LendingTree.com is a competition engine for all sorts of loans, including mortgages, which is really where they got their start. The basic idea behind Lending Tree is that you submit your information and they share just enough of the pertinent parts with various mortgage lenders to give them an overall picture of your creditworthiness. In turn, the various lenders then make their best offer to you for loan terms and you pick the one you like the most. Pretty good idea, right?

The model has proven effective as LendingTree.com has emerged from the dot com bust as a viable business and in fact has grown quite a bit over the last decade. They now do competitive pricing services for auto loans, home equity loans, real estate sales and more.

Have you done business with Lending Tree? What did you think?

Visit LendingTree for more information about their services.