Applying for a home purchase loan, mortgage refinance, or home equity loan online has never been easier—even in today’s tricky credit market—thanks to online mortgage applications. The first step is to get any mortgage is pre-approval from several different lenders to significantly increase your chances of getting the best interest rate. Here’s one easy way to do just that:

To start, visit an online loan comparison site. I’ve had good experiences with and recommend . There, you’ll complete some basic information, such as:

• Type of loan (purchase, refi, etc.)
• Your contact information
• Information about your credit

After that, the site will come back to you with several loan offers from different banks. Sometimes this is instantaneous, but often it takes 12-48 hours. Sometimes, a representative will call you to obtain some additional information for processing your quotes.

Once you receive the loan offers, you’re under no obligation to do anything. If they don’t look good, keep shopping. You can,of course, proceed with any of the offers to finalize your loan or pre-approval. Start the pre-approval process now with .