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I’m going to take a massive departure from the other answers:Vindman’s testimony didn’t favor either party.It favored the United States of America.I’m really starting to move past the idea of there being two main political parties in the US because of how badly the current Republican Party has lost its way, and the impeachment hearings were the perfect example of how far they’ve fallen.I now view the United States as having one party that supports the Constitution and the ideals presented in the Declaration of Independence…and then we have the Republicans.I know, I know, this is going to trigger all sorts of folks out there, I know, and I’m sorry about that, but this isn’t even close to being debatable anymore.The president was accused of using funds appropriated by Congress to force Ukraine to attack Trump’s political rival. Here is the established timeline of events that occurred which have zero question that they occurred:May 2014: Hunter Biden joins the Board of Directors of Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings. At this point, Biden has been an executive VP with MBNA, worked for the US Department of Commerce, co-founded his own law firm, and was on the Board of Directors of Amtrak. He holds a bachelors in history from Georgetown, and has his JD from Yale Law. His salary is in-line with what would be expected at a Fortune 500 company.Feb 2015: Viktor Shokin becomes Ukraine’s prosecutor general.Sep 2015: Geoffrey Pyatt, the US Ambassador to Ukraine, speaks in Ukraine, blasting Shokin for not addressing corruption within Ukraine.Oct 2015: Victoria Nuland, Asst US Sec of State, testifies in the US Senate that Shokin is corrupt and needs to be removed.Dec 2015: VP Joe Biden joins several other European leaders in telling Ukrainian leadership to replace Shokin with somebody who will end corruption.Feb 2016: the International Monetary Fund threatens to end a bailout program for Ukraine unless they address their corruption issues, starting with Shokin.Feb 2016: VP Biden speaks with then-Ukrainian President Poroshenko about fighting corruption, including replacing Shokin on both the 11th and 18th. He makes it clear that US financial aid will be withheld until action is taken, per rules set in the US's “corruption test".Mar 2016: Shokin is ousted, replaced by Yuri LutsenkoJan 2017: an investigation into Burisma, that had been dormant under Shokin but re-opened under Lutsenko, finds that Burisma hadn’t been paying enough in taxes. A settlement is reached.Jan 2018: Biden speaks at an event hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations and describes one of his discussions with Poroshenko in 2016.Apr 2019: Mueller Report issued. It finds no illegal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia but does find extensive evidence of obstruction of justice by the Trump administration and leaves it to Congress to take action.Apr 2019: Zelensky wins election in Ukraine, becomes president. Trump calls to congratulate Zelensky and never brings up the topic of corruption, per transcripts of the call.Apr 2019: Joe Biden announces his bid for the 2020 Presidential ElectionMay 2019: Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, tells the NY Times that he will be traveling to Ukraine to push for an investigation into the Biden family “…because that information will be very, very helpful to my client…”.May 2019: In an interview with Fox News, Trump falsely portrays Biden’s role in the removal of Shokin, claiming he was preventing an investigation into his son. All fact checks point to this as being a blatant lie.May 2019: $400 million in military assistance, dictated by Congress in the federal budget, is due to be released to Ukraine.Jul 19, 2019: Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations Kurt Volker sends a text message to US Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland, “Most impt is for Zelensky to say that he will help investigation [into the Bidens]”.Jul 25, 2019: Volker texts Andriy Yermak, President Zelensky’s top aide, “Heard from White House-assuming President Z convinces trump he will investigate / 'get to the bottom of what happened' in 2016, we will nail down date for visit to Washington”Jul 25, 2019: Fox News poll shows Biden leading candidate, predicted to defeat Trump by 10 pointsJul 25 2019: Trump speaks to Zelensky and, per an edited transcript released by the White House, ties the sale of US arms to Ukraine, as well as a White House visit, to Zelensky investigating the Bidens. After the call, the edited transcript is moved to a classified server reserved for sensitive national security information.Jul 25, 2019: Trump makes a decision to withhold the aid to Ukraine, this is communicated to the Departments of State and Defense. *** EDIT 12/22/2019 We now know that this decision was first relayed to OMB staff 91 minutes after the Trump-Zelensky phone call. Page 40 of CPI v DoD Dec 20, 2019 Release ***Jul 25, 2019: State Dept staff circulate emails indicating the Ukrainian embassy is asking about the promised military assistance.Jul 2019: an unknown “whistleblower” writes a report about the call to Zelensky.Aug 2019: Volker and Sondland text one another, making it clear that Trump wants Zelensky to announce the Bidens are being investigated.Aug 2019: