How to Shop for a Mortgage Online

Shopping for a mortgage is a delicate matter, which involves a lot of research and specific requirements tailored to each individual. Some customers still prefer to complete their loan transaction face to face with a mortgage broker or lender; however there is a vast amount of valuable information online available at your fingertips.

Types of Loan Sites:

Tight lending criteria is making it very difficult to get a competitive mortgage and a number of people being declined a loan has risen sharply in the last few years. However, online mortgage loan sites that offer direct access to loans come in three basic varieties making it easier to get what you want: direct or single lenders, auction sites, and multi-lender shopping sites.

With so many mortgages to choose from and so many things to consider when looking for the right mortgage, it’s not surprising that many people seek professional help. Initial research should include mortgage best buys, useful mortgage calculators, real-life case studies, a free mortgage guide and helpful articles.

Online mortgage sites allow you to input personal criteria with the knowledge your information is secure and protected. Once the criteria is entered you should be able to see a customized mortgage best buy table- which will show you the available mortgage quotations in response to your requirements. Findings have shown that websites offering this high standard of help and advice have had a 93.5% rate of completely satisfied customers, or who had their expectations exceeded.

Advantages of an online mortgage:

Acquiring your loan from an online mortgage website offers many advantages. If the loan you need is priced on a mortgage website, it will be easy to find and compare with other prices. In contrast, price quotes in hard copy media are rarely provided in the details required by most shoppers and are usually out of date- whereas the internet is the fastest growing outlet full of up to date information, products and services.

Lenders acquiring loans through mortgage websites avoid the costs of maintaining retail facilities, including the commissions paid to loan officers. Also the competition among online lenders is substantial, which is why you can almost always expect the get a better price online than in a tangible location.

Mortgage advice online:

The mortgage market is highly volatile, which sees lenders resetting their prices every morning, and sometimes during the day. Unless price quotes from different loan providers are obtained at about the same time, they can't be comparable. This is a major problem for offline shopping because it takes too much time to obtain reliable price data. With online mortgage websites, this information can be refreshed with the click of a mouse.

The credit crunch hasn't exactly made things easier either, we have seen both house prices and interest rates have fallen by around 25%, but lenders have become a lot more cautious in terms of how much they will lend to people. Overall, it means that, while houses have become more affordable, it is still a struggle for many people trying to buy their first home.

The UK market for mortgages is currently in a great deal of turmoil, and it has never been more important than now to know exactly what you require, as such good up to date knowledge really is paramount.

Use one of the mortgage specialist sites to research what you want, using free online mortgage calculators to get the best of today’s mortgage rates. Then simply fill in an online form to get exactly what you want - and all from the comfort of your own home.