First Mortgage Experience

After discovering that a mortgage payment would only be slightly more than paying rent, I decided to search for a loan. My first stop was lendingtree.com, after submitting a few forms I received several offers in short order. The Lending Tree system is nice but not without its flaws. The fact that the loan rates a lender supplies and the rate at closing, can be two different numbers.

With some more searching and research, I discovered that you can actually make more buy investing what you normally use as a down payment and financing 100% of the mortgage. Thus began a search for a lender offering this type of loan. Wells Fargo was the first lender I came across that offered such a loan. I was weary of them after reading something about predatory lending practices but decided they are a reasonably solid name and would be worth a shot. The application processes required a constant stream a documents, verification calls, references and the like. Well over a month after applying and not seeing an approval anywhere in site, I stopped the process.

The next option should have been my first, seek out a reputable mortgage broker. A friend of mine was in the business so I decided to give him a call. The benefit of going through a broker is that they work for your best interest and not the banks. In a relatively short time we had an approval and got our home. The downside to using a mortgage broker is the fee they charge. This fee is included in the closing costs and must be paid at the closing. The benefit is that in the long run, the fee you pay can seem miniscule when they get you a better interest rate.