Yernak texts Volker, says they need to lock in the date for Zelensky’s White House visit before Zelensky will announce a Biden investigation.Aug 2019: Sondland emails two State Department aides: “Kurt & I negotiated a statement from Ze to be delivered for our review in a day or two. The contents will hopefully make the boss happy enough to authorize an invitation. Ze plans to have a big presser on the openness subject (including specifics) next week.”Aug 2019: whistleblower files his complaint with the Inspector General for the intelligence community, Michael Atkinson. The IG determines the complaint is credible and a matter of “urgent concern”, legally requiring disclosure to the House and Senate intelligence committees. He forwards it to Director of National Intelligence, Joseph Maguire, who doesn’t follow policy and refuses to give it to the committees.Aug 2019: Volker and Sondland text back and forth about what Zelensky’s statement needs to say.Aug 2019: Politico reports that the Trump administration is withholding military aid from UkraineAug 2019: US Ambassador to Ukraine Bill Taylor writes to Sec of State Pompeo, calling it “folly” to withhold military aid to Ukraine.Sep 2019: Taylor texts Sondland, “Are we now saying that security assistance and WH meeting are conditioned on investigations?”Sep 9 2019: IG Atkinson notifies the House and Senate Intelligence Committees about the whistleblower complaint.Sep 10 2019: House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff writes to Maguire, demanding the whistleblower complaint.Sep 11 2019: US aid is released to UkraineSep 13 2019: Schiff subpoenas MaguireSep 18 2019: Zelensky cancels a CNN interview.Sep 26: whistleblower complaint releasedIn between all of these events are multiple reports and verbal statements that make it abundantly clear what was happening here: the Trump administration, either under Trump’s orders or at least by his knowledge, was extorting Ukraine, saying that they would only release legally mandated military aid and allow a visit to the White House if Ukraine announced an investigation into Joe Biden, a likely opponent in 2020. The moment it became clear that the cat was out of the bag, the aid was mysteriously released and Zelensky mysteriously canceled his CNN interview.In return, leading up to the public impeachment hearings, this is a summary of responses about this chain of events from Republicans (thanks to Habib Fanny's answer to What are the chances of Donald Trump's impeachment?):The whistle-blower is a liar.Okay, the whistle-blower didn’t lie, but they were certainly exaggerating.Okay, the whistle-blower wasn’t exaggerating, but Trump did nothing wrong because there was no quid pro quo.Okay, there was a quid pro quo, but it’s not the kind that matters.Okay, some people who were tasked with implementing the quid pro quo report that it actually consisted in using public funds to extort an illegal personal favor from an ally, but it’s all hearsay, because they didn’t hear it directly from Trump. Also, Gordon Sondland is, unlike Trump, a liar.Okay, some people overheard the July 25 phone call and were disturbed by it, but it’s much ado about nothing. Presidents do this all the time.Okay, some people overheard Trump asking Sondland about the quid pro quo, but it’s not a quid pro quo because Trump says there was no quid pro quo. Unless Trump says: “I am ordering you to have a quid pro quo with Ukraine in which I will withhold military aid in order to extort an illegal favor from them,” it’s not a problem. And even then, there has to be video evidence of it, otherwise it’s just a he-said-she-said. Also, even if there is video evidence, it’s probably a deepfake. Also, what about Obama? And what about Hillary? And what about the Democrats supporting slavery in 1860?The Republicans’ primary defenses against the impeachment inquiry have been, for lack of a better word, pathetic. Their defenses have ranged from:This investigation is illegal because the Democrats haven’t voted to begin the investigation…which isn’t valid because the Democrats are following a set of rules created and last updated by the Republicans 4 years agoThere can be no impeachment without the whistleblower testifying, because the 5th amendment requires that Trump face his accuser…which isn’t valid because this isn’t a criminal trial, and there’s zero reason for the whistleblower to testify because he wouldn’t be able to introduce or verify any information that isn’t already introduced or verifiedThis impeachment was being held in secret by the Democrats, which makes it illegal…which is stupid as hell, as the hearings were being held in a conference room with a nearly 50/50 mix of Republicans and DemocratsAid is withheld from other countries all the time, the president is allowed to do that for any reason he wants…which is nonsense. I think we can all agree that if Trump had told Zelinsky that the aid would be released the moment Zelinsky’s wife performed a striptease for Trump, we would all agree that was wrong in every imaginable way.The impeachment was invalid because no White House lawyers were allowed to participate…which is true…because they aren’t required or allowed by any rules or lawsThe Democrats aren’t following the rules…even though Schiff was able to cite the rules he was following almost verbatimTrump was required, by law, to make this request of Ukraine…do I even need to tell you how ridiculous that claim is?The Republicans haven’t been allowed to call any witnesses…except for the fact that half the witnesses we heard from over the week of hearings were all hand-picked by the Republicans in CongressHunter Biden made $50k a month from Burisma, clearly there was something going on!