<prompt> Human: Hey guys,Ive checked out many of the resources in the side bar, read many articles and done some online calculators from them, but still things seem a bit dicey in my mind. Never been too good with accounting and financial jargon, though Im doing my best to slowly understand everything before making any sort of move. Anyway, on to why Im here.My GF and I have been debating back and forth about continuing to rent or making the move to ownership. We make about 100k combined income annually, though Ive just started my job recently so my savings for a down payment is slightly lacking. Still, we could easily put together a 10k down payment or so if we do decide to pursue home ownership.So my question is really about approaching a financial institution to get pre-qualified for a mortgage. Obviously this is step 1 to figuring out if its worth it for us to buy vs. rent and seeing what we can afford according to a bank. Ive done some calculators online to get estimates - but really - what is the best bank to approach about this? Im really looking for advice from other experiences, I know that every situation will be different and banks in different places will be different. But do we approach a big bank like Wells Fargo? Do we go to a bank that we currently have a checkingsavings account with? Or do we go to a local credit union?I suspect the answer is all of the above to figure out who will give us the best deal, but even then what constitutes the best? The intersection of the lowest interest rate with highest offer for our needs? Im really just looking for a place to start and get my bearings with this monumental decision looming in front of us. Thanks!Assistant: For pre-qualification, it really doesnt matter. You need to be pre-qualified before a realtor will take you seriously tough to put in an offer and be considered without pre-qualification, but its the shopping for the actual mortgage that makes a lot of difference in terms of money. If youve got a bank you already have a relationship with, you can get the pre-qual from them, but definitely get several competing offers for the actual mortgage.Not sure how big of a mortgage youre looking for, but ideally youd have at least 20 down to avoid mortgage insurance, which is an extra cost to you.Human: thanks for the tips. as far as the 20 down, it just isnt realistic in the near future to be able to put 60k down for a 300k townhouse or anything like that. so an additional question about that mortgage insurance - do we eventually stop paying that amount when we have paid off 20 of the principal of the home? and this is the PMI that i was reading about that was estimated to be about 100 100k value of the home. so for a 300k home, wed be paying an extra 300 per month?  <response>: It isnt realistic means you arent ready to buy a house. 