Should you shop around before choosing a mortgage?

Think for a moment about all the big ticket items you've ever purchased. Sure, there are a few high dollar purchases you made without too much thought, but for most of them, you did your homework. You shopped and compared before you made your final decision.

So why should it be any different with probably the biggest item you'll ever buy? Your home mortgage. You DO have to think of it that way. You're not just purchasing a home; you're purchasing a home mortgage, so you can purchase that home. So why not shop around for the best home mortgage you can find? Why settle for what your bank offers?

Stay tuned. Over the coming days and weeks, I'll be giving you tips on what you should look for when shopping for that home mortgage, and why to look for them.

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The FDIC and it's deal with IndyMac and OneWest Bank

Check out this video on the deal the FDIC made with IndyMac and OneWest Bank and thier investors on buying up foreclosures and short sale mortgages. After watching this, you'll probably need a large container of Gold Bond Medicated Powder.

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• OneWest CEO Laughlin to join Bank of America (marketwatch.com)
• We're from Wall Street, we're here to help (msnbc.msn.com)

Interest Rates...they are a risin'.

Well, I don't know if anyone has been following the rate on the 30 year fixed, but it is slowly inching up. Today's rate is averaging 5.37%. I've also read where refinancing time is taking much longer than usual. Apparently the banks are stretched a little thin in their underwriting departments. I don't understand why. They should be able to easily rehire the underwriters they laid off to SAVE money. What, with all the TARP and bail-out cash they've received, they should have no problems at all. So what's the HOLD-UP? Sorry, no pun intended.