What's the worst thing about having to take out a mortgage, aside from the tedious paperwork? To me, it's having to rely and trust one person, a loan officer who is probably on commission, to get you the best deal. The fact is, you really never know if you've gotten the best deal unless you shop around.

The problem with that is, you don't want to be throwing out your social security number all over town if all you're going to save is a few bucks. So, how then do you make sure that you are getting the best mortgage deal? It's simple.

Having banks compete is "hands down" the easiest way to find competitive lenders to that are hungry enough to give you a great deal on your next mortgage.

My name is Aubrey Clark and I am a retired 15 year veteran of the mortgage business, and I can unequivocally tell you that lenders give their best deals when they know your are shopping them.

The problem is, that most of the people who fill out the lenders compete application are unaware of the process that is put into motion.

If you take a little time to understand the "lenders compete "process you can easily make sure you that you get your best mortgage deal.

Take a minute to read our short "Lenders Compete" Tutorial (next tab over), to get a firm understanding of the "lenders compete" business model, it's short and simple and it can save you a ton of Dough. Once you have that down, simply apply online and get ready to get your best mortgage deal!

Tips for Finding The Best Mortgage Deals

Mortgage Lender Pushing You? You Don't Have To Rush

The spring and summer months in the United States are the hottest months for house sales. People want to move when the kids are out of school and the weather is good. If you have considered moving or perhaps buying your first home, realize that you do have time to make the right decision for you. In fact, some real estate agents warn that consumers are more likely to buy when they do not feel rushed to make a decision.

The Rush Is On

You may begin to receive mailings showcasing the importance of buying a home right now. The good news is that it is a great time for you to buy. There are plenty of opportunities available to help you to land the type of home you are dreaming about.

At the same time, though, you also need to consider that the circumstances are not likely to change too rapidly. While lenders want you to "Buy now before rates change" or may say, "Hurry, rates are increasing" this may not be the full story.

Housing Market Is A Buyers Market

One of the reasons you do have the ability to slow down and take your time in making a decision is that the housing market is a buyer's market. In most real estate markets in the United States, housing prices are lower than they have been in recent history.

More so, there is ample inventory on the market to select from. This equates to a better opportunity for you to find the right home for your needs and not have to pay too much to get into it. While there are signs the housing market is working towards a recovery, most experts say it is going to take some time. It is unlikely that the market will grow massively, for example, this housing season.

Lenders Have Affordable Loans

In addition to this, you can sit back and know that a good loan offer is out there. Some experts believe the Federal Reserve is likely to increase the key lending rate that banks pay. It would do this to help spur on economic growth, but it is not likely to happen in the next few months. If the rate does increase, this may signal to financial mortgage lenders to also up their rates. The fees do pass on to you.

For those who are considering a home loan, then, the best thing to do is to get a mortgage offer and to monitor rates. It is not likely that rates will continue to fall, but it is unlikely that you will see a massive increase in rates, too. Lenders will lock in rates for you, too.

Make Your Move On Your Time

When you are ready to start to buy, or even shop for a mortgage loan, do so. Realize that the best offers are out there and are likely to remain out there for some time. While you should not wait longer than this housing season to make moves (some predict that the Fed will increase rates by the end of the year) you can relax knowing a great offer in mortgage loans is available to you, especially if you have good credit and reliable income.

You may want to invest a bit of time into shopping around for the right loan and the right home, knowing that you do have options on the table. Ask for a no-credit check quote from a lender, too, so that you can easily compare one lender to the next. Remember, you do have time.

1. The Interview

The first thing you need to do is fill out an online application with Lendingtree.com . Next you prepare for the lenders to call by getting a notebook and paper. Remember, it's the lenders' job is to gather information and to become your friend. Your job is to give the information, be friendly, and not to be befriended, this is business.

Loan officers are trained to use a two or three call process with their leads. The first call they make is designed to build rapport with you and to gather enough information to give you a credible quote. Their second call is to review your credit with you and clarify any questions they may have about your credit scores. The third call is designed to quote you figures and to close the deal.

Keep in mind, when lenders compete for your business, you will have three or four different lenders that are trying to work these steps with you. More times than not, borrowers will usually pick the first lender they speak with to end the process. Lenders know this.

How to Get Your Best Mortgage Deal When Lenders Compet

So, the first thing you want to do is put all of the lenders that are contacting you on point. Tell the second, third and forth lender that you will be calling them back a specific day during the week. Then follow through by working with one lender each day until you have enough quotes to make an informed decision.

