shopping for a mortgage

[Darryl Jennings]

I'm going to be purchasing my first property soon and I'm currently shopping for a mortgage. What are the top or most important questions to ask a mortgage specialist? In addition, how many days can you get pre approvals from multiple mortgage companies and have it count as only 1 credit inquiry?

[Chris Mason]

A quick google search tells me that mid to higher priced homes for that market is in the independent mortgage broker sweet spot. 

TLDR: 

The theory on why a direct lender is best will prove accurate if you're looking for the cheapest home in that area, and you have to do the old fashioned shopping to get a good deal. Note that all the LOs on this forum in Ohio and Nebraska, etc, are mostly direct lenders. That's why, they are doing $50k and $125k loans, loan amounts drive revenue but # of loans drive expenses, so you need the economy of scale of those expenses being spread out as widely as possible, here you WANT your loan lumped in with a bunch of $400k and $650k loans, they are subsidizing you.

The theory on why an independent mortgage broker is best will prove accurate for mid to high range homes in the area, no need to do the shopping yourself. The loan amounts will drive the wholesale pricing, and flat per loan costs will be minimal relative to those typical loan amounts, short of cross selling this will typically be the best route (as a "median" customer, you really aren't seen by the big banks as worth taking a hit in the mortgage division to cross sell you other financial services, you're just a "median" customer and a number to them). Notice that almost every LO on this forum in California is a broker? This is why. And also note that none of us are licensed in other states, a bunch of people calling me from Nebraska for $75k loans would start to screw up my economy of scale and wholesale relationships, so "coincidentally" I don't maintain licensing in such areas to simply nip that problem in the bud. It looks like your area, at a casual glance, has more in common with the populated areas of California than it does with rural Montana, in terms of what we're talking about here.

The theory on why calling a big national bank for the best deal will prove accurate for the top 10% of sales price ranges, true luxury homes in that area. Big bank will break even on the mortgage to earn your loyalty, cross selling is now a factor. 20% down on a $1m home given the 'normal' sales prices in the area, no one's going to touch the big banks, just be ready to be spammed by for 10 million other financial services you might not need or want.