Fannie Mae Foundation: How to Buy a Home

Vocabulary
financial institutions
government agency
nonprofit organization
qualify

Purpose
To know how to shop for a mortgage loan.

Pre-reading activity
Ask learners to name places that offer mortgage loans. List their suggestions on the board. Ask them if they can name some of the banks, credit unions, and mortgage companies in the community. Have learners fill in the names of these financial institutions on the lines provided on this page. Later, individuals can find the telephone numbers in the local directory.

Unit 3: Getting a mortgage may be easier than you think!

Lesson 2: How to shop for a loan

woman reading the yellow pages, trying to find a bank

If you have a job history, a credit report or a nontraditional credit history, and some savings, you can shop for a loan to help you buy your dream house. Many places in your community offer different types of mortgage loans. It is important to compare the different loans to find the one that is best for you.

When you begin to shop for a mortgage loan, you may want to talk to your own bank or credit union. Call them and ask them about home mortgages. Your real estate agent may help you find a loan too. Ask friends and co-workers where they got their mortgages. Also, look in the real estate section of your newspaper to learn about local lenders and their mortgage rates.

Find an example of each of these financial institutions in your area by looking in the real estate section of the newspaper. You can also look in the yellow pages of your telephone book under mortgages, banks, savings and loans, credit unions, and financing. Write the name and the telephone number of the institution in the spaces below.

	Name	Telephone
Savings and loan association	___________________	___________________
Commercial bank	___________________	___________________
Mortgage company	___________________	___________________
Credit union	___________________	___________________
Financial company	___________________	___________________
Department of Housing and Community Development (Look in the blue pages of your telephone book under the local government where you live.)	___________________	___________________

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