Bargain hunting is a national pastime.  If I am shopping for a mortgage lender, the guy better be wholesale.

But how do you know if you are working with a wholesale mortgage lender?

At each mortgage transaction, whether it be purchase or refinance, a HUD Settlement Statement is prepared. The aforementioned statement is an accounting of all monies collected related to the mortgage. Items 801 thru 808 of the settlement statement are those collected by the person providing the mortgage. These should run in the few hundred dollar range versus the few thousand dollar range. The following is a list of Items Payable In Connection with Loan:

801. Loan Origination Fee
802. Loan Discount
803. Appraisal Fee
804. Credit Report
805. Tax Service Fee
806. Document Preparation Fee
807. Flood Certification Fee to FDSI
808. Doc Prep to Equitable Trust Mortgage Corp

I came across an interesting take on negotiating mortgage lender fees at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity:

“the moral is you should always ask and you should never feel as though you have to go with any particular lender. The money they give you is just as green as the next guy; it’s simply a matter of how much they’ll want to charge you for it. It’s easy to overlook these nickel and dime charges when you’re dropping a few hundred thousand on a home, but these fees come straight out of your pocket.”

Mortgage shopping is a craft unto itself but the key ingredients are:  excellent service, combined with innovative products, at wholesale...always...wholesale.