…well, sure, if not for the fact that members of a large corporation’s board frequently make considerably more than thatOh yeah? Well Hunter Biden wasn’t even qualified to be on the board of an energy company!…well, sure, if not for the fact that members of a large corporation’s board frequently come from non-related industries. Don’t believe me? Here’s the Exxon-Mobil board: ExxonMobil Board of Directors | ExxonMobil. I see 8 out of 10 board members have zero experience in the energy industry (one of the 2 is actually an oceanographer, but I gave her a “pass” as that is at least somewhat applicable):two former medical insurance company CEOsformer CEO of Xeroxformer CEO of IBMa life insurance CEOformer CEO of PepsiCoformer CEO of Johnson & JohnsonThese hearings are invalid since we can’t call the Bidens to testify…this is so asinine it’s actually hilarious. Just so we’re clear, even if the Bidens had done something wrong, it still wouldn’t justify withholding legally mandated funds from the Ukraine in order to force them to conduct the investigations. Besides, the violations that Burisma was investigated for pre-dated Hunter Biden’s employment…a big part of the reason Shokin was viewed as corrupt was because he refused to investigate Burisma! The investigation was re-started and Ukraine settled with them. What more do you want? Oh, yeah, that’s right…you want the Bidens to be investigated, or at least, an announcement of this.So, Vindman, an active duty US Army Lieutenant Colonel, who serves as the Director for European Affairs for the US National Security Council, was subpoenaed. Vindman had been born in Ukraine, but his family immigrated to the US when he was four. During his military career, Vindman served in Iraq for a year, during which he received a Purple Heart, along with four Army commendations.In return for Vindman’s testimony, detailing how Trump had used the power of his office to extort a foreign nation to announce a fake investigation of Biden, Vindman was attacked.His military service has been questioned and insultedHis rank and stature has been insultedHe has received threats to himself and his familyHe was questioned as to why he was wearing his military dress uniform, which is the traditional dress for active duty military membersHis loyalty to the US has been questioned, as he has been openly accused of having split allegiances between the US and UkraineThere can be no denying anymore that the loyalties of President Trump and the Republican Party no longer align with those of the United States. To pretend that, somehow, the Republican Party is the party that stands for supporting the Constitution, for supporting our military, for any of the obviously false claims they’ve been making for so many years, is just not right. In fact, it’s laughable to make such claims. They’re now definitively a party that is solely interested in attaining and keeping power, and arguments can be claimed that they have become an authoritarian party, supporting what can be best termed as a form of fascism.If you don’t believe me, take a look at the number of Quora answers and comments from Republicans and Republican supporters stating:it doesn’t matter what the American people want, it matters what Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Florida want, as the Electoral College is all that matters (does that sound remotely like something Madison, Jefferson, and Monroe would have said?)get used to losing (yep, that sounds like a really good, bipartisan American!)of course McConnell did the right thing, refusing to seat Obama’s pick for the Supreme Court…besides, he was following the Biden Rule! (does that sound at all like something that our Founding Fathers intended? Does that sound even remotely mature? Honest? Ethical? And it wasn’t even what Biden proposed all those years ago!)Trump can declassify anything he wants whenever he wants (really? is that really the argument we’re making?)The President can’t be prosecuted for ANYthing, let alone investigated for any crimes (Trump lawyer: Trump can’t be prosecuted for shooting someone)Or, we can look at the infamous Russian/Trump investigation timeline (as documented here: Garrett Murphy's answer to Do you agree or disagree with conservative columnist George Will that if Republicans in the house and Senate do not stand up to Trump they deserve to lose everything in the 2020 elections?):How many times were we told that the Trump campaign had no contact with Russian officials?Then, how many times were we told that they did have contact, but it had nothing to do with the election?Then, how many times were we told that they did have contact related to the campaign, but no information was shared?Then, how many times were we told that information was shared, but it was useless?Then, how many times were we told that useful information was shared, but it’s okay because there was no collusion?Then, how many times were we told that there was collusion, but collusion’s not a crime?Then, how many times were we told that yes, conspiracy is a crime, but because Mueller didn’t actually charge Trump with a crime, Trump was obviously innocent?Then, how many times were we told that, while yes, Mueller couldn’t charge him with a crime, Mueller also didn’t recommend he be charged?So, let’s stop pretending that the Republican Party is even in the conversation. There’s America, then there’s the GOP.It’s time we start choosing what’s truly the best thing for our nation, and right now, the first thing we have to worry about is saving it.*** EDIT 11/26/2019 ***Well…gee…thanks…I guess???

