Best Mortgage Providers: How to Actually Compare Them

If you are searching for the best mortgage providers, you have probably already noticed the problem: every ranking names a different winner, and none of those lists know anything about your credit score, your income, or the house you want to buy in Colorado. This guide explains how to run your own comparison the way the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) recommends — and it is written for Colorado borrowers, including the large military community around Colorado Springs.

Here is the short version of the CFPB’s guidance before we go deep:

• Start with a broad internet search for mortgage rates in your area to get a sense of the market.
• Contact banks, credit unions, other lenders, and mortgage brokers in your area.
• Ask each mortgage lender for current interest rates, the fees charged on each loan product, and each loan’s annual percentage rate (APR).
• Ask whether quoted rates are fixed or adjustable, and what points or fees go along with different rates.
• Request loan estimates from at least three different lenders and compare them before choosing.

What does “best mortgage providers” actually mean?

There is no official scoreboard. When a website publishes a list of the best mortgage lender picks, it is usually ranking companies on things like loan volume, customer satisfaction surveys, or how a lender scores against an industry average.

Those rankings can be a useful starting point for a mortgage lender search. What they cannot do is tell you which mortgage company will offer you the strongest combination of interest rate, fees, and loan options for your specific credit score, income, and down payment.

The CFPB’s answer is simple: shopping around for a mortgage loan will help you get the best deal. That means gathering real quotes, in writing, from multiple lenders — not trusting a headline.

Before you can compare lenders, it helps to understand the different kinds of providers you will encounter.

What types of mortgage providers are there?

Mortgage borrowers in Colorado generally choose among four kinds of providers. Each gets you to the same place — a funded home loan — through a different structure.

Banks and major banks

Banks offer mortgages alongside other financial products like checking accounts and credit cards. If you already bank somewhere, that institution is an easy first quote to collect, but the CFPB’s guidance still applies: get quotes from other lenders too and compare the actual terms.

Credit unions

Credit unions are member-owned institutions, and many Colorado credit unions serve military members and their families. Credit unions belong on your comparison list for the same reason banks do — they are one of the provider types the CFPB specifically tells borrowers to contact.

Mortgage brokers

A mortgage broker does not lend its own money. Instead, a broker takes one application and shops it across the wholesale lenders it works with, then presents you with loan options from that lineup. 719 Lending is a mortgage broker in Colorado Springs, which means one conversation with a loan officer here covers multiple loan options rather than a single bank’s menu.

Online lenders

Online lenders operate primarily through websites and apps, and national names like Rocket Mortgage and New American Funding show up in almost every mortgage lender search. Online lenders can absolutely be part of your comparison — just hold them to the same standard as everyone else: written quotes, disclosed fees, and a clear APR.

How the provider types compare

Provider type	How it works	What to ask
Bank	Lends its own money; mortgages sit alongside other financial products	Rates, fees, APR, loan options
Credit union	Member-owned institution serving its membership	Rates, fees, APR, membership eligibility
Mortgage broker	Shops one application across multiple wholesale lenders	Which lenders it works with, broker fees, APR
Online lender	Digital-first application and communication	Rates, fees, APR, how you reach a human

Knowing the categories is step one. Step two is actually starting the search.

How do I start a mortgage lender search?

The CFPB says the internet is a good place to start. A broad online search for mortgage rates in your area gives you a general sense of the market before you talk to anyone.

Treat what you see online as background, not an offer. Advertised numbers rarely reflect the actual terms any individual borrower receives, because pricing depends on the credit report, income, down payment, property, and loan type.

Next, the CFPB says to contact banks, credit unions, other lenders, and mortgage brokers in your area. For Colorado Springs borrowers, “in your area” matters more than it sounds — a local mortgage lender or mortgage broker deals with El Paso County properties, Colorado-specific programs, and military timelines every day.

Once you have a shortlist, the conversation with each lender should follow the same script — the CFPB has written it for you.

What should I ask every mortgage lender?

The CFPB tells borrowers to ask each lender or broker the same core questions, so the answers are directly comparable.

