We’re looking at buying a house and went to an open house. The listing realtor’s “minion” mentioned that we should look at mortgage brokers, how their realty company has a relationship with mortgage brokers, etc. I was very skeptical and think my face showed that so he didn’t talk much more about it, but got my contact information and connected me with the mortgage broker they recommend saying things like “if you use our realty service for buying, this broker will offer you a special deal of x, y, z.” I haven’t done a lot of in depth research, but it appears at first glance that the broker is somehow related to realtor’s company, other than just a referral arrangement, so I’m pretty skeptical of this broker specifically.
But anyway, long story short, we’re looking at the possibility of using a mortgage broker and trying to weigh the pros and cons.
Has anyone used a mortgage broker? Is there any reason not to use a mortgage broker? Can I still look for lenders myself and use the mortgage broker for other lenders? If I send my information to the mortgage broker will I all of a sudden see 10 hard pulls on my credit reports?