In most cases, you will see the actual lender or investor's name on all of your loan documents since the lender is actually supplying the funds for your loan from day one. The fact that mortgage brokers do not fund your loan has resulted in legislation that offers you a tremendous advantage when shopping for a mortgage. By paying close attention to the fee disclosures, you may be able to negotiate a better deal. This is a general guideline only, if you have a complicated financial situation, your mortgage broker will spend more time on your loan application and deserves to be compensated for it. Although the disclosure laws make using a mortgage broker advantageous, as in any other financial transaction, be careful who you are dealing with.
Mortgage brokers tend to be smaller companies.
Many loan originators are able to set their own rate structures. They know what the lender or investor is offering and quote you a rate based on the profit they want to make. They have no intention of honoring this rate because in many cases it represents a loan that would be closed with no profit. Instead, they will tell you that the lender would not honor the rate lock or they will delay processing your loan and as a result your rate lock will expire. By the time you reach this point it will probably be too late to go anywhere else and you will have to accept whatever rates they choose to offer you.