Ask for current interest rates

Request a list of current interest rates for the lender’s available mortgage loans, and ask whether the quoted rates apply for that day or that week. Mortgage rates move, so a quote from Monday and a quote from Friday are not automatically comparable.

Ask what fees the lender charges

Every lender charges fees, and they differ by loan product. Ask what fees the lender normally charges for each loan product, whether you pay those fees yourself or the lender loans them to you, and what other costs get added to the monthly payment.

One lender’s fees may be lower than another’s for the same loan type — which is exactly why the comparison is worth your time.

Ask for the APR on each loan

The annual percentage rate is the number that lets you compare offers honestly. More on that below.

Ask whether the rate is fixed or adjustable

Ask whether the rates given for various products are fixed or adjustable, and what points or fees go along with different rates. A quote that looks lower may simply be an adjustable product or a quote loaded with points.

These four questions produce the raw material. The APR is how you turn that raw material into a fair comparison.

Why is the APR the number that matters?

The interest rate on a loan tells you part of the story. The APR tells you the yearly cost of the loan based on the interest rate plus points, broker fees, and certain other charges you may be required to pay, including certain closing costs.

That makes the APR the closest thing to an apples-to-apples number when you compare multiple lenders. A lender advertising an attractive interest rate but charging heavy fees can end up costing more than a lender with a plainer quote — and the APR is designed to expose that.

When you compare, line up the same loan type, the same term, and the same rate-lock assumptions from each mortgage lender. Rate transparency is only useful when the quotes describe the same loan.

Closely tied to the APR is the question of points — paying money up front in exchange for a different rate.

How do points, fixed rates, and adjustable rates work?

Sometimes you can get a better rate by paying points or additional fees at closing. The CFPB’s warning is worth repeating: make sure you actually get a lower interest rate in exchange for the extra points you pay.

Fixed versus adjustable

With a fixed-rate mortgage, the interest rate on the loan does not change over the term. With an adjustable-rate mortgage, it can — so the CFPB tells borrowers to ask how high the payment can go, and whether the payment adjustments and the interest rate are capped.

Questions that expose the structure of the loan

Beyond fixed-versus-adjustable, the CFPB’s checklist includes several questions that reveal how a loan actually behaves over time:

• What is the term of the loan?
• How much will the payment be, and will it eventually pay off the principal?
• Can I repay the loan early without penalty?
• Will the payments change over the life of the loan?
• How much will I need to put down?

Any mortgage lender worth working with will answer every one of these in plain language. The next thing to compare is the menu of loan options itself.

Which loan options should I ask about?

There are many different types of mortgage loans available, so the CFPB urges borrowers to understand all of their options before committing. The lineup a lender offers is itself a point of comparison — a mortgage company that only sells conventional loans cannot quote you programs it does not carry.

VA loans for veterans and service members

If you are a veteran or service member, you may qualify for a VA loan. In a market like Colorado Springs — home to Fort Carson, Peterson Space Force Base, Schriever Space Force Base, and the U.S. Air Force Academy — asking every lender whether it handles VA loans should be automatic.

FHA loans

If you have concerns about your credit history, or you only have enough saved to make a smaller down payment, you may qualify for an FHA loan.

Conventional loans and everything else

Ask each lender to walk you through its full menu: conventional loans, FHA loans, VA loans, refinancing options, and anything else it carries. If down payment help matters to you, ask whether the lender works with payment assistance programs available to Colorado borrowers and what the qualification process looks like — a loan officer can confirm current program details rather than you guessing from a website.

Once you know what each lender offers, the CFPB gives you a concrete way to force the comparison: written loan estimates.

How many lenders should I compare?

The CFPB’s recommendation is specific: request loan estimates from at least three different lenders and compare them to choose the best loan for you.

Three is a floor, not a ceiling. Because a mortgage broker shops one application across multiple wholesale lenders, working with a broker can widen the field without you filling out a separate application for every mortgage company on your list.

Mix the provider types if you can — a bank, a credit union, a broker, an online lender. Different channels price differently, and you will not know which one wins for your file until the estimates are side by side.

When the estimates arrive, comparing them well matters as much as collecting them.

How do I compare loan estimates the right way?

