Quote from @Brandon Croucier: Hi Kathy, at the end of the day the mortgage industry is so vast & wide it's essentially like trying to navigate the Sahara Desert.I highly recommend working with an experienced mortgage broker who knows the ins and outs of the industry to place you into the most competitive product for you.More times than not, people save money working with a small shop broker.Kathy,I wanted to revisit this to offer a a tad bit more and Brandon above is correct.

Ultimately, we worked very hard to help you.

It would have saved me a lot of time. 

Ultimately, it’s about aligning your goals with the right strategy.Makes sense.

As a first step, I’ll print and read The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Real Estate Investing.

I don't like the returns but we use regular savings accounts. 

While I doubt I'll be investing here (terrified that property taxes and the pension debt will ultimately cripple property values), I'm always interested in meeting new people.

Start with BiggerPockets Ultimate Beginners Guide (free).

Thanks though champ  You didn't save him him, you just kicked the can down the road.

They get a higher return since they are covering housing cost, have the $250k per spouse primary residence deduction in gains, is a savings account, higher leverage position, lower interest rate possible, will pay more premium for location, etc.House might be overpriced for REITs but not for home owners.