When talking to a mortage lender/banker prior to making an mortgage application, you may find it helpful to ask the following questions in order to make an informed decision.

• Are you a full time lender rep or mortage broker?
• How long have you been doing loans full time?
• How many loans do you do in a year?
• Based on our situation, what is the best mortgage for us? Why?
• What is the most popular loan you offer? Why?
• How long will it take you to process and close the loan?
• About your ? Rates.....Terms.....Fees ? are they all negotiable?
• What are your standard fees? Are there any special fees?
• What is the longest rate guarantee you will give ?
• What if rates go down during this lock-in period?
• What does it cost to lock-in an interest rate?
• Will this loan be sold on the secondary market or will it be placed in your portfolio?
• What is the difference to me?
• If private mortgage insurance (PMI) is required, at what point can it be eliminated?
• What is the procedure for eliminating private mortgage insurance?
• What is the up-front charge for private mortgage insurance and what is the renewal fee?
• Should we include it in our mortgage or pay it in advance? Why?
• What is the process we will go through, between the mortgage application and the day our home purchase closes?
• When does the mortgage servicing department pay the property taxes to insure the income tax deduction for that year?
• How many months worth of property taxes and insurance are required for the reserve account?
• If obtaining an adjustable rate mortgage, describe how and when the loan can be converted to a fixed rate mortgage and what charges will be involved. Will another appraisal be required?
• If obtaining an adjustable rate mortgage, what is the margin, index, and anniversary for adjusting the payments?
• Is the loan assumable? Under what conditions?
• Can I pay off my loan early? Is there a penalty? Can I pay extra on my loan? How is it applied?
• What do you need from us to get our loan approved?
• When is the house payment due and when is the late fee incurred? What is the late fee?

Do you have any concerns about our ability to get a quick loan approval? How long do we need a "Finance Contingency" to be in our offer to purchase? Note!!! Each credit report that you get will reduce your FICO credit score. This includes almost any application for credit, even rentals and cell phone applications. If you plan to shop lenders, have your credit checked by the one you are most likely to use then take a copy to the other lenders. If you use someone else, they will have to run another credit report.