Home Buying Information

Choosing a Lender

It often pays to shop for a lender.  Here are some tips:

• Call several lenders and ask what their rates and costs are.  Ask them to fax or send you a Good Faith Estimate, then compare rates and costs.
  
  
• If they ask for your social security number before they will give you a Good Faith Estimate, say no thanks and move on to someone else.
  
  
• Do not let anyone pull a credit report until you are sure that they are the lender you wish to use.
  
  
• Remember that rates and points can change every day, and on bad market days, more than once a day.  A lender normally will not lock you into a rate until you have a contract to purchase.
  
  
• Don't let the lender "shop for the best rate for you" without comparing what this lender says to what others in the market are quoting.  Sometimes, lenders are looking for the loan that will pay them the most.
  
  
• If you have been pre-approved by a lender, compare rates again after you go into contract.  Be sure you are still getting a market rate with that lender.  If not, negotiate or switch to someone else.