Choosing a lender or a mortgage broker can be an arduous process — there are so many options to choose from, and your choice will have a large impact on the rates and terms of your mortgage. Follow these tips from Trulia to select the banker or broker who can get the best mortgage deal for you.

Get recs from people you trust

Ask friends, family and acquaintances who have purchased homes to tell you about their brokers or mortgage lenders. You could also ask a real estate agent whom you trust.

Ask people to rate brokers they’ve worked with in terms of the rates and conditions of the mortgages they’ve received and the ease of working with that broker or lender.

Questions to ask include: Would they use their broker again, and would they recommend using that broker to anyone else? Did the broker explain their loans’ conditions and rates in easily understood terms? Did they get the interest rate they were promised? Were there any unexpected fees?
Shop online

Surf the Web to shop anonymously for home loans and rates. This will give you a good idea of home loans’ rates and fees. One place to try is Trulia Mortgage, which can get you quotes from banks and credit unions across the U.S. — no personal information is required.

You can simplify your search by choosing just one type of loan (e.g., a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage with no points) — that will make comparing options across the multitude available easier, especially since loan rates and terms can change daily.

However, when shopping online, it’s not a good idea to offer personal information like your social security number or your home address, which can be sold, or used to pull up your credit report.
Go to your bank

With the information you’ve gathered online, you can try your bank — the bank that has your checking account may be willing to offer you a deal — and compare their offerings.

Or, go to branches of local national banks, community banks and credit unions whose names you trust. Compare the rates and terms they offer with the ones you found online.

Check out mtgprofessor.com, which rates banks on factors including the transparency of their loan terms and fees.
Visit mortgage brokers

Once you’ve shopped online and at a few banks, visit a few mortgage brokers who’ve been recommended to you by friends, family and colleagues and see if they can offer you a better deal for your loan of choice. A broker’s job is to hunt down a loan by searching the offerings of several lenders.

Ask the brokers how they will be paid – a broker either charges a flat fee, earns money from lenders, or a combination of both. You want to make sure that their fees don’t prove to be too high. You can ask that the broker set his fee (what he will get from you and the lender) in advance in writing, making it no more than 2 percent of the loan. Be sure to have the broker disclose to you in writing all fees, terms, and penalties associated with the loans they suggest.

You don’t want the compensation that a broker gets from a bank to be too high — this compensation can encourage less than reputable brokers to steer you into loans with elevated interest rates and terms that don’t suit your needs.

You’ll also want to ask the broker how many lenders he’ll check for you for rates and terms.

You could also try only choosing from brokers who belong to the Upfront Mortgage Brokers Association. These brokers have agreed to provide advance notice in writing to consumers about the size of their compensations and where their compensations come from. The site offers a tool to search for loan officers by state.

Another website to check is NAMB.org, the website of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers. There you can look up the names of mortgage brokers in your area.

Before you hire a mortgage broker, also be sure to check his firm’s complaint record with the Better Business Bureau.

You’ve survived house hunting and the bidding and negotiating on your new home, and now it’s time to make it yours. But to do so, you have to sit down with various people, which may include the seller, your real estate agent, title and mortgage company officials and possibly your attorney at what’s known in real estate lingo as the “closing table.”

At closing, you will close on the purchase of your new home, and if you are taking out a mortgage, on your home loan, as well. The whole process may take about an hour. Here’s what’s expected of you:

Complete the walkthrough

Before the actual closing, you’ll most likely have the opportunity to perform a walkthrough of the property and confirm that the condition of the home is as it should be, as specified in the sales contract.
Bring enough cash

At closing, you’ll be paying for your share of the closing costs, and will be bringing the down payment, so be sure to bring a certified check or a cashier’s check. Your lender will provide a lender’s check for the remaining balance that’s due on the home.

Your HUD Uniform Settlement Statement (which both you and the seller will sign) will detail the closing costs (plus all the monies involved in the transaction), as well as who is expected to pay them.
Show id

You will also be required to show proof of your identification, such as your driver’s license or passport.
Proof of insurance

Bring a copy of and proof of payment for your homeowner’s insurance, plus your flood insurance policy, if you have one. Your lender may want to review these before allowing you to close on the home.
Sign on the dotted line

To transfer ownership of the home, both the buyer and seller will be required to sign several documents.

You may be required to review and sign the purchase agreement, a promissory note for your loan, mortgage documents, title documents, the settlement statement and the truth in lending statement (which will outline the costs of your loan, your payment schedule and amount financed), while the seller will also sign the settlement sheet — and, importantly — the deed to the home to transfer ownership of the property to you. Copies of these documents will be filed at the county recorder’s office, but be sure to keep your own copies as well.
Take the keys!

Once all the necessary paperwork is completed and everything is in order, you will be given keys to the home. While you will no doubt immediately change the locks upon moving in, the keys are the final sign that the home is indeed yours.