Shopping around for loans

[Adam Roberts]

Hi folks - now that I've defined some fundamental goals for my first RE investment, I'm on to looking at financing for my first buy. Just a general question on this - did many of you do a good amount of 'shopping around' for debt service with the best rate/Downpay, etc? I've been honing in on the best types of loans for my goals and noticed that there are a ton of options and lenders. Is it typical to pre-qualify with several to see where they quote on rates etc?

Thanks
Adam R.