How many lenders should I get quotes from?
Get at least three to four quotes, collected on the same day so they are comparable — Freddie Mac research puts the savings from comparison shopping at roughly $600–$1,200 per year. But the count matters less than the mix: three quotes from three similar retail banks often price nearly the same, while the real spread shows up between lender types — big banks, credit unions, and wholesale lenders reached through a broker.
Last reviewed 2026-08-24
| Key number | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Savings from comparing multiple quotes | roughly $600–$1,200 per year | Freddie Mac research |
| Borrowers who seriously consider only one lender | nearly half | CFPB survey |
| Credit cost of shopping multiple lenders | scored as a single inquiry inside the shopping window | CFPB |
Same-day quotes or the comparison is meaningless
Mortgage pricing moves daily — sometimes intraday. A quote from Monday and a quote from Thursday are quotes on two different markets, so a real comparison means collecting every quote in the same one-day window on the identical scenario: same loan amount, same down payment, same lock period, same points. Ask each lender for a written quote showing rate, APR, points, and total lender fees.
The spread lives between lender types, not between three similar banks
Retail banks price from similar rate sheets, so quoting three of them mostly measures noise. The structural differences are between channels: retail banks carry branch overhead, credit unions sometimes subsidize member pricing, and wholesale lenders — reachable only through a broker — publish pricing that retail branches of the same institution often cannot match. One quote from each channel tells you more than five from one channel. Broker vs going direct
A pre-approval quote is not a lender’s best price
Borrowers repeatedly find that the rate attached to a pre-approval letter improves once a lender knows it is competing on a live application. Treat pre-approval pricing as an opening position, not a final answer — and use a written competing quote as leverage before you lock. Lenders routinely match or beat documented offers.
Shopping does not stack credit damage
Credit scoring models count all mortgage inquiries inside a shopping window — 45 days for newer FICO models, 14 for the oldest — as a single inquiry. Comparing five lenders costs your score the same as comparing one, which removes the main excuse for not shopping. How mortgage credit pulls are scored
How a broker compresses this into one application
A mortgage broker takes a single application and prices it across many wholesale lenders at once — same-day, same-scenario, by construction. Ralo is an automated mortgage broker, not a lender: it runs that comparison automatically, earns a thin commission, and shows rate, APR, and fees upfront so the quotes are comparable without a week of phone calls. See today’s illustrative Ralo rates
Ralo is an automated mortgage broker — not a lender — that compares multiple lenders from one application, earns a thin commission, and shows rate, APR, and fees upfront. Rates shown anywhere on this site are illustrative examples, not a loan approval, rate lock, or commitment. Available where licensed: California, Colorado, and Texas.