How to Compare Home Mortgage Loan Rates from Lenders

After locating your new home, the next thing you may want to do is to shop for the best mortgage loan rates. Comparing home loan rates is never an easy job as every lender would point out the advantages of their home loan packages and how these features are important to you.

 

As a borrower, surely, you simply want the best deal in town as you know every right decision could save you thousands of dollars because mortgage loan is a long-term commitment. Although the process of choosing a good home loan deal is complicated, you can compare them by looking into the types of loans, interest rates, points, closing costs and fees.

 

How to Compare Home Mortgage Loan Rates from Lenders?

  • There are different types of loan. Adjustable Rate Mortgage is a type of mortgage which can change monthly or annually. You will be at advantage if the rate drops as well as at disadvantage when the rate rises. On the other hand, Fixed Rate Mortgage sticks to only one rate through out the entire loan period. Besides, there is also the type with fixed rate at the few beginning years and followed by variable rate for the rest of the loan period.

  • Compare the annual percentage rate (APR), not simply the interest rate. Annual percentage rate includes fees and charges incurred. Using APR as a fundamental of consideration is the correct way.

  • Points are upfront charges. One point equals to 1% of the loan amount. Generally, lenders offer lower interest rates with the condition of charging certain amount of points. Therefore, the more points you pay, the lower the interest rates you could get.

  • Closing costs are charges incurred from a home sale, such as loan processing fee, charges by title company, government recording fee etc. Therefore you should take note of related closing costs charged by the lenders.

  • Take note of other fees like broker fee, underwriting fee etc. If your lender is absorbing all the fees, you will get a higher mortgage rates; as people always say, "there is no free lunch in the world".

As a conclusion, when comparing home mortgage loan rates from various lenders, you need to compare an apple with an apple. That means you can only compare products of the same type.

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