Real RenoFi Reviews
4.8 rating out of 754 reviews
Tony Maietta
I contacted them a few weeks ago. For the most part, I think they mean well. I get the impression that they're a new company and that they're very short-staffed.
The pros and cons:
Pros:
1) The initial application is very simple.
2) The website is nicely designed and easy to navigate.
3) They offer long payback terms for smaller loans which is hard to find in today's market.
4) They offer great interest rates if you have good credit.
5) The employees are very professional and friendly (but see cons below).
Cons:
1) Communication and responsiveness are lacking. This isn't the type of company that you can call if you have a question. You can leave voicemails and send emails but don't expect same-day responses. Sometimes it can take more than 2 days for a response.
2) From what I understand, RenoFi doesn't provide funding. They work with financial institutions who they sell your loan to. The one that they told us to apply with, had extremely poor reviews--an average of 1.5 stars. That credit union did not reply to a single negative review and some were very credible and very bad. For example, many of them said that credit union is very slow to post payments, and then they charge late fees. We asked if there was an alternate institution we could use, and in our case, there was.
3) Information was sometimes unreliable or missing. For example, before we switched institutions, they didn't tell us the new one had stricter requirements like needing a full estimate for the project. It took a couple of weeks to finalize that as we were trying to get bids. That's an unusual request for a personal loan such as ours. Per #1 above, there was a lot of time and back and forth to get answers on that.
4) It takes a long time to get funded. With us, it's been 3 weeks and we're still not there yet.
So, if you're the type of person that likes to get information quickly, either over the phone or via email, get correct, complete information upfront, and if you want a simple smooth process to close your loan, this may not be the company for you. If you're willing to be patient, can do your own research and wade through the issues above, the financial terms may make it worth your effort.
Sabrina Miller
I found RenoFi when I was frantically searching to find out how to fund our home renovation after we found out a typical HELOC wasn't going to meet our needs. I'm giving RenoFi three stars, not because the product isn't of quality, but that I feel there are areas that need to be improved.
The first is communication during the process. Often there were times that I was left wondering if the company was really "real" because I'd have conversations or exchange emails and then there would be silence for awhile. I was asking for a lot of money, so it was not easy for me to just accept "everything is fine" responses. I needed more reassurance, especially with dealing with such a new product.
The second is marketing. Renofi needs to get their name out. And I understand that's probably one of the goals. Several financial/mortgage people we talked to have never even heard of Renofi or the type of loan. This was really unsettling to hear when we weren't always getting timely responses. There's also very little information about Renofi out there, even the financial company we're working with has nothing about Renofi's product on their website.
The third is communication after being paired with a lender. I never heard anything. The only email I received was to give feedback. There's been no follow up asking if we're happy with the product, how our project is going, etc.
So overall, if you need a service that matches you with a lender that will give you a HELOC based on the post reno value of your home, use Renofi, but don't expect anything else and keep mind they are new and likely still working out some kinks.
Dustin Johnston
The process started out as potentially easy and helpful. Then as I kept moving forward with the process, it became frustrating. No one explained exactly what I was agreeing to until I asked. Fees kept being applied to my loan after I signed the paperwork and the fee was fixed. I wouldn't recommend RenoFi unless you have no other options.
Erin Langenstein
UPDATE: This company has been VERY frustrating to deal with. The loan itself doubled in interest rate to over 10%, in one month it jumped 2.5%, I was charged $149/month fee and when I finally got myself out of this toxic loan, they kept charging me the $149/month fee and refuse to refund it. I would suggest to use any other loan besides these guys, its just not worth the headaches.
I was happy in that I could get a high risk HELOC that was 125% my homes worth and I couldnt get that anywhere else but communication was a little confusing in that the portal didn’t always match what the associates said and rates can increase dramatically based on credit pull. I was quoted 4.25% with 780 and ended with 5.75% when it was pulled at 750. There is also an additional fee every month around $150 and the entire process takes about 2 months. That being said, if you don't have a ton of equity in your home, this is a good option.
J E
Was approved for the loan which isn’t the issue, I was told what my rate was, everything was all good and agreed upon. Then for whatever reason it was taking longer then expected for paperwork to come through and sign. The communication was great at first the agent I was in contact with over the phone was helping as much as she could along the way then was passed to another associate through email she was very forgetful, and in my opinion wasn’t doing her job plain and simple. when I didn’t hear anything in over a week I was done with the company didn’t want to continue. So another agent got involved smoothed over the situation and was back on track to complete the loan docs. I looked over the loan doc my payment was higher then expected or at least what I was told I confronted the person who was bad at her job which she had nothing to say except that’s what the bank is offering, and when I replied to her email saying the contract is wrong and someone needs to go over the contract again she ghosted me lmao haven’t heard from her in over a week I didn’t sign the contract and the deal fell through I’m not mad I don’t need the loan I can do whatever I need to do on my own! It just amazes me how some people are! they have one job! And unfortunately other nice people that actually helped get thrown under the bus as well and wasn’t their fault. I only fault one person in this the other 2 people were great.
