Hello

first time home buyer, located in Texas... Alot of this is confusing to me and a bit overwhelming. I have spoken with 3 lenders and would like to compare rates and their quotes. I know you can negotiate with them but am unsure exactly which portion of the offer is negotiable? Is it the origination portion of the loan? Again, I am very new to this so if you could break it down in simple language I'd really appreciate it.

The answer you are looking for, in theory anyway, is the Annual Percentage Rate or APR. The APR is a formula to calculate the combined costs of the interest rate and certain lender closing costs. These are defined by the feds and the lower the APR is the best offer.

Keep in mind you have to rely on lenders accurately calculating APR. Most will but you cannot count of 100% of us to do so.

And to be fair to the lenders your final review of your offers all the lenders should be able to submit their offers at the same time, say all on one day. Rates move daily, they have been especially volatile so far this year. Any offer I made the first week of January does not exist today. So anything you have seen so far is just a picture of the rate market that day. For the most part, and there are exceptions, you cannot lock in a rate until you have a address for a home to lock with.

There are few lock now and find a home later programs but are not that common and what I seen not that competitive.

Thanks. I am going to buy the home that I currently live in as a renter from the seller himself. I'm using a physician loan which allows me to put very little down and avoid PMI. I understand this essentially will raise the rate a bit, is there anything else they will do to make up for the lack of PMI?