Finding a Lender

[Chris DeHaan]

Inspired by a post I read by Jason the apprentice on TheBuyAndHoldGuys last night, I decided to submit my information on LendingTree in hopes of beginning the pre-approval process. All morning, I've been getting calls from potential lenders all over the country and I'm feeling in over my head a little. Is it normal to work with a lender from, say, North Carolina, when I'm located in California? Or is that going to be a total PITA?

Should I be working with a local mortgage broker instead? Or working directly with the lenders through a site like LendingTree?

Any words of experience would be greatly appreciated!

Background: I'm located in the Bay Area and looking to buy a SFH somewhere in the East Bay (Antioch/Brentwood) or Sacramento (lots of competition from hedge funds for 3/2's). I have about $30k saved up and a credit score of 760. This would be my first time buying a house ever (I rent my current townhome for way below market, so there's no motivation to go out and pay $600-800k for a house in my area).