How to Qualify for the Lowest Mortgage Rates

To find the lowest mortgage rates you may have to shop around. Go online and see what lenders have to offer. Lenders want a relationship with you, so let them compete for your business. By prequalifying with different lending institutions you can let all these lending institutions know that you are in the market for a mortgage loan. Lenders want your business; your job is to find the lender with the lowest mortgage rates. The higher the mortgage rates the more profit the lending company makes, the lower the rates the more money you save. Shop around for the lowest rates that will be fair to both the borrower and the lender.

To prequalify for a mortgage loan, every lender you go to will take an application. That application will ask you questions about you income, and you may have to offer evidence of your pay stubs or your W-2 forms. If you are self employed you may be asked how long you have been in business for yourself, and you also may have to attach a copy of your tax returns. You may be asked about your credit history. If there is evidence of late payments, collections and charge offs, you may have to give an explanation to the lender. If you have any derogatory information on your credit report, it would be to your advantage to clean it up ahead of time before trying to qualify for a loan, because having a clean credit rating will help you get the lowest mortgage rates possible.

To negotiate for the lowest mortgage rates you may try with a lender, or you may decide to ask a mortgage broker to negotiate a loan for you. Mortgage brokers have more leeway than a bank has in terms of pricing; therefore a broker may be able to place the loan for you to lock you into the lowest mortgage rates. Finding the lowest mortgage rate can help to offset what you are paying on the front end of the mortgage loan. When you are approved for a mortgage and you sign the papers you may be paying the lending company a 1 percent Origination Fee and also a 1 percent broker fee. These fees are essentially the same thing and they amount to 2 percent of the total loan is paid to the lending company for writing you the loan. Knowing that the loan is costing you lots of money it will behoove you to find the very lowest mortgage rates to help save money over the life of the loan; therefore it is best to shop around for the best interest rates.

Everyone interested in taking out a mortgage loan should do their homework before ever signing on the dotted line. It is a good idea to go online and research the policies and procedures of each of the lending companies before signing a contract. It is good to know what your rights are and what the lending company gets from doing business with you. You will get an idea of how much money the lending company makes off your loan. Because the economy is causing hardships to many people, it will be to your advantage to find a lender that can offer you the lowest mortgage rates possible.