Thanks guys for your advices. As for the reviews, I've heard both good & bad ones, the same with any other companies. I have friends who would do business with CW over and over again, yet some would have none of it. - So, I think I should only look at these reviews to get ideas of what to expect, not as something to base my decision upon.

Right now I got three pre-approval letters, 1 from CW, 1 from my bank (BofA), and 1 from the bank recommended by my broker. I lean toward CW because they offer lowest rate & closing costs (assuming in good faith that they'll keep what they promised), plus I thought by going through a direct lender I can save some $ than going to a third party, who is my broker. Am i wrong?

As for the payments, and keeping records, I plan to setup direct withdrawal from my checking account. This way, I don't have to worry about being late on payments, and everything is recorded.

Also, CW offers to "buy points" for a lower rate, which, if I choose to do, I'd pay back in two years. In another words, if I stay with the same loan for more than two years, I would start to benefit from this, but if the rate goes down in less than two years, and I refinance, then I would not save anything. For example, with the rate 6.125%, my monthly mortgate would be ~ $70 more than that with the rate of 5.875%, but in order to get the lower rate, I would have to pay $1560 upfront. It would take me 23 months to recoup this amount. Should I go for it??, provided that I can write off $1560 on my tax next year.

I would also like to pay the home insurance & taxes on my own, but in order to do this, I would have to pay CW $1040. This one-time-only fee can also be written off on my taxes... Have any of you done this, or you always pay them all together with your mortgate payment?

I know I asked too many questions, but this is my first time buying, and I have no ideas what I am doing