Short List
You’d Better Shop Around
The CFPB online toolkit helps consumers through the process of shopping for a mortgage.
In a stunning report, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) finds that nearly half of all consumers do not shop around for a mortgage before purchasing a home. Consumers put great thought into the choice of a home, but the mortgage process continues to be intimidating, says CFPB Director Richard Cordray.
Whats more, the study finds that 3 out of 4 consumers only apply for a mortgage with one lender or broker. While half of consumers shop around to see who advertises lower rates, fewer than 1 out of 4 borrowers actually end up submitting a loan application to more than one lender or broker. These consumers are not filling out applications with multiple lenders to see which one can offer them the best deal.
But consumers who are confident about their knowledge of available interest rates are almost twice as likely to shop around as consumers who are unfamiliar with available interest rates. The survey found that 55 percent of shoppers said they were very familiar with mortgage rates, while 30 percent of shoppers said they were not at all familiar.
CFPB has released an interactive online Owning a Home toolkit designed to help consumers through the process of shopping for a mortgage. The toolkit makes it easy to see how shopping for a mortgage can translate into big dollars saved in the long run, Cordray says. We want to enable consumers to be more savvy shoppers.
Find more information and the Owning a Home toolkit at Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s website.
