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How Do Homebuyers Choose Their Mortgage Lender? I started pondering this question and started doing research.

Before I give you the answers, what do you think are the main reasons people choose a mortgage lender?

Most brokers believe homeowners use the following criteria in choosing a mortgage lender:

Lowest rate/fees

Referrals

Advertising

What are your top three?

The National Association of Realtors mailed out an eight-page questionnaire to 35,000 recent homebuyers. The survey resulted in 2,703 usable responses with an adjusted response rate of 7.7 percent. Customer names and addresses were obtained from Experian.

Here are the results:

75% of all buyers bought their house through a Realtor. 14% bought directly from a builder.

76% of all buyers used only one agent to help them search for a home.

69% of buyers received a recommendation from their agent about where to get their mortgage. The majority of first time buyers asked the agent for help in finding a lender.

14% of buyers chose the lender on price.

16% of buyers chose the lender on reputation.

14% of buyers used a lender they had used before.

13% used the lender they were recommended to by a friend or relative.

What's your criteria?