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Stupid Mortgage Questions

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LisaW	Ok, I am totally embarrassed to even ask this, but what the he11... How do you shop around for a mortgage? Is it better to go to a bank or a mortgage broker? Thanks Posted 5/11/05 5:03 PM
-Lisa-	generally banks can give you a better rate, since there's no middle man...the mortgage broker is using those same banks but he wants a piece too. what we did was "apply" at a couple different places and compared notes on rates, fees, points (if any), time frame, etc. Posted 5/11/05 5:17 PM
LisaW	When you "apply" do they run your credit each time? If so, doesn't that lower your score? Posted 5/11/05 5:20 PM
steph4777	Posted by LisaW When you "apply" do they run your credit each time? If so, doesn't that lower your score? Yes it you fill out an application they do run your credit. I believe if you have a number of inquires of the same type within the same period (ie, 30 days) it will not affect your score tremendously. (please double check on this, but that's what we were told when we were looking) Posted 5/11/05 5:29 PM
-Lisa-	they generally do run your credit, and we had to write a letter stating that the numerous credit inquiries were due to our shopping for a mortgage. But I think that if within a certain period it doesn't really affect your credit, so we did all the comparison shopping at once... Your best bet is to know what type of loan you're looking for and then find out who's offering the best rates for that type of loan. Once you narrow that down you can get into your specific needs/credit - that way you don't have 15 places pulling your credit report. Message edited 5/11/2005 5:31:19 PM. Posted 5/11/05 5:30 PM
LisaW	Thanks girls. We were pre qualified by a bank and my brother started telling me how old fashioned that is, that I should use a broker, etc (not that he ever bought a house ). So, do I just walk into banks and say I need a mortgage? Do I call? How does it work? Duh, I know... Lisa, you wrote a letter to the credit agencies? Message edited 5/11/2005 5:38:46 PM. Posted 5/11/05 5:38 PM
-Lisa-	Lisa, you wrote a letter to the credit agencies? No, we wrote a letter to our bank as part of the mortgage process. They simply needed something explaing the # of inquires. We didn't go INTO any banks - just looked online and called around. You'll find that most places will match quotes, so just watch out for fees and points and find someone you're comfortable working with. We had a unique situation in that we were doing a non-doc/stated income loan, so it narrowed our choices since not everyone offers it. We went with e-loan and we very happy. Posted 5/11/05 6:52 PM