Lay the documents next to each other and compare the same lines: the interest rate, whether it is fixed or adjustable, the fees, the closing costs, the APR, and the monthly payment.

Match the loan, not just the number

A quote for one loan type cannot be fairly compared against a quote for a different loan type or a different term. Ask each lender to quote the same scenario so the differences you see reflect the lender, not the loan.

Check the written offer against the conversation

The last item on the CFPB’s question list is one of the most important: does the written offer match what I was told about the loan? If a lender quoted one thing on the phone and the paperwork says another, that gap is your answer about the customer experience you can expect.

Ask what you will pay, and when

Confirm what fees you pay yourself versus what the lender loans to you, what other costs get added to the monthly payment, and whether you can repay the loan early without penalty. These questions come straight from the CFPB checklist, and every lender should answer them without hedging.

Everything above applies anywhere in the country. A few things are specific to shopping for home loans along the Front Range.

What should Colorado Springs borrowers keep in mind?

Colorado Springs is a heavily military market. PCS moves compress timelines, and a borrower relocating to Fort Carson or Peterson Space Force Base often has to shop lenders from another state before ever seeing the house.

That makes the CFPB’s written-quote discipline even more valuable here. When you cannot sit across a desk from every lender, the loan estimates are the desk — collect them, compare them, and ask each lender the full question list.

Ask specifically about VA loan experience if you are a veteran or service member, since that is the program the CFPB flags for you by name. And whatever your situation, a local conversation with a Colorado Springs loan officer can translate the general guidance in this article into the specific loan options that fit your financial situation.

First time buyers should also ask each lender to explain the process end to end — what documents are needed, when the credit report is pulled, when the rate lock happens, and what happens between application and closing. A lender’s willingness to explain is itself part of the comparison.

That leaves one question: what do you actually do first?

Your next step

Pick three to five providers — mix a bank, a credit union, a mortgage broker, and an online lender if you can. Ask each one the CFPB’s questions: current interest rates, fees for each loan product, the APR, and whether the rate is fixed or adjustable.

Then request written loan estimates and compare them line by line. The best mortgage providers for you will reveal themselves in that stack of paper, not in a national ranking.

If you want a Colorado Springs starting point, start an application with 719 Lending and use it as one of your comparison quotes. As a mortgage broker, we shop your file across multiple wholesale lenders — and we would rather you compare us against the market than take anyone’s word for it, including ours.

Frequently asked questions

How many mortgage lenders should I get quotes from?

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recommends requesting loan estimates from at least three different lenders and comparing them before choosing a loan. Mixing provider types — a bank, a credit union, a mortgage broker, and an online lender — gives you a wider view of the market.

What is the difference between a mortgage broker and a mortgage lender?

A mortgage lender funds the loan with its own money. A mortgage broker takes one application and shops it across the wholesale lenders it works with, then presents the resulting loan options to the borrower. The CFPB recommends contacting both types when shopping for a home loan.

Why should I compare APR instead of just the interest rate?

The APR reflects the yearly cost of the loan based on the interest rate plus points, broker fees, and certain other charges, including certain closing costs. That makes it a more complete comparison number than the interest rate alone, which ignores fees.

What questions should I ask a mortgage lender before choosing?

Following the CFPB checklist: Is the interest rate fixed or adjustable? What fees will I pay, and do I pay them myself or does the lender loan them to me? What is the term? Can I repay early without penalty? How high can the payment go on an adjustable loan? Does the written offer match what I was told?

Do veterans and service members have special loan options?

The CFPB notes that veterans and service members may qualify for a VA loan. In a military market like Colorado Springs, it is worth asking every lender you contact whether it handles VA loans and having a loan officer confirm your eligibility.

Are online mortgage lenders as good as banks or credit unions?

Online lenders can be a legitimate part of your comparison. Hold every provider — bank, credit union, broker, or online lender — to the same standard: written loan estimates, disclosed fees, a clear APR, and answers to the CFPB’s full question list.

719 Lending Inc., NMLS #1601989 · Equal Housing Opportunity

719 Lending Inc. is not affiliated with or endorsed by HUD, FHA, VA, USDA, CHFA, the CFPB, or any government agency.

Last updated: August 2026