Use a Mortgage Broker or Direct Lender

[memejipakid]

Considering buying a home in the next 90 days. Do you have any advice on which way to go - use a mortgage broker or a direct lender. Most likely a conventional mortgage with 20% down and eventually using the proceeds from the sale of our existing house to pay off the mortgage on new home purchase. Would you lock the rate or let it float?

[Fishingmn]

Personally, I'd recommend getting quotes from both. It doesn't hurt to get quotes from 2-3 lenders. See which one has the best rates and overall fees as well as the best level of communication.

[kaudrey]

Try www.bankrate.com - you can put in your information and get a list of what banks/brokers are offering in your area. Look for the one that has the price/features you want.

[Animorph]

Bankrate.com is a good place to start. I ended up with AIMLoan.com over the internet, they had a good rate for me. Then if the broker can do better, go with that. I tried LendingTree but didn't get a good rate from them. The big advertisers like Quicken loans seemed high as well. Shop around a lot.

You can normally get a rate lock for free for as long as it will take your loan to close. So normally there is no reason to pay anything. If rates are drifting up it might be useful. If rates are drifting down you might not care.

[rodi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fishingmn Personally, I'd recommend getting quotes from both. It doesn't hurt to get quotes from 2-3 lenders. See which one has the best rates and overall fees as well as the best level of communication.

This!

And pay close attention to fees. Not just points - but the origination fees, notary fees, doc fees... This can vary by quite a bit.

[jerome len]

All above good advice. If you have a good banking relationship, I'd check with your bank as well. Sometimes, especially at smaller banks, you'll save money, especially on fees. As others said, you should shop around......just include your bank on the shopping list.