Questions on Finding a Lender and Agent

[Jacob Crow]

Hi all! I have been a big fan and follower of BP for some time now. My fiancée and I are finally starting to invest in Real Estate through a house hack in the Chicago area. We are currently in the process of looking for an agent as well as a lender. We have a few leads for agents through BiggerPockets and personal recommendations. From the agents we have been given several recommendations for lenders. We do not have a lot of money saved compared to Chicago prices, so we are looking to use either an FHA, 203k, or a Conventional 97. A few questions we have are:

It is hard to tell from the lenders what exactly what mortgage rate we can get as well as fees, is the only way to figure this out to get pre-approval from several? If so, does this actually hurt your credit score or is there some sort of grace period where it won't hurt you if you apply around the same time?

One lender mentioned that I would only be charged points to buy down my rate and their fee goes away using FHA. Are fees and points charged reduced when using an FHA loan?

If I have no outstanding debt and a high credit score, why might I not want to use the Conventional 97 over an FHA?

Lastly, at what point in the process do I need to select an agent? I currently have a couple agents sending me deals on the MLS (all know that I am still talking to other agents) but at what point is it expected that I commit to one? When a deal comes along that I want to put an offer on? When they have sent me X amount of properties?

Sorry for so many questions wrapped into one post and thank you ahead of time for any answers!