Mortgage Shopping

Buying a home can be very intimidating. The fun part is getting to look at different houses and hopefully finding one you like. The not so fun part of the whole process is getting your financing in order and applying for loans or mortgages. Home buyers tend to put more time into looking at homes when they should also be researching different lenders. It can be scary and confusing but it does pay to be a little more choosey with your lender.

If you’re in the market to buy a house, it’s a good idea to do a little mortgage shopping.  A good start is to pull your credit reports from the three main credit bureaus. There are sites online where you can do this for free. Once you’ve done this, it’s time to figure out how large of a loan you can afford and what type of loan. There are many different mortgage calculators online that can help you with this.

Next, shop your local banks, credit unions and other lenders (including online lenders) for quotes and apply to three different lenders on the same day.  Compare their fees and rates and see if you can negotiate. Hopefully all this research will pay off with a better deal and you can feel good that you did your homework - excuse the pun!

Depending upon the size and length of your loan and how long you remain in the house, a difference as little as 1/10^th of a percentage in interest can save you thousands of dollars over the life of your loan! It’s one of the biggest investments you’ll ever make so it’s worth a little extra effort upfront.

(Source:  http://tinyurl.com/n2hhm6v )