The simplest thing to remember, and perhaps the easiest, about contracts is that both parties need to get something from the contract.Compare these two sets of language:I, Person A, agree to give my brother, Person B, a loan of $5,000.00. He agrees to pay me back within five years.I, Person A, agree to give my brother, Person B, a loan of $5,000.00 with interest charged on the principal with simple interest of 10% per annum. Provided that Person B pays back the principal within four years, the interest shall be forgiven. Otherwise, the amount of $7,500.00 will be due five years from the date this contract is signed, which shall be construed by both parties as the date this loan is made between us. If this amount, $7,500.00, which is the amount of interest and principal, computed under the aforementioned rules and due by Person B to me at the end of the loan term, which is five years, is not paid in full to me before or by the end of this term of five years, then the loan will be considered by both parties to be delinquent, entitling me, Person A, to the maximum interest rate, allowable under the law, on the unpaid principal amount, for each and every year the principal is, was, or will be outstanding, without regard to whether I pursue collection efforts of any kind, which may include, but are not limited to, a civil suit in a court with jurisdiction to order repayment of the principal and payment of the interest due and any and all costs of court, including my legal fees.Don’t ever think that wording #1 reads as the memorialization of anything other than a gift of money from you to your brother. It lacks quid pro quo. If you do a Google search on that Latin phrase, you’ll find a definition like “a favor for a favor.”Well, what is a favor for a favor? Why do you think loan agreements often have down payments, collateral pledges, or interest rates pledging an income stream to the lender for the term of the loan (and for any period of delinquency)?The first favor is that you gave your brother some sum of money. The second favor is a reciprocal favor, meaning it comes back to you. And, repaying you what is owed to you (i.e., in the form of getting your principal back) is not a favor.By giving your brother (or “Person B”) some amount of your money, you are given up your opportunity to do things for yourself with it. Perhaps you would have put it into a savings account and gotten some return on your money each year. Perhaps you would have bought a fishing boat with it to give you the opportunity to enjoy a pleasure craft to give you intangible benefits. — The main thing is that with this money you could have done something with it to give you economic benefits, with only some subset of those being financial benefits.You could put the money in a jar and bury it in your backyard, and having the money may have just given you some feeling of security that you otherwise forfeit when you give it to someone else.A proper contract needs to ensure you get some sort of compensation for forgoing these opportunities.The simplest way to encode that into a contractual agreement is to require payment of some market-relevant interest rate back to you from the person you loaned the money to.A bank might do due diligence on a potential borrower and determine that he or she is a great candidate and give out the money at prime + 1 (= prime rate + 1%). In addition, the person puts down some down payment (i.e., 10% or 25%), or pledges some collateral (i.e., a car, the home), and in many cases, it’s all three of these.The interest income is just a simple way to prove that you were entitled that reciprocal favor, meaning you get something for what you’re doing. — This makes is a business transaction and distinguishes the “loan” of money from, otherwise, just a gift of money.You’ve said this was your sibling. OK. Do siblings often borrow money back and forth from each other? Same goes for friends?If I were his attorney, or his representative, I might ask you, in court: “Have you ever given your sibling any money? Have you ever not been repaid? If so, did you ever sue the sibling before for this non-repayment? If so, why? — How would my client know the difference between your gift and your loan?”That’s really difficult to prove. It’s difficult to prove that you were not just giving a gift to help someone out.In a simpler sense, in some jurisdictions, without this quid pro quo, your contract is not enforceable. So, wording #1, even if it’s written down and notarized, won’t be persuasive before a judge.Next, you might contemplate, be it with your sibling or your customer: “How can I charge this person interest? This person is a great brother, or a great customer; I’m not a bad person. He’s down