Shopping around for loans - best practices

[Pat Ryan]

Hi everyone,

I'm currently shopping for loans for a multifamily househack. Looking at both FHA and low down conventional.

I first went to my local credit union and the best they could do was approve me for 5% down conventional at 2.75%

This seems pretty good to me but I want to do my due diligence and shop around. I've heard the experts say I should show the numbers in writing to the other banks so they can try to beat it.

My question is, how should I go about this? Call around to lenders and just ask if they can beat it or should I actually fully apply to like 15-20 banks? Can a loan officer make a ballpark estimate that they can beat the numbers without me going through a full application? ( I know it would be an estimate only and I'd have to apply to get solid numbers)

Thanks for any insight!