Starting from January 1, 2010, there are quite few changes taking effect in the home loan lending business. The most noticeable one is new requirements for what the good faith estimate should disclose.  Now, a loan agent must disclose all charges including her charges (points and rebates), third party charges such as escrow fee, title insurance, lender charges etc. all up in the front. That way, consumers will be able to compare apple to apple and get the best deal possible.

As the rates continue to drop, rates have become so attractive that home purchase or existing mortgage refinance are making great sense.

However, lenders also continue tighten up guidelines: any incomplete documents will cause the approval process to be greatly prolonged. Meticulously packaged loans are increasingly more important nowadays to avoid long delays.

Therefore, it is another important element in addition to rates when choosing a mortgage broker: the broker needs to be fully aware of and completely compliant with these changes.