Nate Moch's Q&A

clkclkdeb,Getting pre-qualified is different that getting pre-approved.  Pre-qualification will not help you very much because it does not really mean anything.  It just tells you how much you can afford (you can use this simple mortgage calculator to find out how much you can afford).  However, when shopping for homes it can be useful to get pre-approved.  This means you have talked with a lender and they have approved you to borrower a certain amount of money.  A pre-approval is useful because it lets sellers know you are serious and that you can afford their house.  Many agents and sellers will not waste time with shoppers who are not pre-approved.   To get pre-approved, you can talk to any mortgage broker or banker.  You do not need to get your mortgage through the person who pre-approves you, but most people do because they feel obilgated.   I recommend you start by filling out a loan request on Zillow Mortgage Marketplace and picking a lender you like.  You can then ask them to pre-approve you for the desired amount.  Then, when you are ready to get your mortgage, you can either go back to the lender who pre-approved you or fill out another loan request on Zillow to compare rates again.Learn more about pre-approvals and the documents required here.

Robert,The best way to get mortgage quotes and find lenders is to use Zillow Mortgage Marketplace.  You submit an anonymous and free loan request and then shop the accurate/custom quotes returned from the thousands of lenders in the marketplace.Nate

321hoss,Try submitting a loan request on Zillow Mortgage Marketplace. It is free, anonymous, and there are thousands of lenders.  I can't guarantee you will get quotes in your current situation, but there are lots of lenders looking at the loan requests and you may find someone who can help.  Joshua is right in that credit is important.  I would also take Justin's advice and follow up with your current servicer.Thanks,Nate

Ozo,I would recommend you try filling out a loan request on Zillow Mortgage Marketplace. There are thousands of lenders who will give you quotes if they can meet your criteria.  It is the best way to shop for loans and find lenders because it is free, anonymous, competitive, and you can decide if you want to contact a lender.  The lenders also have reviews from other users and profiles so you can learn about them before you decide to contact them.Good luck,Nate

philvet66,To take advantage of the low rates you will need to refinance.  You can ask the company that owns you current mortgage about modifications but those are rare.  What you are trying to accomplish with your lower rate?  If you want to lower you monthly payment you may want to start a new 30 year fixed like Corona Nick suggested.  But if you want to keep you current payment and still end up paying off your loan in 20 years or less, you may want to look into 20 or 15 year loans as Justin recommended.  These guys are right in that if you already have a somewhat low rate, you should just pay more in principle.  However, if you still have a high rate, you can always shop around for rates anonymously on Zillow Mortgage Marketplace.

You should definitely spend the time to shop around to find different rates.  Mortgage brokers can typically shop across a number of different lending sources for you, but it is still good to shop multiple mortgage brokers and banks.  Saving a quarter of a point on a mortgage can save you a lot of money in interest over the years.  You can use Zillow Mortgage Marketplace to anonymously shop mortgages from thousands of lenders, including banks and brokers.  The process is free and you can check each lenders ratings, user reviews, and profile before you decide who/if you want to contact them.  Even if you find a mortgage guy you like, I would recommend double checking the rates on Zillow before you buy.One thing to remember is that rates change all the time.  So if you are doing comparison shopping, you want to get quotes from all of the lenders at the same time.  If you ask for rates from lenders on different days, the variation in rates may be due to market rate fluctuations as opposed to lender differences.  Check here to see the latest up to the minute rates.  Today (5/28/09) you can see that the rates jumped (due to a spike in government treasury prices).  If you were going door to door asking lenders for rates and you went to one bank yesterday and another bank today, the bank you talked to yesterday would look much better even though their rate today may be worse.   So, I would watch national rates and when they are low, submit a custom Zillow loan request and get quotes with the latest rates in seconds.  You can always come back and resubmit your loan request to get fresh quotes in seconds.

Each of the partners listed on our API integration partner page has different costs and services.  I would contact a couple of them to get pricing and figure out what would work best for you.  Some deal more with larger institutions while others handle individual loan officers.

You can view the latest mortgage rates at Zillow Mortgage Marketplace.  You can check the rates daily (or hourly) and submit an anonymous loan request to get personal quotes from our marketplace of thousands of lenders whenever you are ready!

Mark,The algorithm to pick top lenders takes into account more than just overall rating (e.g., total number of ratings). It is possible that the people above you who have a lower overall rating have a lot more reviews.Thanks,Nate

fairylace,Kelly makes a number of great points. It does not really matter if your mortgage is sold since the terms will never change.  Mortgage brokers don't technically sell your loan because they do own it.  They shop around and find a lender for you.  The mortgage broker will be able to tell you who is buying your mortgage when they lock your rate. However, that does not mean your loan can't be sold down the road.  A mortgage can always be sold at a later point no matter who you buy it from, but it should not matter to the borrower since the terms do not change.You can read more about whether or not you should be concerned about a lender selling your mortgage in my blog post.Thanks,Nate