and out right now. I wouldn’t charge him interest!”Well, to alleviate your conscience, you can put in writing that if the borrower does what he’s supposed to do over the term you give him, then you shall forgive the interest. However, there is a penalty if he fails to live by his word.”I’ve used this successfully in collection efforts, and some of those collection efforts have gone to court. That means I had to sue the other person. By putting this extra wording in there, it makes it less likely you’ll need an attorney in order to “litigate” the case. The case sort of self-proves itself when you can prove a willing quid pro quo arrangement.I have written about this simple contract issue — this fancy quid pro quo stuff — many times on Quora. I know I should because it’s advice I got a long time ago, and it’s helped me. Let me now tailor it to your situation.You say there was an inheritance to your sibling. However, for some reason, the inheritance did not go to you. I don’t know why that is, so we’ll just take it as a given.Next, you say your sibling got this property by inheritance, but it’s not a clean inheritance, as there is a mortgage associated with it.Someone pointed out that you should make sure your name is on the title. Well, the bank’s name is on the title in the form of a lien. You’re going to have talk with the bank before you get your name of that title!It’s not difficult to extrapolate from there that you will need to put your name on that mortgage. — Well, are your creditworthy from the bank’s perspective?Are you going to see the loan officer and declare, “My sibling can’t afford the payment, so he came to me to make it on his behalf, and therefore I need to be added to the mortgage?”If you do that, you’re going to need to redo the bank paperwork. That costs money. — Banks don’t do refinancing for free unless you are clever.How you can be clever in these situations is delicate. You need someone who’s persuasive to help you unless you’re trained and or experienced in this kind of stuff. Someone said you need an attorney. — I’d say you need a hardass on your side, and that doesn’t necessarily mean you need an attorney.It all depends on how much the home is worth, and how much is owed on the loan.If the home is worth $300,000, and $30,000 is owed, then the bank has lots of equity in the home. They’re not necessarily going to be interested in adding a low-creditworthy joint applicant (joint owner of the debt), especially at the same APR!After a period of delinquency, they can just foreclose; sell; and, go on with life.Adding you as a low-creditworthy individual as one of their loan customers may affect their financial reports that have to go to agencies such as the FDIC.If the home is worth $300,000, and $270,000 is owed, then perhaps having you “co-sign” the loan will be in their interests. — However, if you can’t afford a $300,000 mortgage, then you should stay away.It gets very complicated.If you are very creditworthy, or otherwise would qualify for an extension of credit from this bank for this mortgage, then your best bet would just be to go up to the bank with your sibling and have the title, the mortgage, and everything put into your name.Then, you could sign a sheet of paper (i.e., a contract) with your sibling setting out his rights.The notion that you would make, effectively, your sibling make you sign a contract in his interests may be in your best interests. — You may not want a crappy creditworthiness applicant on your loan. You may be able to get the mortgage on better terms with only you on the mortgage.Take all of this under advisement, and don’t be afraid to tell your sibling no.Without knowing how much the home is worth, how much is left on the mortgage, and what the APR is on the mortgage — in general, this question you asked is unanswerable from a financial standpoint.If you want to do it out of the kindness of your heart, then make sure it doesn’t screw you in the process.And, if neither your sibling nor you are creditworthy for the purposes of this mortgage, then it’s best to sell the home to someone who is, and take whatever you can get from the sale. Which might be nothing. — It might be debt continued to be owed by your sibling to the bank even though he no longer has a home.In this situation the sibling might be able to negotiate a truce with the bank that would leave him owning nothing, owing nothing, and with no bad effects to his credit.Some bankers/lenders are not crooks. You can get some free advice from them. However, since you aren’t on the loan, they aren’t going to talk to you without the sibling there.You may want to go up there with your sibling and just have a candid chat. If the lender is allowed by his bank to spend his time on helping his customers and potential customers make good decisions, then you may get some free advice.But, always make sure it passes the smell test from your end. And, I’m not sure if your sibling’s proposal to you passes the smell test at this point.Don’t let anyone pull you into bad financial decisions — regardless of who they are.

