And almost one third apply for a mortgage with more than one lender
First-time homebuyers are more likely than existing borrowers to shop around when choosing a mortgage (52% vs. 48%).
And 29% of first-time buyers apply for a mortgage with more than one lender compared to 20% of repeat borrowers, however they generally lack the knowledge of loan types of more seasoned borrowers.
A new report from LendingTree finds that 52% of repeat borrowers are very familiar with different types of mortgage but just 24% of new borrowers said the same.
First-time borrowers were more knowledgeable about their credit score (65%) but repeat borrowers were still ahead for familiarity in this respect (79%).
Among the reasons for shopping around, better terms came out top for both first-time buyers (22%) and repeat borrowers (16%), concern over qualifying for a loan was the reason for 11% of first-timers and 6% of repeat borrowers.