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National Mortgage Rates 25 May 2012
| Loan Type | Today | +/- | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 yr fixed | 3.03 |
|
2.87 |
| 30 yr fixed | 3.72 |
|
3.50 |
| 5/1 ARM | 2.75 |
|
2.50 |
Rates may contain points
Will Work For… A Decent Mortgage?
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- JR Hevron - MortgageLoan.com
Should you get your mortgage from a loan officer or a mortgage broker? Either way, you’re going to have to work to get the best deal.
Mortgage broker or loan officer? The simple answer is that it doesn’t matter: go with whoever can get you the best rate and closing costs. Unfortunately, simple answers don’t always apply to real world situations. To really answer the question, it pays to take a step back and understand the roles of each.
A loan officer works directly for the lending institution that will actually be funding the loan. In theory, the fact that the officer only works for a limited number of lenders means that they are restricted in the types of loans and rates that they can offer you. The advantage is that if you have a stellar credit history, you can cut out the middle man (and fees) by working directly with the bank.
A mortgage broker, on the other hand, helps to connect lending institutions with consumers. According to Michael J. D'Alonzo, president of the National Association of Mortgage Professionals, "The advantage of a broker is that the broker will be working with a number of wholesale lenders. Having access to a number of lenders gives the broker much more versatility to deliver competitive rates and products.” A broker can be especially helpful if you have less than perfect credit.
In some areas, where real estate can be quite complicated, it makes sense to go with a broker. “The process in New York City is so challenging," says Scott Harris, a residential real estate broker at Brown Harris Stevens in New York City, "that it's often crucial to work with someone who only gets paid when deals close. Mortgage brokers help navigate difficult requests for paperwork from cooperatives, understand the complicated and unique environment, and don't leave at 3pm on Wednesdays.”
From a consumer’s standpoint, one thing to understand is that neither a loan officer nor a mortgage broker serves the consumer directly. A loan officer serves the bank. And the bank's duty is to earn money on its investments to you, the consumer. A mortgage broker primarily serves as an intermediary between the consumer and lending institutions and often gets paid a percentage of the loan. While this doesn’t mean that either a loan officer or a broker won’t help you to get the best deal, a borrower should approach every situation with a healthy amount of skepticism.
In the end, you can’t afford to be a passive participant in the process. Like the title of this feature says, you have to work for it to get the best deal! To protect yourself, the best strategy is to shop around and compare both rates and good faith estimates of closing costs from a number of lenders and brokers. Ask hard questions of any potential loan officer or mortgage broker to see if they are the right person to help you to get the best mortgage for you.
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