Video — What Services Can You Shop Around In A Mortgage?

The mortgage Loan Estimate includes two lists of services involved in the loan process: services you CAN shop, and services you CANNOT shop. Borrowers are free to shop and compare the first list; they may have the lender provide these services, or another part. Borrowers MUST use the lender or listed provider for services on the other list.

The CAN shop list might include the following:

Pest Inspection

Property-Line Survey

Title-related services. These might be broken down further:

Lenders title policy, protecting the lenders interest in the collateral (usually, the property.)

Settlement agent fees, to cover the costs of facilitating the final transaction.

Title Search, to document legal ownership of the property.

Title Insurance Binder, which allows use of the title search results for a period of time.

Fees from providers on the list provided by the lenders are restricted by the Loan Estimate figures; their fees cannot change by more than 10% between estimate and closing disclosure.

Providers not on the list are not restricted by the Loan Estimate; the lender is not responsible for changes in their fees or variances from the estimate.