How to compare mortgage offers

5 min read   •   Jan 5th, 2020 - 10:17

How to compare mortgage offers

Nathan Kowarsky

Written by

Nathan Kowarsky

Comparing multiple mortgage offers for a home loan is a challenge you will face when refinancing your home.

 

If you are looking at multiple offers for the lowest mortgage rate, Here is what you need to know:

 

1.Obtain a Loan Estimate (LE).It’s a three page document required by law to be sent to you within 3 days of your application date. This document will outline your interest rate, payment and all fees associated with the acquisition of the loan.

 

2.Look specifically at these line items: D and J.“D” is your total cost to obtain the loan without any prepaid items and “J” is any credit being issued to you.Ignore the other figures on this document for the purposes of comparing one offer against another. D minus J is the total you are spending in fees to obtain the offered interest rate.

 

3.Use the same rate for all lenders you are comparing.If you are comparing a 4.5% at Lender A, then make sure you are comparing at 4.5% and Lender B and C, then it’s a simple as using D minus J.and finding who is offering the best terms at that given rate.

 

4.Make sure that all the lenders you are comparing are using the same criteria to generate your offer including: credit score, estimated home value, and loan purpose (purchase/refi/cash out).

 

If you are still having trouble, and if you are speaking to multiple lenders, try to determine who really has your best interest in mind and ask them to help you compare your offers.

 

Written by Nathan Kowarsky, President, Clear Mortgage Capital 949-238-6220, [email protected]

Nathan Kowarsky

Nathan Kowarsky

CEO NMLS: 294599

As CEO, Nathan understands the needs of his clients, and creates a plan to meet them. It’s that intuitive sense – intersecting with his deep expertise – that drives results.

During the course of his career, Nathan has funded more than 7,000 home loans. It is based on that knowledge that he walks clients through each step of the process, and trains his staff in the same standards and methodologies.

Nathan’s philosophy is straightforward: professionalism and competency require integrity and honesty. Those principles infuse the leadership he brings to Clear Mortgage Capital (CMC). Positioned as a subject matter expert, and acknowledged as an industry leader, Nathan understands that growth is not sustainable without delivering quality service and actively shaping CMC’s corporate culture.

In May 2022, Nathan received the 2022 Visionary Innovation award from the Association of Independent Mortgage Experts.   Following suit, in October 2022, LA Times awarded Nathan as 2022 OC Visionary in the finance/banking category.   Nathan has also been featured on ABC7 LA as a subject matter expert, commenting on recent market conditions. 

Prior to founding CMC, Nathan spent four years as President of E Capital Mortgage. During that time he oversaw over 700% growth. Previously, Nathan served as a senior mortgage banker, loan officer, and trainer for several industry leaders, including LendingTree, Nationstar Mortgage (now Mr. Cooper), and loanDepot. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration and is affiliated with the California Bureau of Real Estate and Orange County Association of Realtors. Recently, Scotsman Guide ranked Nathan among the Top 10 mortgage lenders in Irvine, California.

See Nathan's reviews here: https://www.zillow.com/lender-profile/nkowarsky/

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