How to find a good mortgage broker?

[Anonymous]

We're about to get into the housing market and our real estate agent sent us a list of possible mortgage brokers. I've also considered using USAA, my bank. We'll be starting the housing hunt in a few weeks with an eye to buying early summer, if we find what we want for a price we're happy with.

But how do I compare which mortgage agent can offer me the best rates? It seems like going through the approval process for each can be time-consuming and expensive. How do you recommending contacting and comparing lenders? Don't they charge a fee before approving you for a loan? If so, should I get approved with a couple of them and then see which can offer the best rate when it comes to actually locking in the rates?

[ShanetheMortgageMan]

You can ask for initial GFE's (good faith estimates) from different prospective loan officers and post the results here, along with your full situation, and we can give you input on if it's a good deal or not.  No need to pay any application fees, if one says you need to then it's time to move on to another.  If your situation isn't difficult there might not be a need to get approved with all of them before deciding on the one you want to go with.  Spill the beans and we'll let you know how things look.

[Anonymous]

How do I know if an online mortage company is safe for a refi?  Is there a place to check up on them?  I have a credit score of 785 and a mortgage of $ 2,000 a month with an interest rate of 6.25.  We have a quote of 4.50% which would drop our payment to about $ 1,500 per month. Thanks.

[DallasLoanGuy]

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@Anonymous wrote:

How do I know if an online mortage company is safe for a refi?  Is there a place to check up on them?  I have a credit score of 785 and a mortgage of $ 2,000 a month with an interest rate of 6.25.  We have a quote of 4.50% which would drop our payment to about $ 1,500 per month. Thanks.

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4.5%

really?

how many points are you paying?

 

 

[DallasLoanGuy]

brojd

1. ask a friend/family/coworker to refer you to a good loan officer.

 2. confucious says: he who seeketh the lowest rate buys from the biggest liar.

[ShanetheMortgageMan]

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@Anonymous wrote:

How do I know if an online mortage company is safe for a refi?  Is there a place to check up on them?  I have a credit score of 785 and a mortgage of $ 2,000 a month with an interest rate of 6.25.  We have a quote of 4.50% which would drop our payment to about $ 1,500 per month. Thanks.

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Base your decision on the loan officer, not the loan company.