Dear Dale,

We are beginning to look for a home and know we need to shop for a mortgage and get a prequalification. We are first-time home buyers, have steady stable jobs, decent credit scores and enough money to put down 10%. We are not sure where to go look for a mortgage and who we should trust given the current state of affairs. Please advise where and how we should begin. Thank you, Nancy and Rick S. Dear Nancy and Rick, As I always say it is not really what place you get the mortgage from but who your loan officer is. A good loan officer can work at any institution and provide great service, just like a lousy loan officer can work at the best lender. So you can go either route, first find a lender that works for you and speak to a loan officer or speak to different loan officers and see where they work. As far as lenders there are a few different types of institutions: Large commercial banks: the big boys such as Wells Fargo, Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase. These lenders have national offices, competitive rates and compartmentalized service. They are a great place to start shopping rate and fees. Savings and loans: local banks that might have more competitive interest rates and a little more personalized service. They are community based and want to lend to improve it. Unfortunately a good local bank can get gobbled up by a big boy.

Mortgage bankers and brokers: third party lenders that process your mortgage application in the same manner as a bank would and then take the file and shop it to a few lenders (Chase, Bank of America, etc) to find the best rate and program for the client.

Credit Union: a lending institution that has members instead of depositors. Credit unions are the old American way of banking offering personalized service, competitive rates and reduced fees. However, they are limited with the mortgage programs they can offer, but might be able to expand their guidelines to approve a loan that does not work at one of the bigger lenders. You must fit the member description and join a credit union before you apply for a mortgage.

Wherever you go for your mortgage, you need to be comfortable with the loan officer and their team. Do not be afraid to ask questions about how your loan will flow through the system, how you will be able to contact people working on your loan and how long the process will take. You might also want to know how long your loan officer has been in the business; with that particular company and how many loans they close a year. More importantly are they able to help you find the particular loan product that you are looking for and help you throughout the process. Remember, it is not only about rate and fees, which should be competitive with the market, but it is really about service. A mortgage loan process only goes as smoothly as the people you surround yourself with! Do you homework first.

Hope this helps,

Dale Robyn Siegel