While you're surfing around the various loan sites, sign up for each site's loan monitor program. Some sites will email you when rates change or if there are new loans being offered, and others will update the loans you qualify for every time you visit the site. But, you have to register with them first (its free).

Today the Internet has changed all that. In cyberspace, every lender in the country is right around the corner. And they are all competing to give you the best loan possible. Never before has it been so easy to comparison shop for a loan. 

Be sure to commit at least half a day to evaluate how all these loans measure up. The time you spend assessing these nooks and crannies can pay off handsomely. At the very least, you'll probably save hundreds in broker's fees and oodles of time.

In some cases, if you are approved for a mortgage through a site, you will get a small rebate after the mortgage goes through.

Mortgage sites fall into two categories: The Referral Model and The Internal Processor.

The referral model: 
Referral firms (like Intuit's QuickenMortgage, Microsoft's HomeAdvisor and LendingTree) are essentially marketplaces. They deliver quotes from lender partners and get paid upon delivery of new customers.

The internal processors: 
Processors (like E-Loan, iOwn and Mortgage.com) employ small armies of customer-service representatives who handle the paperwork and correspondence needed to close a loan.

One stop shops:
Two sites take you through the whole process from credit history, to finding a house, to finding a mortgage: HomeAdviser and IOwn.

Virtual loan:
Can you go through the whole loan process online without speaking with anyone? Yes. Is it a good idea? Probably not. If you want to just email your questions to your lender that's fine, it's even convenient because you can do it day or night. But after the whole bundle of loan papers is delivered to your home, you should probably get someone on the horn to talk with you as you go through each page. You are signing documents that pledge you to 30 years of debt, you need to be clear on every comma. If you don't understand what you are signing, don't. Have them explain it to you over and over until you get it. The Internet is a great tool for educating yourself but it only goes so far. Don't ever let pride bully you into signing something you don't understand.