Note: You may have a lender try to push the issue by saying "rates are going up, you better lock your rate today", in an attempt to get you to speak with him.

The lender may be right in some circumstances, but in all likelihood they are trying to pressure you to lock in with them so the other lenders do not have a chance to close you. I suggest you not work with these types of lenders.

When speaking with the lender, it's the loan officer’s job is to drag the first phone call out as long as they can. The reasoning behind this is that if it takes you an hour on the phone to get one quote, you are less likely to spend three hours after that speaking with the other lenders.

Ultimately, 65% of all "lenders compete" applicants opt to use the first lender that calls them, and the lenders know this. This is why we suggest that you space your applications out over several days.

While giving your application information to the lender, it is important to be thorough. Most of the “surprise closings” that you hear about are the result of inexperienced loan officers who do not ask enough questions.

For this reason, you should be meticulous about the information that you give.This is because if the figures that he quotes you come up wrong, you want to be on record as having told the loan officer the information that he omitted that caused the discrepancy.

A good rule of thumb is, if you have a three minute phone interview with a loan officer you can expect a low quote and a lot of surprises.

There are over 255 conforming mortgage products alone, each having over 30 pages in guidelines. When a loan officer makes a mistake it costs you time and money. For this reason alone, make sure you are communicating everything that is needed for him to give you an accurate quote. You should be ready to fax or communicate the following information during or after the first phone call:

• Income information, check stubs, w2's or tax returns
• Asset information, 401k, stocks, bonds or savings information
• Escrow information, taxes and insurance costs on the home
  

2. Communicate What You Want

You should communicate exactly what you want the same exact way with each lender. You may be tempted to spend less and less time with each lender as the days go by because each lender typically asks the same questions as the one before them asked. Bite the bullet and do a full application with each lender, you never know which lender will be able to offer the best deal.

When communicating, Let the lender know which type of mortgage programs you are interested in hearing about, e.g. 30 year fixed mortgages. Next, communicate to the Loan Officer that you would like to receive 2 separate quotes for this loan program, each on a separate GOOD FAITH ESTIMATE.

For the first quote, ask for it to be given "without any discount or origination points" in the closing costs. There will still be closing costs on this estimate but they should only be the third party costs i.e. attorneys, title insurance etc. (Another way to communicate this is to ask the lender to give you the quote without lender closing costs. )

For the second quote, ask the Loan Officer to give you a quote with the "par rate" (lowest rate) and to to include whatever origination or discount points they need to give you the lowest rate.

The "par rate" is what the lender "pays" the investor for the money. A par rate costs the lender nothing, but also does not earn them a profit. If the lender gives you a true "par rate" you will have an origination fee or discount points. Make sure you tell them that you do NOT want them to buy the rate down, ask only for the par rate.

By asking for these two different quotes, you are effectively asking the lender to show you her lowest rate (with points) and her lowest fees (without points). This gives you the ability to see how much profit the lender is trying to earn.

All you have to do is subtract TOTAL closing costs on the lower closing costs estimate from the TOTAL closing costs from the higher closing costs estimate, and this will give you the dollar amount of their profit. Make sense? This gives you the answer to the two biggest secrets that lenders usually try to dance around. Now you can compare each lender's quotes with confidence.

This is important to understand:

Lenders make a profit one of two ways. They will raise the interest rate higher than you qualify for OR they will raise the closing costs higher than it cost to close the loan. There are no exceptions.

It's also important to note, that when large banks quote you a par rate, it will almost always be higher than smaller lenders who buy and sell their money to investors. This is because the bank employee is working off of a bank pricing sheet that already has the profit built into the par rate.

3. Research the Lender Online

After you decide which deal is the best, your last goal is to find out as much about the company as you can. Think about this, what good is going with the lowest quote if the lender that is quoting you the figures is less than reputable?

First you need to make sure that you ask the loan officer which state his company's home office is in. Next you need to head over to the Better Business Bureau, for that state this will tell you if the company has any unresolved complaints.

After that, you need to head over to your states Banking and Finance Regulatory Department. Every state has one, and they all call it something different, however, you can find a list of all state banking and finance institutions Here. Make sure you check for complaints in your state and in their home office state.

Keep in mind, most companies will have some complaints, it's inevitable in the modern age where all you have to do is click a mouse to make a complaint. When considering any complaints the company may have, do realize that larger companies that do more loans will have more complaints than smaller shops. Meaning, a company with one complaint and only 100 loans completed is worse than a company with ten complaints and over 5000 loans completed. Make sense?