By Admin on Jan 21, 2010 in Renting & Real Estate
Cou G asked:
I have been pre-approved by a local very large bank known for their mortgages of which I am a customer. I know the lender.
I have been pre-approved by a local very large bank known for their mortgages of which I am a customer. I know the lender.
Once my short sale is approved I will get my first rate & points from him. Then is it best to shop on the internet or go in person to other banks? Do credit unions or online mortgage companies offer better rates and less points than nationally known banks?
Very good suggestions. Thank you all for your ideas.
Generally credit unions offer very good rates because they are non-profits so they have lower costs. I particularly like the Navy Federal credit union and the Pentagon Federal Credit Union.
The first thing to do is to get your credit report for free at and check what is on there to make sure your report is accurate. If it is not, and there are negative items on there, get those cleaned up.
If you are a first time homebuyer, check on or at the department of housing in your city or county to see if there are any special deals for first time homebuyers. I got a mortgage under something called a “mortgage credit certificate” that saved me 20% off of the interest costs.
If that doesn’t work, try to do all your rate shopping within a 2 week period of time, so it has the least effect on your credit score.
There is a “homebuying for dummies” book you can get at your library that has pretty good advice on how to shop for a mortgage. The biggest thing is to make sure you compare APR (annual percentage rate) not just the rate quoted, because sometimes a low rate comes with huge amounts of fees and points, and they offset the low rate.
Lauren F | Jan 22, 2010 | Reply
Go to different mortgage brokers and compare fees. Make sure they don’t run your credit every time. Just tell them you are shopping for a loan and see what they have to offer. Banks like Bank of America will only have one way to give you money and that is their way. Mortgage brokers work with a lot of different banks. Keep that in miond when shopping around. Good luck and don’t sign anything until you are ready to Rock N Roll.
www.MATTUCCI.com | Jan 22, 2010 | Reply
Good luck getting your short sale to the closing table, about 10% get there, which is pathetic. Do not go to internet lenders, they promise all sorts of stuff up front, but the final package is usually much different than originally discussed.
godged | Jan 24, 2010 | Reply
The fastest way is to use an online company that turns your request into referrals to several lenders/brokers. That way, you fill out your information only once and you can compare rates from 4 or 5 lenders.
Try: – they do a soft pull on your credit, but don’t be alarmed, any subsequent credit pulls for 30 (60?) days by mortgage lenders will all get rolled into the one credit request, so you will not be dinged for having multiple inquiries.
Jason D | Jan 26, 2010 | Reply