Can I Avoid Mortgage Prices That Have Lapsed?

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October 19, 2002, Revised November 9, 2006

"I shopped four lenders using the telephone to contact those who looked most promising based on the rate tables published in my local newspaper. When I went back to the one with the best prices, however, I was told that those prices no longer applied! Is there any way I can avoid starting the process all over again?"

I'm afraid not. Most mortgage lenders change their prices daily, generally in the morning after secondary markets open, and sometimes they will change them during the day as well. This is a major problem for shoppers using traditional distribution channels, since prices collected from lender 1 on Monday and from lender 2 on Tuesday will not be comparable if the market has changed in the meantime.

Prices advertised in newspapers are out of date when they are read. A newspaper that publishes price information in its Monday edition, for example, is reporting Friday's prices. On Monday when the paper hits the street, lenders have already posted new prices.

The internet can ease the pain of shoppers trying to stay abreast of the market. For one thing, it provides more current information than the printed media. On Monday morning when the newspapers are reporting Friday's prices, some web sites are reporting Monday's prices. In addition, it is easy to compare prices of different lenders on the internet, so having to repeat the process on successive days is not a burden.

But not all mortgage web sites provide current data. Some of the prices posted on the internet are even more out of date than those in the newspapers. Almost always, however, the date of the quote is given so you can ignore those that are not current. If the date is not given, you can assume the quote is not current.

All the single-lender web sites I list as being worth a borrower's time, keep their prices current. See Shopping For a Mortgage On-Line.