Finding a high quality lender, with a great rate and the best terms can be a difficult process, especially with all of the lenders available to choose from. It can be mind numbing with the thousands of banks that are now available around the country that are all willing to give you a loan, most with instant approval over the internet. So, how is it that you can narrow down your choices to find the lender that is best suited for your individual needs?
The first thing you need to consider is whether or not location is important. If you want a lender within your own state so that you can just make payments at the branch, then you really need to consider this before beginning the loan process. Most banks have several branches, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they are close to your own home.
The next decision you need to make is whether you want to deal with a commercial bank, a savings and loan, or a credit union. While there aren’t many differences when it comes to borrowing, it really just matters what type of feel you are looking for. The savings and loan is generally more of a home town type of feel, while the credit union is more apt to give you great rates as long as you bank with them, and the commercial bank is going to be the most easily accessible generally with many more locations across the country. Ultimately this decision isn’t all that important for most borrowers but to you it might.
Next you’re going to want to figure out how much you can afford to pay. If you can afford to pay $2,000 per month, then select what ever term gets you the closest to that amount. For example, if the 20 year mortgage puts you at $1955 and the 30 year puts you at $1295, select the 20 year as you will be saving a substantial amount of money on interest alone, plus you’ll be more apt to pay the house off sooner allowing you to enjoy that $2000 extra each month rather than throwing it towards your house.
Finally, you should consider shopping around for the best price online. Go to lendingtree.com or one of the other several lending related sites that allow you to enter the information and wait for the banks to make offers to you. You can then see all of the offers and see which one you like the best based on the variety of different conditions.