Hey let’s face it. Most mortgage lenders are after one thing and that’s your hard earned cash. The general rule of thumb is to confuse you so that you don’t see what you’re really paying for that mortgage. The sneakier companies plan out how to have enough smoke and mirrors so that it becomes difficult to find out who really does have the cheapest loan.

Many mortgage companies will try to sell the sizzle instead of the steak. In other words, they don’t want to discuss price. A savvy shopper will make sure that they shop around and avoid the vendors who try to obscure price and don’t use standard methods of displaying loan information.

So what can you do to protect yourself when shopping for a loan? First pick a couple of banks and a couple of mortgage companies and put them on your list. Next ask each organization for a GFE (good faith estimate). If they won’t provide you with a GFE then mark them off your list.

If the company wants cash or a credit card before they’ll start to work with you or provide you with a GFE then mark them off your list. Also, if the individual you’re working with is speaking a million miles a minute and tries to obscure the true terms of the loan make sure to mark them off the list.

More on loan shopping in the next post…