<prompt> Human: My wife and I have signed an agreement on a home and now are looking for a mortgage. We believe we want a convention, 30 year, fixed rate mortgage, we just want the best ratelowest fees we can get. My understanding is we apply for a mortgage at several different institutions were currently looking at a commercial bank, credit union, and a private lender, and then they must provide a mortgage estimate within 3 days of the application starting. Then we can negotiate to get rates lowered before we provide the intent to proceed with one of the institutions. Is this correct?? Any input or past experience would be helpful.  <response>: Im not sure what others experience has been, but I had great luck using a local, smaller mortgage company. I initially spoke with Quicken and they gave me 4.5 quote with 20 down and excellent credit 0 debt. I had seen better percentages advertised in the mortgage section of Zillow, which seemed a bit to-good-to-be-true, but I reached out to the companies that advertised low rates at no points. All other companies I called gave me quotes of around 3.75-3.9. When I told the Quicken rep about these other offers he said it was impossible and that I was being scammed by these mortgage companies and that they would spring surprise charges on me at closing or not abide by the initial agreement. Well, I had these rates locked in already and I was pretty angry with Quicken, as I had specifically asked for their best rate and after I said I was going with someone else, he offered to knock it down. I know this sounds a lot like Michael Scotts You cheated on me when I specifically asked you not to situation, but youd be amazed at how many companies will give you a better rate just by asking for their best rate. Either way, I went with a local company that offered 3.75 at no points. This company was the first at the top of the list on Zillow and closing was super easy and felt personal. I printed out Mr. Quickens BS email and framed it in my office. TL;DR: Fuck Quicken. Go local small company. 