitimate loans, with reasonable terms in terms of how they reset, etc. (they can only go up 1% every 2 years, so there’s not much risk of a sudden surprise).

he was very satisfied with the low closing costs, very competitive rate, and ease of use.

I recently refinanced my loan to a 4.875% 30 year. I paid .25% of a point. We feel we are in our house forever, so it made sense to make the move. However, with my trust in the ING name, and the low cost of their closing costs, I would strongly suggest this option to anyone who did not think they were going to need a 30 year fixed (1st time homeowner, growing family, etc). The fact that the rate is so low, the costs are low and you can pay bi weekly for free, are huge advantages. A disciplined person could even pay more and really make up ground when/if they had to refinance in 5 or 7 years, and someone smarter than me cou ld probably calculate the savings of all the above at a 4.25% rate end of 7 years to see what you save over that same time vs a stanard 30 year like me.

I am not a gambling man, so I took the sure bet of my 30 year fixed not knowing what will happen in 5 years from now. But another note, ING says they will simply reset your loan to another 5 year ARM at the market rate. Sounds great to me, of course, we dont know if ING will be here, or what the rate will be….but I do think ING is a solid institution, and suggest anyone interested in this bank should consider it. For whateveer that is worth.