How did you choose where to get your mortgage?

I set what I wanted

A 15 year fixed, no points, and a limit on closing costs

That is the only way to wrap my mind around it all.

Then I went to Bankrate.com and looked around

(click on mortgages)

Then I googled about 10 banks in my area and got estimates from 3

With 3 similar offers I was armed to make a choice

pull all of those you suggested and then make a comparison.

Back when we bought our home we called a realtor, he showed us a few homes, we said we wanted to buy and had VA, the realtor got the loan for us. We didn't know the mortgage company nor was it important to know that because after a while they sell their loans to other companies anyway. Sometimes people don't even know who they are dealing with at any given moment.

These days it's good to go to your own bank, make an application and see how much they will approve you for toward a home (usually they will approve only 80% toward a home) then make sure you have the other 20% in savings that you could put toward that home plus several thousands more for the closing costs and home maintenance and upkeep till you get settled or for the purchase of appliances such as a washer and dryer or a lawnmower.

Sometimes people just go to a realtor and that realtor has some favorite mortgage company they deal with and will refer you to them. Of course the realtor gets a few dollars back from that referral.