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!

[Brie Schmidt]

Like others have mentioned, rates and points are all tied together.  So if you want less upfront fees your rate will be higher and if you want a lower rate your fees will be higher.

I have been an agent on the north side for 10+ years specializing in 2-4 unit properties.  

The 3% down conventional is not available for 2-4 units.  203k is an option but it is an extremely hard program to do because the renovation costs rarely fit into the loan limit and they are usually $200k or more.  I have put about 15 203k deals under contract in the last 5 years and 1 closed.  

FHA is a difficult product too because 3 and 4 units have to pass the self sufficiency test. I analyze every single property from Pilsen to Jefferson Park to Evanston every day and maybe find 1-2 properties a year that pass it. So your focus should be 2 unit properties under $650k if you want to go FHA.

You are not obligated to an agent till you sign something, but if the agent just has you set up on an automatic email that isn't doing much for you.  They should be running numbers and providing analysis for you too.