Mortgage brokers...good or bad?

[puglogic]

I confess that I've never worked with a mortgage broker. I've always just gone straight to a bank or lending institution and worked with their person, never a middleman.

Now it appears I'll be working with one to try to finance a home (husband signed us up with him). How do they get paid? Is this a bad idea? Experiences?

[shadowmoss]

I used one about 10 years ago. I got a reasonable deal with a place, then the mortgage was sold to Wells Fargo, which was fine, too. The terms didn't change when WF bought the mortgage. Just check online and see how the rates stack up.

[Zoe Girl]

I thought it was good when we used one many years ago. We found one that was very good about not letting us get over our heads in an ARM or anything too much and it made such a difference (in Cali everyone was going above their means). I think they get some percentage of the overall deal, I know when we tried before the time we actually bought the bouse that we didn't really qualify for anything and we didn't pay for anything beyond the credit report.