Roslyn Torella
At first I was really impressed with the customer service I received from RenoFi. My project was to fund a renovation for a home that I had 100% equity in, no outstanding mortgage but would need to have a renovation loan because of its current value was lower than what I wanted to borrow. We started the process in late February, I uploaded all the necessary docs to the secure portal and the appraisal was scheduled around March 10th. Everything seemed to be progressing fine but then major delays set in. The appraisal was received by RenoFi within a few days but the underwriting process took forever. I was told to expect 4-6 weeks from start to finish. I was given a conditional approval in late April/early May and told then that my loan would be finished "soon". My loan was finally approved in the second week of June - a full 13 weeks from when I started. Another concern that I had was beinging requested to send documents with my personal and financial information via email rather than uploading them to the secure RenoFi portal. I had to repeatedly ask to have the portal re-opened to upload documents so I did not have to send them via unencrypted and unsecure email. I feel that I would have been better off going directly to a lender than through RenoFi.
Jennifer Jiggetts
The agent I worked with was very slow to get back to me. We wasted weeks waiting for a response from Renofi. Huge waste of time. We were told by renofi that we were approved for 200k. So we started some work knowing the bank process would take some time.
The bank ended up no approving us for the loan. What a waste of time. Would not recommend Renofi
Michael Garvey
This cannot take photo of drivers lic with my iphone
Some questions will cause misunderstanding, such as I am building so how can I live there, say I intend to live there.
I did not copy all the leases until they need them.
To drop the files in is so difficult and not sure if did>
Jennifer Lancaster
We have had this reno finished for MONTHS. They still keep charging me for it being unfinished and harassing me for updates. Every month, I tell them it's finished, fill out the forms on the website, and the next month they are at it again. They are incompetent and can't keep up with their own paperwork.
DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY. God only knows how much money they have over charged me for the reno not being "finished."
Anthony Zupancic
I was intrigued by Renofi's offer - at the possibility of skipping personal loans that I would pay off with a home equity loan after completion of a substantial home renovation - and just taking out a second lien based on the finished project's value. However, after 1 month of working to complete it, I am pulling the plug on this financing option. Renofi was slow and often difficult to communicate with. Once they connected me with the credit union actually lending the money, nothing done with Renofi seemed to transfer or make the process quicker. In fact, because I thought the bank had statements and information I had previously uploaded to Renofi, there was a lot of miscommunication and delays. Beyond the time this was adding to my project timeline, it made me very weary of the additional headache the bank and/or Renofi would cause during the project - as they have to release project funds via draws and require progress updates. I hadn't planned to fund the project this way, but stumbling upon Renofi, I thought the package was appealing enough to pivot. I'm sorry I did. Going to fund it more traditionally and without all the headache and red tape. My wife supports. She notes "a renovation is hard enough on a marriage, we can't involve someone else!" In this case it would be a bank that hasn't felt particularly competent and Renofi which felt completely pointless and incompetent. We must choose our partners wisely so I am choosing neither of them. The credit union probably shouldn't have chosen Renofi. If you are reading this, I don't doubt that Renofi may be an attractive or even better option on paper for you and your project. But be warned that you may, like me, be setting yourself up for delays, paperwork, costs (you appraise your house out of pocket before you even get to talking to the bank), and ultimately the feeling that perhaps it wasn't worth it after all. It's not like the rate is any better than a personal loan anyway; it was just a larger loan.
Graham Fetyko
We were trying to get an HELOC, poor communication from the start. Originally told a lower rate than it was increased almost 1% . When I asked about it they didn’t have a reason for the increase. The rate was well over what other banks are offering.
Jeff Helman
WORSE THAN USELESS. Zero integrity. We wasted a year of our lives with them.
They told us (and our builder) what we wanted to hear, starting with claiming that they have a "special" appraisal process that factors in the post-renovation value. They literally claimed "The appraisal will not be an issue."
Complete fabrication. Neither they (or any other loan broker of lender) have any control over the appraisal process. Yes, we should have checked this out before wasting a year of our lives, but we bought the lie hook, line and sinker.
