10 Essential Questions to Ask Your Lender

Shopping for a mortgage is the highest-leverage afternoon of the entire home buying process. On a $300,000 loan, a quarter-point difference in rate is about $50 a month — roughly $18,000 over the life of the loan. Yet plenty of first-time buyers apply with a single lender and accept whatever comes back.

The fix is straightforward: apply with at least three lenders inside a short window, then ask every one of them the same questions. Here are the ten that matter most.

Rate context: Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey put the average 30-year fixed rate at 6.76% and the 15-year at 6.09% for the week of September 10, 2026. Treat a national average as a sanity check, never as your quote — your actual rate depends on your credit, down payment, loan type, and the day you lock.

1. What is my interest rate, and what is the APR?

The rate sets your monthly payment. The APR folds in most lender fees and is the better number for comparing two offers side by side. If one lender quotes a rate noticeably below the pack but the APR lands right in line with everyone else, you are paying for that rate somewhere — usually in points.

2. Am I paying discount points, and what do they buy me?

One point costs 1% of the loan amount and typically lowers your rate by roughly a quarter percent. Ask for the break-even: divide what the points cost by the monthly savings. If it takes eight years to break even and you expect to move or refinance in five, skip them.

3. What loan programs do I qualify for, and why are you recommending this one?

Conventional, FHA, VA, and USDA loans carry different down payment minimums, credit thresholds, and mortgage insurance rules. FHA allows as little as 3.5% down at a 580 credit score. Several conventional programs reach 3% down for first-time buyers. VA and USDA can go to zero down for buyers who qualify.

For scale, the 2026 baseline conforming loan limit is $832,750 for a one-unit home, so a typical first purchase is nowhere near jumbo territory. A lender who only ever recommends one product may only offer one product.

4. What will my mortgage insurance cost, and when does it come off?

This is the question first-time buyers forget most often, and it is worth real money.

• Conventional PMI can usually be cancelled on request once you reach 20% equity, and the lender must remove it automatically at 22%.
• FHA mortgage insurance, on a loan with less than 10% down, lasts the life of the loan. Getting rid of it means refinancing.

Two loans with identical rates can differ by hundreds of dollars a month once insurance is counted.

5. May I see a full Loan Estimate?

Lenders are required to issue a Loan Estimate within three business days of a complete application. It is a standardized three-page form, which is exactly what makes it useful: you can lay three of them side by side and compare line for line. Verbal quotes are not comparable and are not binding. Ask for the document.

6. What are your lender fees, specifically?

Look at section A of the Loan Estimate — origination, underwriting, processing, application. These are the charges the lender controls, and the ones most open to negotiation. Third-party costs like the appraisal and title work are largely fixed no matter who you use.

7. How long is the rate lock, and what does an extension cost?

Locks typically run 30 to 60 days. Closings slip, and an expired lock can mean repricing at whatever the market happens to be doing that week. Ask three things: the lock length, the extension fee, and whether they offer a float-down if rates fall before you close.

8. What is your average time to close, and who underwrites the file?

Sellers weigh certainty alongside price. A lender who closes in 21 days with in-house underwriting is a stronger story in an offer than one who brokers the file out and averages 45 days. Ask for their actual recent average, not the number on the brochure.

9. What could still derail my approval?

Pre-approval is conditional, not final. Ask precisely what would break it: a new car loan, a job change, a large unexplained deposit, a jump in credit card balances. Get that list in writing and do not deviate from it until you have the keys in hand.

10. Who will I actually be talking to, and how fast do you respond?

When you are in a multiple-offer situation on a Sunday afternoon, you may need an updated pre-approval letter within the hour. Ask who answers the phone, during what hours, and how quickly they turn letters around.

How to compare the answers

Put the Loan Estimates next to each other and compare four things:

1. The APR
2. The total of section A lender fees
3. The monthly mortgage insurance
4. The cash to close on page 2

The cheapest rate is frequently not the cheapest loan.

One last reassurance, because it stops people from shopping at all: credit scoring models treat multiple mortgage inquiries made in a short period as a single event. Depending on the model that window runs from 14 to 45 days. Comparing several lenders will not meaningfully dent your score, and not comparing them can cost you five figures.