Section A
Origination charges
Lender's own fees: origination, processing, underwriting, points. Most negotiable section. Wide variance lender-to-lender. Compare here first.
Compare Lenders · apples to apples
The LE is the truth.
Read it together.
Lender quotes look wildly different — until you line them up on the standardized Loan Estimate. Here's the section-by-section comparison framework that exposes which loan actually saves money.
· The framework
Five sections.
Compare line by line.
Section B
Services you can't shop
Appraisal, credit report, flood determination. Set by the lender; not really negotiable. Should be similar across lenders for the same property.
Section C
Services you CAN shop
Title insurance, settlement agent, pest inspection. You pick the vendor. Always shop these — savings of $500-1,500 are common.
Section E
Taxes + government fees
Recording fees, transfer tax. Set by your county/state. Should be identical across all lenders. If they're different, ask why.
Section F+G
Prepaids + escrow
Property tax, homeowners insurance, prorated interest. Vary slightly based on loan terms but should be similar. Confirm assumptions match.
· Watch-outs
Four ways
lenders make comparisons hard.
Pitfall 01
Quoting different lock periods.
60-day lock prices differently than 30-day. Always request quotes for the SAME lock window — usually match your closing timeline + 7-10 days.
Pitfall 02
Hiding points in the rate.
A 'low rate' might include a discount point you didn't ask for. Always ask: 'How many points are baked into this rate?' Compare net-of-points.
Pitfall 03
Padding services-you-can-shop.
Lenders sometimes inflate Section C with their preferred title company. You can shop. Check our /title-insurance guide before accepting their default.
Pitfall 04
Quoting different loan types.
FHA vs Conventional looks like a different rate but is a different product. Make sure all quotes are for the same loan type.
Always pull three LEs.
Then run the math.
We have a calculator that handles the line-by-line comparison automatically.