How Many Different Mortgage Offers Should You Get?

You ought to get at least 3 to 5 competing offers.

Some things to consider when shopping around:

• Track record on closing costs
• Your credit rating
• Speed of closing

Track Record on Closing Costs

You should verify if this lender has a reputation for "bait and switch" tactics. This is offering one estimate of closing costs up front and a different, usually higher, set of closing costs when you are actually signing your loan documents.

Some lenders have a reputation for gouging their customers. You ought to check on the mortgage lender's reputation on the internet. Frequently there are complaints online from other borrowers who have been mistreated.

Credit Rating

Your credit rating is something you can obtain from your credit report.

You should obtain a copy of this prior to even starting the process to make certain there are no errors on it.

If your credit rating is checked too many times this might affect your credit by lowering it.

Some reports point out that having a few different mortgage lenders check your credit in a small time frame doesn't influence your credit a great deal. Credit bureaus know you are seeking one mortgage. They may treat this in a different way than applying for 5 different credit cards, which could result in 5 new credit lines.

Check if they can price your loan out with your credit report so it doesn't have to be rechecked.

Your credit report should be an up to date report, not one from quite a few months ago.

Speed of Closing

If you need to move fast on a property or a refinance you ought to also check with the lender to see how swift they move to get the loan done.

See if they can make your loan a priority to complete.

The flip side of this is that you must be available all of the time during the loan process to answer questions or to provide additional documentation. A cell phone or page may be critical here.