As many have noted on Reddit, RenoFi takes forever--as in WEEKS--to communicate actionable status. They obviously have ZERO IDEA how to operate a loan brokerage business. Any doubts we had about this evaporated when we dealt with 1) A real loan broker and (separately) directly with a credit union. Both had loan documents to sign within a couple of weeks.
We (naively) stuck with RenoFi so long because we believe in their "unique" concept of vetting the project and contractors in order for lenders to loan more than their normal loan-to-value (LTV) limits.
• Great idea, but execution is everything. All hat; no cattle.
If you value your time, avoid these clowns.
Jbhill2
I wanted to try and reach out to some sort of customer service to try and under stand why my loan approval is two weeks away from 3 months since we started the process….April 25th
We have updated items as soon as they’ve been requested but there have been weeks between requests for new information at points.
We knew this was going to be a process since it was a Reno loan. But this is bordering on absurd now. I don’t get updates unless I ask and I continually get told it’s almost done when it clearly isnt.
This doesn’t seem like an unreasonable take on my part. I don’t know if it’s the loan company you use or what. But this could have been a better experience…..
Arcangelo Esposito
I'm not exaggerating by stating this has been the worst experience in my life. I applied Jan 31st, on May 12th we still don't have a closing date. No communication unless I reach out first, and every time I reach out they are missing further paperwork. Even though I sent everything and everything is in order. Still today, after almost 5 month I still can get an explanation why is taking this long or when my closing date will be.
Nitesh M
too long to get an approval
Sam Lo
Waste of time and ding on your credit for loans they are confident you will qualify for. I was denied one that they was sure I would get approved for. They then said they couldn't believe it and Ryan's own words "we are confident you will get approved by this lender. And I was not. and than had another hard inquiry on my credit. They ghosted me after the second denial. They lie and make you feel like you are guaranteed to get the loan. They should never tell someone they are confident they will get approved when at the end of the day they don't make the decision themselves. DO NOT USE RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN. HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE.
Brian Moore
Went through the initial phone conversation, uploaded all requested documents, and then ghosted by the company. Emailed to request an update on the progress with no response. Check the portal for updates, none provided. I would not recommend RenoFi.
Susan Sciarretto
We were unable to close our loan because they failed to provide us with a copy of the contract they had us sign at closing. We had 3 days to review it for inaccuracies and so we had a clear understanding of what we were getting into. They sent a notary, not even a representative from the lender who could answer our questions. The notary informed us we were not allowed to have it. THEN, out of retaliation for canceling, the gave my personal information to all of their partners in construction and everything that had to do with the lending process. They even filled out my information on dating websites. We were able to trace everything back to the computer that the information was sent from which belonged to the person who was supposed to be helping us. Petty and childish. They care so little there were typos in the part of the contract we did get to read, typos in a legal document. It took from April to September to even get to that point. I highly recommend that you don't use a broker like RenoFi and deal with a financial institution directly.
Sarah G
Fraudulent and deceptive! Do not use this company, they are not a fair company and will deceive you for months until closing. I’ve had 2 HELOCs in my life and needed one to do some renovations on my second home. Pretty straightforward. I was interested in renofi bc they offer the value of the home post renovation. That is false. In the beginning, I did appreciate their system and ease of being able to upload documentation. However things started to go south quickly once they connected with the actual bank. They kept delaying approval and asking for more documents, and went way longer. Then when it came to finally approve and set the closing date, they changed my rate by almost 4 points higher. When I inquired about this, they said it was because it was a second home. Total lies since the entire application and process was based on it being a second home. They were trying to pull a fast one and deceive me. I’m pretty sure what they did was illegal but at best extremely deceptive and immoral. The person I worked with at renofi was kevin Phan and never once in the numerous emails, phone calls and texts did he tell me the rate changed. Instead I spent 6 weeks going through the process and pulling my credit to not close in the end. Now Quorom bank says I have an account with them, which I don’t, and threatens to charge me if I don’t finish setup. Stay away!
Tanya Brandona
Representatives were very nice. Would not recommend this service, very long process to just spend too much on an appraisal, out of pocket that was poorly done. After 8 months, could not get the loan to close.
Sheri Mitchell
These guys are crazy. They pull one credit score not three. They absolutely do not help you. If you depend on them for financing anything you can do better with a credit card. Don't waste the hit on your credit score people.
Rachel Boz Gibson
Wish I had something good to say but they wasted 3 months during our home loan process. They did not keep their word from the very beginning. My husband and I ended up getting our home addition loan through someone else. Renofi acted great and responsive in the beginning and then they were awful. So disappointed with how much time I wasted with them.
