There are many costs involved in obtaining a home loan, which can make it difficult, confusing and frustrating to compare one lender's rates to another's. We at imortgage.com™ want you to feel confident that you are receiving the best pricing available. For this reason, we have taken measures to make rate comparison ...simple as that!™

Before you begin shopping rates, there are three types of fees you should know about:

Lender Fees
Mortgage companies charge these fees to cover their overhead costs, or to offset fees that they are charged by the wholesaler. These are the fees that are used to calculate your APR (annual percentage rate). When shopping rates, these fees provide the most accurate basis for comparison.

Hard Costs
These are costs incurred while obtaining your loan, and include: credit report, appraisal, inspection, title and recording fees, etc. Hard costs fluctuate only slightly from lender to lender, but quotes of these costs may vary greatly. While there may be small differences in these costs from lender to lender, these differences do not have great value in the comparison process.

Pre-Paids and Impounds
This category of fees includes: prepaid interest and taxes, mortgage insurance, hazard or homeowner insurance, and reserves for insurance and taxes. These costs are determined based on the day of the month and time of year you close escrow, and do not vary from lender to lender. However, like hard costs, they may be quoted differently depending on the lender. You do not need to consider these fees when comparing rates.

Now that you are familiar with the various types of fees, you are ready to shop rates. The form below was designed by imortgage.com™ to help you make an "apples to apples" comparison.

Simply print out this form to create your own rate comparison. Be sure to use exactly the same rate and same lock period for all three lenders and write in the amounts charged by each. If you find a fee that is not listed on the form, just place it in the category of "other". Then total the numbers in each column  .  .  . simple as that!™

If you would like assistance in comparing rates, please contact us. We will be happy to help!