If you are going to get a mortgage, shop around first! Those simple words might be worth tens of thousands of dollars to you.
Whenever I advise clients who are planning to buy a home, I always encourage them to shop for a mortgage. Most people initially say things like “I have a great rate already!” Sometimes that is so but often the rates have fallen and they’d never know. Sometimes they didn’t have a great rate to begin with.
Among the last few people I’ve worked with on this, the advice to shop around and helping them do so has made a huge difference. In a pair of recent cases the rate they paid was so much lower that over the course of a mortgage, they will save *$90k* and *$100k* respectively.
Anyone getting a mortgage should shop around! This often saves more than all the comparison shopping at the supermarket anyone will ever do in their lifetime and takes just an hour or two. You can read more in the CFPB’s guide to buying a house. They have a great mortgage rate checking tool.