Bank of America offers No Fee Mortgage - A good deal?

This is a nice statement from a different forum:

Originally Posted by 86 GradCock The information being posted here is very good. But I want to clear up one common misconception about mortgage brokers. The banks want you to believe that brokers charge excessive "junk fees" or closing costs that are merely masked profits for the broker. This is not true if you are working with a reputable mortgage broker. Brokers do charge fees for services that a bank typically will not charge, things like processing or underwriting for instance. However, the advantage that a broker has over a bank is the ability to deliver a lower interest rate on your loan because they shop among many different lenders to find the best deal. Because of the competition among wholesale mortgage lenders, rates given to brokers are typically .25% to .375% lower than the retail rates at the bank. That spread in interest rates equates to about 1 to 1.5 discount points, or $1000 to $1500 for every $100,000 in loan amount. The higher the rate, the more the profit to the bank. They then use some of this profit to lower closing costs, however, a broker can almost always deliver a deal with a lower rate and lower closing costs than the bank. The only exception is with special "portfolio loans" that can only be offered by lenders that have their own money to lend, i.e. a bank.

I have been a mortgage broker in the Atlanta, GA area for over 11 years. I have had several opportunities to work for banks as a mortgage loan officer, but I prefer to do my business as a broker because I can deliver a larger variety of loan programs with lower rates and closing costs. I would highly advise anyone looking for a mortgage to check with a mortgage broker before selecting a lender. If you are working with a real estate agent, that agent is the best source for a referral to a good broker.