I’ve attached an Excel spreadsheet w/ formulae that I used to compare
mortgages. Just punch in the value of the house you want to buy, the downpayment you plan to make, and the various fees that your potential lender is going to charge you. You can adjust this to suit
you.

Good real estate sites for searching and even for background knowledge:
Realtor.com, Homes.com, Homefair.com.

I’d recommend going with a big realtor like Century21, Coldwell Banker,
etc. They typically have more resources. On the other hand, you may
find a smaller realtor will give you more personal attention – just
make sure they have access to MLS listings.

Find out about current interest rates: bankrate.com. You can
also do some comparison shopping there.

Mortgage shopping comparison: lendingtree.com. Of
course, once you plug in all your personal info, expect to get lots of
calls! Do it once you’re sure you need to secure a loan. I highly
recommend checking with the big lenders as well as what you get from a
shopping comparison agent. The big guys can typically offer you the
best rates, loans backed up by lots of money, they probably won’t
resell the loan and they have more resources to support you in the long
run. So consider: eTrade, ABNAmro, eLoan.

There is a Wharton Prof who has a really good website discussing all of the
ins and outs of mortgages, loans, banks, etc. You should definitely
check it out. In fact, it’s useful even if you already own property. He
calls himself the Mortgage Professor. Go figure…

The day you decide to lock in on an interest rate is the day that you
can expect to spend most of the day doing that (at least if you want to
try to secure the best rate and and the lowest lender closing costs).

Good luck!

PS> This was originally an e-mail that I was about to re-send to yet another person when I realized (yet again) that I should really blog this and share it with the rest of the world. That way, I don’t even need to re-send the e-mail, but instead say – just check out my blog! Yeah, some of you may not agree, but that’s ok – you don’t have to; you don’t even have to read this!