After you have chosen the most advantageous offers of different lenders, you should compare these offers to select the most beneficial one ever. For you not to make a mistake, we have prepared several questions to ask a lender while applying for a mortgage.

The first issue you should clarify is the interest rate on a particular mortgage. You need to know this figure to determine the exact sum you will have to pay when the loan term is over.

The next question a potential recipient of a loan should ask the lender when applying for a mortgage is how many origination and discount points s/he will be to pay. Some lenders practice charging prepaid interest points and other types of points so that your interest rate is lowered. Very often, these points bring no benefit at all. That is why a borrower should first find out the whole information on the types of these points and the amount of money s/he will have to pay.

Another problem concerns the closing costs and their good faith estimate. Most experts advise that a loan recipient apply only to those lenders who are willing to provide a good faith estimate of closing costs within 3 days after the loan application is received. A smart borrower will always know about all fees charged for various services in advance.

While applying for a mortgage, one should definitely know the answer to the question when s/he can lock in the interest rate and what it will cost him/her. The matter is that interest rates tend to fluctuate between the moments of your application and closing. In order not to let them rise, a borrower can lock in the rate for a specified time term.

Then, you should clarify the issue of prepayment penalties which can be of various types. It is important to know the duration of the penalty period and the manner of its calculation. A positive factor is that lenders can lower interest rates for borrowers ready to accept prepayment penalties.

Another question obligatory to answer when applying for a mortgage is the minimum down payment. It is important to know since your rate and terms are based on the down payment figure.

Besides, a borrower wants to learn about the loan’s qualifying guidelines which relate to the employment, assets, income, credit history, and liabilities.

The last question concerns the documents necessary to provide for the application to be successful. These are usually proofs of your income and assets.