how to shop for best mortgage?

[ybitz]

Any piggs recommendation on how to go about shopping for a mortgage? Getting pre-approved to start looking at houses was fairly straight forward (picked a random bank and submitted a bunch of income docs). But as for getting a real mortgage after getting your offer accepted, do I just cold-call various banks (BoA, Wells-Fargo, etc), or go through something like lendingtree.com? Any recommendations?
What’s the going rate for 30-year, fixed, conforming, perfect credit score (790+), 20% down in the city of San Diego?

[waitingpatiently]

Sheldon is the man! Search the handle HLS for info.

[waitingpatiently]

Sheldon is the man! Search the handle HLS for info.

[waitingpatiently]

Sheldon is the man! Search the handle HLS for info.

[waitingpatiently]

Sheldon is the man! Search the handle HLS for info.

[waitingpatiently]

Sheldon is the man! Search the handle HLS for info.

[UCGal]

I checked the following:
SDCCU (not in the mix, rate wise, unfortunately)
USBank
Chase/Wamu
Schwab
Aimloan.com

And then I shot Sheldon an email to see what he could offer.

It can be challenging to compare mortgages because some have more fees but lower origination charges… so you can’t just compare points and rates… You have to compare the entire fee structure.

USBank and Aimloan seemed to have the most info about their fees/charges/etc available online (based on assumptions of good credit).

I ended up going with HLS(Sheldon) because he was slightly cheaper, overall. Should fund tomorrow or Thursday. Sheldon was easy to work with and there was one serious hiccup in my refi that he handled well.

[UCGal]

I checked the following:
SDCCU (not in the mix, rate wise, unfortunately)
USBank
Chase/Wamu
Schwab
Aimloan.com

And then I shot Sheldon an email to see what he could offer.

It can be challenging to compare mortgages because some have more fees but lower origination charges… so you can’t just compare points and rates… You have to compare the entire fee structure.

USBank and Aimloan seemed to have the most info about their fees/charges/etc available online (based on assumptions of good credit).

I ended up going with HLS(Sheldon) because he was slightly cheaper, overall. Should fund tomorrow or Thursday. Sheldon was easy to work with and there was one serious hiccup in my refi that he handled well.

[UCGal]

I checked the following:
SDCCU (not in the mix, rate wise, unfortunately)
USBank
Chase/Wamu
Schwab
Aimloan.com

And then I shot Sheldon an email to see what he could offer.

It can be challenging to compare mortgages because some have more fees but lower origination charges… so you can’t just compare points and rates… You have to compare the entire fee structure.

USBank and Aimloan seemed to have the most info about their fees/charges/etc available online (based on assumptions of good credit).

I ended up going with HLS(Sheldon) because he was slightly cheaper, overall. Should fund tomorrow or Thursday. Sheldon was easy to work with and there was one serious hiccup in my refi that he handled well.

[UCGal]

I checked the following:
SDCCU (not in the mix, rate wise, unfortunately)
USBank
Chase/Wamu
Schwab
Aimloan.com

And then I shot Sheldon an email to see what he could offer.

It can be challenging to compare mortgages because some have more fees but lower origination charges… so you can’t just compare points and rates… You have to compare the entire fee structure.

USBank and Aimloan seemed to have the most info about their fees/charges/etc available online (based on assumptions of good credit).

I ended up going with HLS(Sheldon) because he was slightly cheaper, overall. Should fund tomorrow or Thursday. Sheldon was easy to work with and there was one serious hiccup in my refi that he handled well.

[UCGal]

I checked the following:
SDCCU (not in the mix, rate wise, unfortunately)
USBank
Chase/Wamu
Schwab
Aimloan.com

And then I shot Sheldon an email to see what he could offer.

It can be challenging to compare mortgages because some have more fees but lower origination charges… so you can’t just compare points and rates… You have to compare the entire fee structure.

USBank and Aimloan seemed to have the most info about their fees/charges/etc available online (based on assumptions of good credit).

I ended up going with HLS(Sheldon) because he was slightly cheaper, overall. Should fund tomorrow or Thursday. Sheldon was easy to work with and there was one serious hiccup in my refi that he handled well.

[mwtosd]

It is often useful to use the APR for comparision since that generally includes all of the costs associated with the loan, especially with a honest lender that will include all the fees in the APR.

Edited – also make sure to compare the good faith estimate (GFE). All lenders are required to give you one that will help to estimate the costs associated with the loan. Obviously you must compare apples to apples in the sense a 30yr fixed with a 30yr fixed. Go line by line to compare the costs of various fees such as credit report fee, appraisal fees, inspection fees and any points, etc.

Edited again: I think a good starting point is bankrate.com On the front/main page there is a place to find a mortgage rate. Then the next page select state and city and it will give you the rates for 700+ FICO scores with 20% down.

[mwtosd]

It is often useful to use the APR for comparision since that generally includes all of the costs associated with the loan, especially with a honest lender that will include all the fees in the APR.

Edited – also make sure to compare the good faith estimate (GFE). All lenders are required to give you one that will help to estimate the costs associated with the loan. Obviously you must compare apples to apples in the sense a 30yr fixed with a 30yr fixed. Go line by line to compare the costs of various fees such as credit report fee, appraisal fees, inspection fees and any points, etc.

Edited again: I think a good starting point is bankrate.com On the front/main page there is a place to find a mortgage rate. Then the next page select state and city and it will give you the rates for 700+ FICO scores with 20% down.

[mwtosd]

It is often useful to use the APR for comparision since that generally includes all of the costs associated with the loan, especially with a honest lender that will include all the fees in the APR.

Edited – also make sure to compare the good faith estimate (GFE). All lenders are required to give you one that will help to estimate the costs associated with the loan. Obviously you must compare apples to apples in the sense a 30yr fixed with a 30yr fixed. Go line by line to compare the costs of various fees such as credit report fee, appraisal fees, inspection fees and any points, etc.

Edited again: I think a good starting point is bankrate.com On the front/main page there is a place to find a mortgage rate. Then the next page select state and city and it will give you the rates for 700+ FICO scores with 20% down.

[mwtosd]

It is often useful to use the APR for comparision since that generally includes all of the costs associated with the loan, especially with a honest lender that will include all the fees in the APR.

Edited – also make sure to compare the good faith estimate (GFE). All lenders are required to give you one that will help to estimate the costs associated with the loan. Obviously you must compare apples to apples in the sense a 30yr fixed with a 30yr fixed. Go line by line to compare the costs of various fees such as credit report fee, appraisal fees, inspection fees and any points, etc.

Edited again: I think a good starting point is bankrate.com On the front/main page there is a place to find a mortgage rate. Then the next page select state and city and it will give you the rates for 700+ FICO scores with 20% down.

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