Hey everyone, looking for the best way to shop for the best deal. It seems like a lot of legwork but obviously worth it.
Some on the first time homebuyers sub recommended gofincast.com
Has anyone had success with them? Is there any other tool like it?
Call a (relatively) local broker or two with lots of lender options. Call at roughly the same time on the same day so you get a somewhat apples-to-apples comparison and request par rate quotes only. You can use some online tools but most of the time they’re only going to connect you with online lenders and your quality of service will be on the low end of the spectrum.
@Sawyer
Have you had a bad experience with online lenders? The local idea makes a ton of sense though, I’ll give it a shot for sure.
Zan said:
@Sawyer
Have you had a bad experience with online lenders? The local idea makes a ton of sense though, I’ll give it a shot for sure.
I’m a broker myself and have just heard of so many instances of online lenders not answering phone calls or being responsive. It’s the biggest purchase of your life and you’re going to want to be able to get a hold of the person coordinating it.
We just went to different banks. One of them was extremely proactive and helpful, as far as showing us different programs in our state. Although didn’t qualify for any. Once you start shopping around, it will end up being only one hard hit to your credit. I know it may seem like a lot of work, but it’s a huge purchase, and you wanna feel good about it. Make sure you know all of the fees that each place charges. There will be ones that are different for every place, and then certain fees that are what they are, no matter where.
@Keir
So far this has generally been my experience with Navy Fed. They have been super helpful, but I don’t really have anything to measure it against.
Unfortunately, there’s no simple answer here. Shopping for a mortgage means calling around and checking offers, as rates can change daily (or even multiple times a day). Someone offering a great deal today may not have the best rate tomorrow. A good strategy is to call your top 5 lenders around the same time on the same day to get an accurate comparison. Then, request Loan Estimates from at least 3 of them, if not more, and compare both rates and fees to make an informed decision.
To help, I post rates from the top 5 banks daily to give people a quick look at where the market’s at. Here are yesterday’s rates: https://youtube.com/shorts/EjdPRWahhvY?feature=share. I’ll post today’s rates once they’re updated later this morning. This should give you a sense of what to expect and whether you’re getting a better deal with local lenders.
On a purchase, I gather names of 2-3 local brokers/lenders in my area from friends, colleagues, and touch base with them and submit our package of information. Once you’ve gathered everything once, it’s pretty easy to send it out. I ask for everything quoted at the same rate so I can compare fees. I look for gaps that might indicate someone missed something, and ignore certain transaction fees and taxes/insurance estimates, since those are ultimately my responsibility; some folks will artificially put low numbers there to make their offer look better.
Ultimately, I generally choose to move forward with whoever provides the best customer service, so long as everyone is within a few hundred dollars of each other. They’re my partner in a legal transaction, and I want someone who can execute and solve problems that come up in my area, I don’t need to eke every penny out of it, because I can do that later on a refi.
Mortgage brokers and credit unions
You can skip big banks and retail lenders, they won’t have the best rates 90% of the time.
Feel-good option - reach out to someone you already know, like friends and family that work in mortgages. In my former professional experience, anybody that was truly close friend or family would immediately get the best deal my company could do without haggling/shopping. That’s not to say it was ‘the best deal possible on the market’, but the best my company could offer.
On a personal note, it really sucked to see social media posts of people buy/refi and they wouldn’t even reach out for a quote. And someone you know will definitely be more apt to genuinely take care of you.
There’s lots of other really good feedback here so far, so I won’t echo it. But I’ll add that you need to be prepared to have every lender you want a true quote from (that they can honor and lock in) to pull your credit. Lenders legally do not have to provide a formal Loan Estimate without a credit pull. And any quote that is not an LE is worthless and not something they are forced to honor.
And you didn’t mention whether or not you’re under contract yet. If you’re not… no sense in shopping just yet. Get your ballpark quote from 1 lender you get your preapproval with and hang tight. You can’t lock in anything until you’re under contract, so do all of your shopping then. Rates change daily, so spending any time getting a handful of quotes is irrelevant right now.
Brokers are better! Lots of my customers go through my website or find us through online portals.