Be careful when shopping for the best mortgage loan

Be careful when shopping for the best mortgage loan

When shopping for a mortgage loan, you should have one goal in mind: to get a loan that fits your needs at the lowest rate available at the time. Sounds easy enough, but there are challenges that consumers face when shopping for a loan that you don't encounter when shopping for, say, a plasma TV.

Consider what it would be like if shopping for a new plasma TV went like this: first you call the local department store that you've used for years and ask them the price of the model you like and they tell you $3,000. They have always done what they said they would do, so you are pretty comfortable that you can go there and get the TV for that price. But every time you sit in front of your computer, you see ads for the same TV for $2,500 from a company you can't even identify, let alone verify their authenticity. And every day in the mail, there are post cards and letters from people you have never heard of, yet they seem to know that you are shopping for a TV, they know what model you want, and they know how much you are paying for your current TV, and they happen to have that model on sale, and it will cut your payments in half! And every time you answer the phone at home, you get the feeling you are talking to the guy who sent you the post cards and letters, because he seems to know the same information, and he has an even better deal. Finally, you go for it…you order the TV from the guy on the phone with the best deal (HE had it for $2,450!). He does have a lot of forms and paperwork to fill out, but they all do, and who cares? You're saving $$550 on your new TV! Finally the big day comes, and your TV is delivered…with a bill for $3,485. Naturally, your first instinct is to tell the guy delivering your TV to take it back (or something to that effect), but then your wife reminds you that 20 people are coming over tomorrow to watch the Gator game, and the guy is coming this afternoon to install the TV, and who knows what he will charge to reschedule, etc, etc., and no matter what you do you are between a rock and a hard place.

As ridiculous as this sounds, many people go through just such a scenario when getting a loan to purchase a home, only the ultimate price difference is a lot more than $1,035.

Next week, I'll discuss a better way.

Carl Trawick is a Mortgage Specialist and Licensed Mortgage Broker with the firm Access e*Mortgage. He can be reached at 904-343-1145 or ctrawick@nefcom.net