By Mike Johnson


Trying to find a mortgage is a difficult task in today's marketplace. Rates change everyday, and it can be nearly impossible to know which lending institution is currently offering the best mortgage product. A good broker can go a long way toward sorting this type of difficulty. They can help you have a meaningful and concrete discussion about what your financial situation is, what kind of mortgage you need, and which bank or lender you can go to to find that product. But when looking for a mortgage broker, how do you know where to begin? How can you tell which broker genuinely has your best interests at heart? That's what this article is all about.

The first thing you can do is call up your family and friends and see if any one of them has used a mortgage broker lately and can give you a recommendation. If someone in your circle of acquaintances has negotiated the acquisition of a mortgage through a broker, you're in luck. Even if they're not keen on recommending the broker they worked with, you can still learn a lot about the entire process by talking with them about what their experience was like.

Ensure that whoever you hire is licensed. This is something that you are definitely going to want to pay attention to. A good mortgage broker will be affiliated with a third-party organization that keeps him accountable to a set of business practices and industry standards.

You should also be sure that whatever broker you hire, they're fully independent. There's no point in hiring a broker that works for a single bank or credit union: they're hardly a broker, but more like a salesperson, selling you whatever their bank or credit union is offering. A good broker has a reputation among the community of lenders and can give you plenty of options, showing you mortgages from a variety of sources, to ensure that you end up with the one that suits you best.

Finally, make sure that your broker has a great reputation. A reputation tends to speak for itself, and brokers who have a track record of pleasing their clients are probably going to be able to do the same thing for you.




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