There have been a couple of good answers to the question out of the ten so far. Here is what I advise clients just beginning the process.Know your credit statusYou can get a free credit report from any number of sources. Pulling your credit this way will not affect your credit score in any way—but don’t be too concerned about the effect of a “hard inquiry” (that’s when a third party pulls your credit report). It will lower your score, but not by as much as you might think. Still, in the early stages, know what’s on your credit report. Signing up for one of the free services will give you a score, but it will be based on a model different from those used by lenders. Still, it will give you an idea of where you stand now and whether there are any items needing attention now.You should know what the requirements are for the type of loan you might apply for. A conventional loan has a minimum of 620. FHA loans are more forgiving and require 580 for a loan with 3.5% down. Still, it’s important to have at least some idea of your score because it will determine the rate you get. A borrower with a score of 620 will get a rate about .75% higher for a conventional loan than will a borrower with a score of 740 or higher.Get your documents togetherAt a minimum, you should have a current pay stub, two years’ tax returns, bank statements for any accounts with money you might use in the transaction. Be aware that you’ll have to “paper trail” any large deposits. This means that if you transfer, say, $1,000 into your checking account from savings, you’ll also have to document that account. The same holds for money you might transfer from a brokerage account. If you plan to take advantage of any of the first-time buyer programs you might qualify for, you’ll need three years’ tax returns to document that you have not owned a home for at least three years. If you plan to get a gift from a relative for some or all of the cash needed to buy, you should let your generous benefactor know they’ll have to sign a gift letter. This is a simple form stating that you will not have to repay the gift. When the time comes to put up the money, they’ll have to show the source of their funds, as well.There is a spread of interest rates offered by different lenders, but (contrary to what some maintain) it is not as great as you might think. You can go to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to get an idea of what the prevailing rates are.A caveat about the CFPB rate comparison: The CFPB uses a third-party company that surveys a selection of mortgage companies twice weekly. The rates they display are the “note” rates, not APR. The APR (Annual Percentage Rate) takes into account certain closing costs, which are called prepaid finance charges. The APR will seldom be the same as the note rate. The reason it is important to know this is that paying discount points (one point is 1% of the loan amount) will lower the interest rate. CFPB has a disclaimer on their site that the rates they display charge +-.5 points. Because each point lowers the rate by approximately .25%, the rates you see on the CFPB page could have a latitude of as much as .25%. Why they don’t use APR rather than note rate is anyone’s guess.While there appears to be a wide variance in rates (this example has a range between 4.375% and 5.375%, you should consider that the extremes of the one-point rate spread are outliers.The reason the site is useful is that you can get at least an idea of the prevailing interest rates available in the market. The search I did to generate this chart assumed a purchase in California with 10% down and a credit score of 740 or higher.Other variables besides credit score and down payment are the type of property you might buy (a condominium will typically have a rate of .25% higher if the down payment is 20% or less), the length of time you plan to lock your rate and the number of units in the property. A duplex where you live in one unit and rent the other will carry a rate about .25% higher than for a single-unit building. The adjustments are cumulative.It is natural to want to get the best rate—who doesn’t want to save money? But you should keep in mind that getting a mortgage is a process, not a commodity you can pull off the shelf. In other words, it makes a difference whom you choose to handle your loan—just as it makes a difference which real estate agent you choose to represent you.With that said, you should have a strategy for finding the best lender for you. Here are some ways to shop effectively.First, you should be aware that calling a lender and asking, “What are your rates?” will not give you any useful information. A loan officer will need some critical information to be able to give you a meaningful answer. At a minimum, they need to know the following:The approximate loan amount and price of the house. This will give them a loan to value ratio, which figures into the loan pricingYour credit score. A loan officer will likely tell you that they need to pull a credit report to get your score, and that requires giving them at a minimum your address and social security number. You may not want to give them this at this early stage. This is why you should have an idea of your scoreThe type of loan you’re looking forThe type of property you’re consideringYour question to the loan officer would go something like this:“I am looking for a $360,000 loan to buy a $400,000 home. My credit score is over 740. What rate can you offer me today for a 30-day lock on a 30-year fixed rate loan for a single family detached home?”Asking your question this way eliminates most of