Most consumers are told where to get their mortgage because few people personally know and trust a mortgage or loan officer or correspondent (the same thing). It used to be agents would take their buyers out to find the house they wanted, then to their favorite mortgage company. Now things are so fast and better organized. It is common practice to have the purchasers prequalified and preapproved before searching for their new home. Most agents don't know much about finance, they leave it to the mortage company to explain it.
Probably the most important thing is comparing. I don't understand this, unless it is young people who just don't know. Most people compare prices of other thing; cars, gas, food. It's not only important to check interest rates but also APR or annual percentage rate. This takes all of the mortgage company charges and breaks it down into a rate that many times is published by several in the newspaper. You can see 5.49% v 6.11%. It sounds like a little but it means a lot!
Different types of financing are available. This is something your agent should be well aware of as well as the mortgage company. I remember a time I was working with a young couple. I knew the best loan for them was a combination of FHA and a state subsidized loan. This gave them the lowest down payment and interest rate. The people at this very well known world wide mortgage company said "you can't do that" to which I REPLIED, here is the number. I was surprised. The couple did get the house with exactly that financing. Please rate and tell friends.
More to come later: http://www.freewebs.com/realestatenews.
Suzie is a licensed real estate broker and certified residential appraiser with twenty years of experience with hopes of changing the industry for the better one step and one person at a time. She has other professionals in the field who are contributing their expertise as well. http://www.freewebs.com/realestatenews
