Specifically- How to shop for an FHA lender

[Matthew Hetrick]

BACKGROUND: My goal is to purchase a duplex with an FHA loan and occupy one unit for at least a year (i.e. house hack).

QUESTION(S): Everything I have read on getting the best FHA loan emphasizes the importance of 'shopping around' with multiple lenders, and that makes a lot of sense to me. However, I am extremely new to this and have not been able to find anything on what 'shopping around' looks like. Does this entail filling out a bunch of applications with prospective lenders? Does it make more sense to start off with a brief email that contains a snap shot of my qualifying info (i.e. credit score, annual gross income, monthly debt, etc.)? How many lenders should I look at? And are there any particularly good ones that I should narrow my search to?

Thank you for any and all guidance around this.