the variables that affect the interest rate. If you are rate shopping, you should make your inquiries over as short a time as possible; interest rates change every day according to what is happening in the market. A rate quoted a week ago will likely be obsolete today.There are those who insist that you should get a document called a Loan Estimate from multiple lenders. This is a legal document that lenders are required to issue once they have collected six critical pieces of information:Consumer’s nameMonthly incomeProperty addressLoan amountEstimated valueSocial Security numberWithout having a specified property, price and loan amount, lenders will not issue a Loan Estimate. Changing any of the numbers on that document requires going through a prescribed process, so lenders don’t issue them frivolously. Most will require enough documentation to create a loan application.You should have a loan preapproval (more about that shortly) before going into the market seriously so you won’t be able to get a Loan Estimate at this stage. The document you can (and should) get is a closing cost worksheet or equivalent. This will itemize the estimated closing costs for a sample transaction. At a minimum, it will list the lender fees for the scenario you have discussed.Selecting your lenderThis is a little more complicated—and subjective. I mentioned earlier that getting a mortgage is a process, not a commodity. Especially for a first-time buyer, you should think of the loan officer you decide to work with as a partner and guide through your journey to home ownership. When you select that partner, you should think of the following qualities:Information. Does the loan officer you’ve interviewed answer your questions in plain language, without resorting to jargon and technical terms? (You may not know what the terms, DTI, LTV, Agency loan, MI premium, up-front MI, MIP mean. It’s not your job to know—and your loan officer shouldn’t confuse you with these kinds of terms)Patience. Does the loan officer take the time to answer your questions to your satisfaction? Or do you feel as though they are impatient to get to their next call? You may go through the process just a few times in your life, and the unfamiliar can be dauntingCommunication. Does your loan officer answer the phone when you call or at least return your messages promptly? How about emails, texts or any other preferred methods of communication?Familiarity with your local market. When you get to the point where you are ready to make an offer on a property, your loan officer will write a preapproval letter to accompany your offer. Have they been active in the local market so they have credibility there? Are they available to speak with a seller’s agent to make a case for what a good borrower you are? This important component essentially eliminates any of the online brokers, as they are typically not in a position to have a conversation with any seller’s agent. This can be critical in a competitive marketGut feeling. Yup, that’s a thing. You should feel comfortable with your loan officer. You should certainly not feel intimidated—they want the same thing you do. If you don’t feel good about the loan officer, you should probably look elsewhere. You could be working closely with your loan officer for a number of months.I’ll be the first to admit that there are on-line mortgage lenders who have lower rates than the brick-and-mortar lenders—but if an out-of-state lender can’t ultimately get you to a closed escrow, the matter of rate is moot.You should ask the lender you’re considering whether they can issue a “TBD approval.” This means that they collect all the documentation needed for a full underwriting approval even though the specific property is To Be Determined and submit your loan package to the underwriter. This is far stronger than a “preapproval,” which does not get sent to an underwriter. When you have a TBD approval, the letter you provide with your offer is nearly as good as a cash offer, since the underwriter has already reviewed and approved your file. They are just waiting for the purchase agreement and supporting documents, such as the title report and appraisal. It gives you far more clout in the market than a preapproval.There has been at least one person answering this question claiming that a consumer can demand a Loan Estimate from multiple lenders to compare rates and fees. Speaking as someone who has been working in this field for many years and evolving regulations, I can say that this is not usable advice.When a lender issues a Loan Estimate—a legal document—they are bound to certain fees they list on the estimate. Since one of the first things you should do when beginning to enter the housing market is to get your financing prearranged, getting Loan Estimates from multiple lenders before you have identified a property would require giving each one a “dummy” (fake) address and giving them your social security number and other non-public, sensitive information. For many people, this is outside their comfort zone. You can compare rates and fees by getting a written estimate without having your credit pulled by each lender. Your primary focus should be on finding the lender you feel comfortable with and want to work with, assuming their rates and fees are within the overall market.I hope this is helpful. Good luck!