If you were dealing with your bank, you would still be dealing with someone whose sole interest is serving their own bank - their own employer. You will get 'their rate' and not necessarily the best rate on the market. You will be restricted to the definitions of their products without comparison to other competitors. A bank loan officer is not obligated to compare their mortgage terms to any other competitor in the marketplace. And really, can you even imagine a loan officer saying? 'You know, I'd love to give you this mortgage but 'so and so' institution has much better mortgage terms, with less penalties, and I even hear they are a full percentage point less than us. You should go there!' That would never happen at your bank but it really does occur in a mortgage brokers office. Kathleen is always comparing other institutions for best value in mortgage terms and rates.