800+ credit rating,
San Diego, California
10-15% down payment
Need approximately 0,000 loan to purchase my first home or condo
As you can see, I have an excellent credit rating that I am very proud of. I have been told that up to 4 mortgage lenders can look at my credit before it starts to negatively affect my rating. My question is: how in the world can I find the very best rate available to me when there are hundreds of lenders out there but I can only ask a handful for pre-approval before my credit rating starts going down. I’m familiar with sites like Bankrate.com, but I’ve been told that the listings on those sites are paid advertisements and that the rates listed are often impossible to get in real life. Can anyone help with suggestions for how to narrow down the hundreds to maybe 10 or so that I can take a closer look at?
Forgot to say that I’m looking for a 30-year fixed rate, in case it matters.
I also should have said that I have asked a handful of lenders already if I can provide them with a copy of my credit report instead of them asking for it, and they have all said THEY need to request it directly. Is this an unusual policy, and should I automatically avoid lenders who do this? One of them was my bank, Bank of America, so I assume they are trustworthy…
The FICO scoring process "thinks" you are desperate for money if you apply for too many loans.
There may be a lot of lenders, but there are not that many worth considering.
The big national lenders are # 1 Countrywide Financial and # 2 Indymac Bank. Both of these companies have sub-prime problems. I suggest you avoid these. Their rates will be higher when other people won’t buy their mortgages.
Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Wachovia Bank are good ones.
I have experience with 1 on-line lender, which I like. It is Quicken Loans (URLis below). These folks lend their own money.